Frances Flaxington is preparing for this year’s breast cancer fundraiser MoonWalk
Here I Go Again.. In 2005, I did my first MoonWalk London, which is 26.2 mile night-time walk through.
This year is my 11th and I’m doing it with my goddaughter who is doing it for the very first time. So why did I do it back then and why am I still doing it now?
I had heard about the MoonWalk from friends and it sounded great, an opportunity to raise money for a cause I believed in and that would be a personal challenge.
My Mum died 41 years ago at the age of 38 from breast cancer and although so much progress has been made since then, funding is still really needed to undertake more research and to support the charities that do so much to support people with cancer and their families.
So in April 2005 I was there with my friend Jane, with our decorated bras on show on the streets of London.
It was and is such a spectacle and I felt proud to be taking part. It helped to talk all the way round, all seven plus hours and I recall the sun coming up and us crossing the finishing line in the sunshine. However, that summer I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and also with the BRCA1 gene, which I now understand my mum also had.
My cancer was advanced, it had spread and I had a hysterectomy and chemotherapy. I had been about to climb Mount Kilimanjaro but faced a different challenge instead.
However, I responded really well to treatment and I bounced back with the support of family and friends and the following year saw me doing the Moonwalk again, and then, in 2007, I got to the top of Kilimanjaro with my husband.
In 2009, because of the BRCA gene I had a double mastectomy and reconstruction as my risk of getting breast cancer was assessed to be high. Today, I am well and enjoying life and feel so lucky to be here. I appreciate the excellent medical care I have had from Dr Mitra and the team in Lambeth Walk and St Thomas’ and Guy’s hospitals.
So continuing to do the MoonWalk, whenever I can has been my way of giving back. My walking companion this year is Ruth and my next blog will report on our training and how it is going.
Our Justgiving page is https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/francesandruthmoonwalk2018
You can take part in this year’s MoonWalk London. It’s on Saturday, May 12.
Sign up now at www.walkthewalk.org
