My nanny Shelia’s symptoms started with increased incontinence, which was put down to ageing at the time. Then one of her carers noticed blood in her urine and my mum arranged an appointment with the GP. The GP carried out a physical examination and found an open sore. They referred her to the gynaecologist. Before my nanny got her appointment I turned to “google” to try and find out what could be causing her symptoms. It was then that the word “vulva” was popping up over and over again. If I’m being honest, I hadn’t even heard of ‘vulva’ before and was unsure what it meant/was.
I came across The Eve Appeal website which was extremely helpful, informative and provided useful information relating to the 5 gynae cancers. My family and I feared a diagnosis of vulva cancer however my nanny’s symptoms were pointing to this. Unfortunately, she received this diagnosis in March 2019.
My family had been told to stay positive and that hopefully with radiotherapy treatment my nanny would recover well. Her radiotherapy treatment started however she quickly started to develop side effects like extreme tiredness, loss of appetite and diarrhoea which caused her to have very low potassium levels. Although she was given potassium through IV drip there was concerns raised whether she was strong enough to continue with the radiotherapy treatment. After completing 7 out of 14 rounds the decision was made to stop the treatment. My nanny went downhill very quickly and she unfortunately passed away on the 7th of May 2019 at the age of 89 years old.
It would have been her 90th birthday in August that year so we decided to host an afternoon tea in her memory in aid of The Eve Appeal. It was a brilliant day celebrating her life and raising money for such a worthwhile cause that was close to our hearts. We raised just over £1100 and have such great memories from the event. We thought it was really important to raise awareness about the 5 different gynae cancers and had posters up for guests to read and information leaflets that they could take home. As I’d had very little knowledge or awareness regarding gynae cancers before my nanny’s diagnosis, I wanted to spread as much awareness as possible for women of all ages. It’s hard to believe now that before this all happened I wasn’t aware of the correct names for parts of my body, and I’m sure this is still the case for many women.
It was approaching my nanny’s 1st anniversary when I noticed on Instagram that due to COVID 19 The Eve Appeal were hosting a virtual 5K Get Lippy Run. I thought this would be a great event to support in memory of my nanny especially given that the event was so close to her anniversary. I signed up and started the “couch to 5K” app in preparation. I’d told family and friends that I was taking part and set up a fundraising page for the event. I was blown away by the generosity of my friends and family and this motivated me even more to complete the challenge.
I woke up on the day of the run and saw that so many people across the UK had already completed their 5K, which was really inspiring to see. Unfortunately, in Glasgow it was wet and windy, but I didn’t let the weather dampen my spirits. With my bright red t-shirt and ruby red lips I was hard to miss running through Kelvingrove Park. During my run I was thinking of all my special memories with my nanny and how proud she would have been knowing that I had graduated from university, passed my driving test and secured my first grad job since she passed away. I was also thinking of all the thousands of other women and families who are going through similar situations.
I was super proud of myself when I reached 5K and couldn’t help but shed a little tear when I finished. I was soaked to the bone and kept thinking that my nanny would have been worrying that I would catch a cold. She would have made sure I had a hot bath, a cup of tea and water bottle to heat me back up.
When I first signed up I set myself a goal of raising £50 for The Eve Appeal, however I am pleased to say that I smashed that goal and raised £450 overall! I couldn’t believe how kind all my family and friends were and I was so pleased to raise so much for the charity during a difficult time.
The experience was so rewarding and positive and I would encourage everyone to sign up and Get Lippy for someone they love. I shared a lot of information about the event on my Instagram page and I really hope that at least one of my followers started to follow The Eve Appeal on Instagram / Facebook and that this will have increased their awareness of the 5 gynae cancers and the amazing work and support that The Eve Appeal provide. I think that 2020 will be a hard year to forget for many people for many reasons, however taking part in the Get Lippy Run will always be a favourite memory of 2020 for me.
You can sign up to take part in this year’s Get Lippy Run here.