So, where to start? It has been a crazy few months. I just wanted to share with everyone my story on my Auntie’s journey through her diagnosis, my fundraiser and all little bits in between.
My Auntie Rachel is one of the most amazing people I have ever had the privilege of knowing. She is not my blood relative, but she may as well be. This amazing lady has been many things to me since the day I was born, a best friend, an Auntie, a Mum and a mediator. What’s the saying… blood is thicker than water. Not in this case.
Anyway, back in January 2019 my Auntie noticed a heavier than usual bleed, although blood tests came back as clear, an ultrasound scan showed a cyst in her uterus. Later the cyst started to bleed so the decision was made to perform a hysterectomy. At the beginning of December my Auntie went into hospital to have the surgery, but unfortunately the operation was stopped when the surgeon noticed some tissue that he wasn’t happy with. Samples were taken from this tissue and sent off to be tested, and in the new year my Auntie Rachel was told that it was Stage 3 Ovarian Cancer. My Auntie’s surgery was rescheduled for the beginning of February and during the operation she had to have a full hysterectomy as well as part of her colon and bowel removed, leaving her with a reversible stoma bag.
After my Auntie got her diagnosis I was very upset, naturally, but once I was told what stage she was at and that she needed chemotherapy I became angry. The upset and tears subsided, and I was overcome with anger at this perverse disease. I must admit, I did dwell on the anger because I wasn’t sure on how to process how I was feeling or more importantly how my Auntie was feeling. But then one day I decided to change my attitude as I wasn’t getting anywhere being angry all the time.
I wanted to turn a negative into a positive. That’s when I decided to fundraise for my head shave event in solidarity for my Auntie starting her chemotherapy.
I chose to set up my fundraising page through JustGiving. I then chose to focus my main fundraiser on a relevant charity for my Auntie’s diagnosis. I came across The Eve Appeal when looking under ovarian cancer charities and gynaecological cancer charities. I decided that because I hadn’t heard of them before, by fundraising it might help raise awareness of the different gynae cancers as well as the charity itself.
This was my first time doing a solo fundraiser and I was determined to raise as much as I could for this amazing charity/cause. I started off by regularly sharing my JustGiving page on Facebook and my Instagram story and the support from the start from friends and family was outstanding. After this I decided to create donation jars for my workplaces and decorate them. This went down really well and helped promote my fundraiser to regular customers. I then decided to stretch a little further and design and produce my own posters with my JustGiving link and QR code on them. This worked really well for me as I placed the posters across my workplaces, even in the toilets so customers could read my story whilst on the loo. And hey it worked! It brought in a few new donations.
This was all going really well, then Covid-19 happened. There have been quite a few complications due to the virus. For example, because my Auntie did not start her chemotherapy before Coronavirus, she is not allowed to start her treatment as planned. Because of the severity of the virus and my Auntie’s condition she has been told that she has to take oestrogen suppressive tablets to slow the growth and spread of her cancer. Delaying her treatment could be extremely dangerous so it is worrying for us all.
The original plan for the head shave event was for us to have a party-like-gathering with friends and family around us and my Auntie and me have our heads shaved at the same time. My Auntie Rachel wants to be in control of losing her hair so she was brave to decide she would do it with me, but of course this plan had to change due to lockdown, social distancing and my Auntie’s self-isolation. So, we had to plan a different way to do it. My Auntie and I decided that we would do it at home, my auntie would do her own head shave behind closed doors, then I would do mine as a Facebook and Instagram live stream. This ended up working really well and the amount of views, donations and support that I received was amazing.
The prep for my head shave was a long process, because naturally I have very thick hair. So throughout the day I did regular updates to my Facebook page as to where I was at. I needed to wash my hair, blow dry it, straighten it and then section it off ready so I could send it to The Little Princess Trust.
I went live on Facebook on the 10th April 2020, with a peak viewing audience at 143 and the donations rising to over £2,500 it was a tremendous success. It is crazy how my initial personal target was £500 and I am currently nearing the £3,000 mark!
I want to thank absolutely everybody that watched, donated and supported. My JustGiving page is still open and it would be incredible if I could get to that round number for one last push.
Thank you again everybody x
If you would like to support Lauren and donate to Eve, you can visit her JustGiving page.