Well, I like to think I did.

Cancer.  It’s a truly horrible word.  In 2016, my 40th year, bad news hit with abundance.  First, my beautiful step-daughter spent her 16th birthday in hospital.  She had noticed a lump on her shoulder.  It turned out to she had a rare form of cancer.  SHe had major surgery.  Thankfully she is now cancer free.  A few months later, my dad was diagnosed with the awful disease.  My dad’s was in the blood, but where he had a sore throat, it attacked the weakest spot.  After months of chemotherapy and numerous scans, he was told he was in remission.  Great news for both of them and all the rest of the family.

My step-daughter is turning 18 in May and is still cancer free.

In February 2018, my dad was unwell and a lump had appeared in his mouth.  It was thought to be an abscess.  Unfortunately, it was a mass.  The cancer was back and more aggressive than before.

Cancer Research UK, was advertising about their campaign to ‘walk all over cancer’.  They wanted people to walk 10,000 steps per day for the whole month of March.  So by the 31st of March, we should have done 310,000 steps.

I could do this I thought.  I signed up.  I have had no training.  I know walking is something I was taught from an early age, but I am unfit now (unfortunately).  I work, sitting at a desk all day, not to mention the two hours of travelling each way, to actually get to and from work.  So it is hard.  I was just about clearing 8,000 steps before and on the weekends, I would be lucky if I even cleared about 500 steps.  I have my steps on my phone and do not always remember to pick it up to record my steps.

I had to do this.  This was for cancer.  This was for my dad and step-daughter and for all the others out there, being struck with this deadly disease.

1stof March came round and I actually wasn’t at work.  I would be walking around London with my bestie for her birthday.  I smashed the 10,000 steps.  I actually managed 12,908.  I was extremely proud of myself.  One day down, another thirty to go.

I started walking to the station, instead of getting a cab (unless it was raining or snowing).  There were still work days to conquer.  I would actually have to take a lunch break and venture outside to go for a walk.

After work, it was walking the back streets to the second tube station, instead of walking to the end of the road to the first tube station.  This was giving me an additional 2,000 steps.  I was going to succeed.  The only thing was, how do I record my daily steps?  I couldn’t see anywhere on the Cancer Research website.  People were sponsoring me, I needed proof.  I took a screenshot of my phone every day for 31 days.

I was hoping it would help me lose a little bit of weight.  I don’t think I have lost any weight, but it has helped me sleep better.  I honestly feel better in myself.

My total steps for 31 days is 324,808.

I will continue to keep walking, it’s definitely helping me health wise.  To say I am proud of what I have achieved is an understatement,

Thank you for coming on this journey with me.  Hopefully, the money raised will help to eventually find a cure for this horrible disease that takes so many lives from us.

If you would like to donate, please go to my Justgiving page, no matter how small or how large the donation, it all helps and hopefully it will make a difference.

Thank You!