Two More Sleeps Before Relay For Life

Two more sleeps and I’ll be getting up on Saturday morning to, pack and head off to the Millenium Centre in Mairangi Bay, with my old runners and my new Thorlo padded socks, hoping the weather man is right and it won’t rain.

A sign we walk past during the night in Relay For Life

I don’t do this for myself (well maybe a little). I do it for the 1 in 3 people in New Zealand, who, like I did, will get cancer. I do it for HOPE.

First of all I want to thank you all for your kind donations, for your words of encouragement, for sharing your stories of cancer, both personal and members of your family or friends, some who lost the fight to cancer and others who are still fighting the battle.

This has been the hardest year for me to fundraise for the Cancer Society, I’ve felt like most people are over donating and wonder if it is because I have been doing this every year for 6 out of 7 years. I’ve stuck with it because cancer is so insidious, so horrible, and to raise awareness that we don’t all have to die from it.

The 18 for 2018 is made up of the names of people living and sadly past who we are walking or running for on 10-11 March. The day after my birthday.

I do it because of the 20 people who were motivated to get themselves tested because of my story. That’s what Team Early Birds is about.

At the height of my cancer journey I didn’t have the strength to do this event. I visited the team two years ago and went home to sleep at about 3 in the afternoon and felt so frustrated that I wasn’t able to participate! Last year, I still didn’t have the energy to stay right through the night. I left at 10PM and started again at 4AM.

This year I’m back in boots and all, no matter what it takes. I’ve taken 2 days of annual leave to let my body recover. I’m looking forward to the survivor’s lap of honour where those of us who are surviving cancer do the first lap, wearing a purple sash.

It is such an honor to do this and very humbling when kids you’ve never met before come up to you and tell you they are proud of you, that you inspire them. Some wear shirts with words like I MISS YOU MUM on their backs.

I’ll tweet a few updates from the event if you want to stay in touch and might do a Facebook Live post, but I will be conserving the battery on my mobile so it lasts through the night.

So again, a huge thanks to those of you who have supported me on this Relay For Life journey. I am very grateful and feel very fortunate that there are people who have my back. That’s what kept me going through my darkest days.

Now if you have any influence over the weather, I really don’t want to do this event in the rain again. Can we hold off until after the weekend?

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Prostate Cancer. No Pressure. Need Help for Relay For Life 2018.

So when my GP told me that my PSA levels had increased every test over the last couple of years when they should fluctuate, he said there was a risk that I might have cancer. He told me to lie up on the bed in his surgery, pull my pants down and my legs up and before I had a chance to ask, “is this necessary?”, his gloved finger went where the sun don’t shine. To say that it was unpleasant was an understatement, but I barely had time to feel embarrassed.

We wasted no time in making an appointment with a urologist and off I reluctantly went. I’m not sure what I was dreading most, being told I had cancer (If I did) or having yet more insult and injury to my dignity.

A sign on the track at Relay For Life

He was a very nice, gentleman who explained to me what was going to next and asked if I had any questions. I was feeling pretty much in shock and bewildered and was barely taking in what he said.

He asked me what my flow pressure was like when I peed. I thought it was OK most of the time. They told me on the phone that I had to arrive with a full bladder for a urine pressure test, so I was ready to relieve the pressure.

I had to pee in a basin that had a sensor in it and I thought I did pretty well, as he stood in the next room, watching the gauge. He then burst my bubble and said that my flow was well below average and asked, would I like a script for something that would make it flow faster.

I declined. Up on the bed and he started prodding my stomach and then asked me to pull my pants off, lie on my side with my knees hard up against my chest.

Now dear reader, you may be feeling squeamish, you might be feeling embarrassed, you might be thinking, I’m pulling out of this story.

You might be thinking, why is he telling me this? Is it necessary?

No it isn’t, but I want your help and if I get some donations for our next Relay for Life, I won’t share the next step with you and I won’t tell you graphically how I felt.

People ask why I share my story. I’ll tell you why. All around me people are either battling or losing the fight to cancer. One in 3 people in New Zealand will get cancer and we have to do something about it. We can do something about it. The numbers are pretty similar in the western world.

Relay For Life isn’t just for raising money for cancer research, it is about remembering the people we love, work with, our friends and family who are affected by cancer. It is as much a celebration of life as a sharing of loss.

We walk for 18 hours in relay, and the number 18 on our singlets if you zoom in, you will see it is made up of the names the 13 of us are walking for. Some have passed away in the last few months, some are battling, some have been gone for some time and some are in remission like me.

When you walk around the track and you see an 11 year old in front of you and on the back of his shirt it says ‘I miss you Mummy’, you know why you are there.

So to stop me sharing the rest of this visit to the urologist, how about going to the Relay For Life website here and making a small donation. $5 is tax deductible if you are in New Zealand and it would mean a lot to me to have your support. If you’re overseas, maybe you won’t get a tax rebate for it, but I’d still be very grateful if you could share the cost of a coffee.

These are the bags we put our clothes in, when we go in for radiation treatment. Each one of these bags represents a person being treated for cancer at any given time, just in this clinic

I hate asking for money, but it isn’t for me. It may will help you or someone you care about. Remember that number. 1 person in 3 in New Zealand will get cancer at some stage in their lives. Draw up a little list of people in your family and then separate one third of the names on that list. Imagine if those people got cancer. This is personal folks.

This year Relay is on the 10th and 11th of March. We got through the night to symbolise the cancer journey. You don’t have to walk the whole time, it’s a relay, but many of us like to do as much as we feel able. Our team is quite small this year. So far only 13 people. If you feel you would like to join us please head to the Team Early Birds page and let me or one of the team know.

Will you join us in person or in your thoughts?

It’s going to be a tough Christmas

With the state of the economy,things are going to be tight for a lot of people this Christmas. According to the NZ Herald this morning, “The trend in supermarket and grocery sales have been declining since March , the longest trend since the series started in 1995.”

First of all I need to admit that I got it wrong. I thought that with petrol prices going up that we would be like frogs who get thrown in a pot of cold water, that we just put up with the rises, but the reduction of cars on the road in Auckland is clearly noticable.

Last year the newspapers were full of stories of domestic violence at Chistmas time and womens refuges were overflowing with people hiding from their partners or other family members. I suspect this year will be much worse. The retailers are suffering as are many sectors of the public, who won’t be able to spoil their families this Christmas. The pressure on low income families will be particularly bad, and as I have blogged before, the retailers have been giving delayed payments and interest free terms for so long that many people are in debt up to their eyeballs already.

There is also likely to be an increase in burglaries as those who can’t provide for their family or young people whose hopes for cool presents are dissapointed decide to help themselves to other people’s property. Most at risk will be people who leave their homes vacant while they head to their batches or camp grounds. I’d recommend they look at their home security and communicate their plans with their trusted neighbours.

Is there anything you can do to help? There will no doubt be many Christmas Charity events. Why not check out your neighbourhood and see if there is anywhere you can help. My brother in law alway made his children pick on of their brand new presents and take it to the City Mission.  Auckland City Mission is already well organised in their campaign to help people have a better Christmas. Each person who gives something at Christmas is going to feel much happier than those who didn’t. The Auckland City Mission will be hosting a Christmas dinner for 1200 people and need gifts and support. They have a page were you can find drop off points where you can leave a gift. So when you are off doing your shopping, buy something extra and feel good about putting a smile on someone’s face. I will.