Christmas Cheer 2016

2016 has been a crazy year for the World. I know many people are feeling disheartened and worried about what lies ahead for us all. I was inspired to do some fundraising as a way to show people there is still good in the world and that the power does not lie with the people in charge, but it lies with us, the general public. Citizens. If we show kindness and understanding to each other then we can make the world a nicer, safer place for people around us. Little by little.

I firmly believe in volunteering. I was twenty one when I started and it changed my life. It gave me an outlet for my creativity. It developed my compassion and made me realise how fortunate I am. It gave me a circle of friends who share my interests and inspire me on a daily basis. It helps me make a real difference to the world around me.

I am currently in the middle of my latest voluntary project – Christmas Cheer 2016.

I became an auntie for the first time in February this year and I immeadiately became obsessed with my niece, Mia Ariana. Since she came into my life I have become more aware of the fact that she is blessed to be able to grow up in a safe, loving environment. As a family we are able to provide her with material things as well as love. Many children do not have the same upbringing and I wanted to do something to change this in a small way. In honour of my niece, and to start teaching her from a young age to give back and do something to help others.

I decided to split the money between Cyprus and the UK as these are my home countries. My Stepdad works for the Metropolitan Police and takes part in their annual present appeal so I decided to support this cause. I was given a list of fifteen children, their gender and their age, to buy presents for. I also decided to help Crisis with their annual appeal to help the homeless. We will use some of the money to buy food and supplies to help them this winter. In Cyprus I decided to help the Pancyprian Volunteerism Coordinative Council with their “Adopt a Family” drive. So we will use some of the money to buy food and presents for the underprivileged families in Cyprus.

My friends and family were very supportive and in total we raised an amazing GBP618.34/EUR723.85. This weekend we will be going out to start getting our supplies ready for delivery. I couldn't be more excited. Somehow it makes Christmas more special knowing we have helped lots of other families have a nicer one. I will post photos of our supplies when we have bought them!

Let me know if you will be doing something similar this Christmas!

www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/christmascheer2016

Neuroendocrine Tumours

Hello :)

This post is dedicated to a fellow Cancer Campaigns Ambassador, Andy Norris. Andy has suffered from this cancer type for eleven years. He is a very passionate campaigner and I hope this post helps him raise awareness of a cancer type not many people are aware of. This type of cancer comes under the category of “rare cancers” and not much information is available on them. However, I will share everything I have learnt about them with you today.

The Neuroendocrine System:

The Neuroendocrine system is a combination of nerve and gland cells and it makes hormones before releasing them into the blood stream. Basically neuro means nerve and endocrine means the cells of the endocrine system. It is also known as the hormone system as the neuroendocrine system is a network of glands and organs producing hormones within our bodies. Hormones are hugely important as they control how our bodies function, including growth, development, reaction to stress and a wide range of other things.

You will find neuroendocrine cells in many organs including the lungs, pancreas, liver, stomach, both bowels and the oesrophagus as well as the appendix. These cells have different functions depending on where they are with the body. For example, neuroendocrine cells found within the lungs release hormones that control the flow of air and blood in the lungs.

Neuroendocrine Tumours:

NETs are very rare tumours and they develop within the cells of the neuroendocrine system. There are different types of these tumours and these depend on what body part is affected. These tumours usually take years to develop and do not cause any obvious symptoms at first. It is not uncommon for sufferers of this cancer type to discover the cancer has already spread to another part of the body by the time they are diagnosed.

There are some types of benign (non cancerous) neuroendocrine tumours, as well as malignant (cancerous) ones. Usually the benign tumours are more slow growing then the malignant ones.

There are other names for this cancer type:

*Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (GEP NETs) – found in the gut or pancreas

*Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (pNETs) – found in the pancreas

*Gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumours (GI NETs) – found in the bowel, stomach or oesophagus

*Functioning neuroendocrine tumours (F-NETs)

*Non functioning neuroendocrine tumours (NF-NETs)

*Carcinoid tumour

Treatment for this cancer type, as with most cancer types, will be dependent on the type of tumour, the stage and grading and whether it has spread to another body part. Treatment can include surgery, chemotherapy or drug therapy.Some of these tumours can also develop outside the pancreas. For example, gastrinomas have been reported in the medical literature to develop in the ovaries, kidneys, stomach and liver, and not just in the pancreas and small bowel area. NETs that develop in the lung are usually carcinoid tumours.

Causes of neuroendocrine tumours:

Not much is known about the causes of this cancer type at present. However, sufferers of rare family syndromes or gene mutations have a higher risk. These include Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN 1) and Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome (VHL). Research also shows that if one of your parents has suffered from this cancer time then your risk of developing it is slightly increased. However, this cancer is very rare so your risk is still very slight even if you have a higher risk.

I hope this blog is informative, and helps Andy raise awareness. Please contact CRUK if you wish to have further information

xxx

Christmas Fundraising 2016

Hello! 

2016 has been a year of bad news. The media is filled with it and many of my friends and family have had some real hard times this year. I think many people will be happy to see the year go. I want to inject some positivity into 2016 as it comes to an end.

Usually my voluntary work is in memory of the relatives I have lost but this time it is inspired by a very special person.

My niece, Mia Ariana, was born in February this year and has become the apple of my eye. Mia is able to grow up in a safe and loving environment, filled with people who will protect and encourage her. Many children do not get to grow up in the same way. 

This Christmas we will be collecting funds to buy presents and supplies to help children and young people who otherwise won't enjoy the festive period like my niece will.

Half the money raised will be used to buy food and presents for families in Cyprus that will not be able to afford them otherwise. They will be taken to food banks to be distributed to those that need it.

The other half of the money will be used to buy supplies to donate to Crisis and The Metropolitan Police Christmas Present Appeal. Crisis will distribute their supplies to homeless people and The police will distribute presents to children who may not otherwise get them. The supplies for Crisis will include warm gloves, hats and scarves as well as snack bars, toiletries and other things to help the homeless. My stepdad, David, works for the Met and will be one of the officers delivering the presents.

I will be spending time with Mia in the UK between 2-5th December and we will go and buy our supplies and donate them that weekend. 

My good friends, Luke and Faye, will also be collecting to donate presents to children in the UK spending Christmas in hospital - https://www.justgiving.com/teams/target250k

Please donate anything you can spare, it's very much appreciate! We will keep you updated with our progress!

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/christmascheer2016 

Lots of love xxx

Cancer Research UK Annual Review 2015

A frequent question myself and other CRUK volunteers are asked is "where does my donation go?" People are aware that millions are donated every year but many aren't aware of what these funds are spent on. CRUK have released their annual review and, as usual, I'm going to break it down so that people can see where the money is going.

Let me first explain that 80p of every £1 donated is spent on research. That is a huge amount and probably one of the best in the third sector. The other 20p is used to raise funds for the future

 

£621 Million was raised by CRUK supporters last year

*£169 Million was raised by legacies (People leaving money in their wills)

*£122 Million was raised by regular donations (there are over 1 million people making regular donations)

*£91 Million was raised by trading (the CRUK shops)

*£89 Million was raised by charitable activities (including money from Cancer Research Technology)

*£63 Million was raised by events (for example Race for Life)

*£41 Million was raised by corporate or volunteer fundraising (Including local fundraising groups)

*£36 Million was raised by other donations (Including major giving and appeals)

*£10 Million was raised by other income (Income from CRUK investments)

 

9/10 donations are less than £10 which goes to show that every penny really does count and giving what you can afford, even if it isn’t a lot, really can make a huge difference.

 

This money funds over 4,000 world class scientists, doctors and nurses across the UK.

 

£341 Million was spent on research in 2014-2015

*£116 Million was spent on research that underpins all cancer types

*£31 Million was spent on breast cancer

*£31 Million was spent on lung cancer

*£30 Million was spent on over 100 cancers including cervical, kidney, stomach and testicular

*£30 Million was spent on bowel cancer

*£21 Million was spent on leukaemia

*£15 Million was spent on pancreatic cancer

*£15 Million was spent on prostate cancer

*£15 Million was spent on skin cancer

*£11 Million was spent on ovarian cancer

*£9 Million was spent on brain cancer

*£7 Million was spent on non hodgkin lymphoma

*£6 Million was spent on oesophageal cancer

*£4 Million was spent on bladder cancer

 

 

I am just one of over 40,00 volunteers for CRUK. Together we donate over seven millions hours worth of time to CRUK. The charity has a huge volunteer base because we all genuinely believe in the cause and the charities aims. It's been an amazing year for the charity:

 

*More than 600,000 people took part in walks, runs, cycling or swimming events to raise funds

*The charity is working with over 1,200 GP practices to try and help diagnose cancer sooner

*Over 53,000 took place in the Dryathlon and went without alcohol in January to raise funds#

*More then 90,000 people supported us CRUK Ambo's as we aimed to "Cross Cancer Out"

*The CRUK nurses helpline answered over 11,000 queries

*Over 27,000 patients took part in CRUK clinical trials

*Over 4 million bags of stuff were donated to CRUK shops

*Over 60,000 people visited the Cancer Awareness Roadshow to learn more about reducing their cancer risk and how to spot cancer early

 

 

I hope this brief guide has shown you that a donation to Cancer Research UK, no matter how small, is very very worthwhile. Research is being conducted every single day and the money you donate is being put to good use! It is a long and complicated process but progress is made in small steps every single day and we are slowing edging towards the day when we can proclaim that cancer will soon be a thing of the past.

For more information on this please contact Cancer Research UK for a copy of their Annual Review (it can be downloaded from their website). It is a very interesting and informative read. www.canceresearchuk.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The UK General Election 2015 and Cancer

Hello! It's been a long time since I've blogged. Life is busy - just how I like it - but I do love to write and am passionate about my subject so I hope to create time to do more posts from now on.

There's just over a week to go until the UK General Election. I hope you've registered to vote if you are eligible - it's going to be a close race in my opinion and every vote will count. We get to decide who will be representing the constituencies we live in and representing our views in Parliament as well as ultimately deciding who will lead our country for the next few years. If you're over the age of eighteen and registered to vote then you have a chance to make your voice heard and exercise your right to vote.

To read about the manifestos of various parties and their stance on cancer related issues please click these links 

http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2015/04/24/election-2015-what-are-the-parties-from-scotland-wales-and-northern-ireland-saying/

http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2015/04/17/election-2015-what-are-the-parties-saying-about-cancer/

Real progress is being made in the fight against cancer and CRUK's political actions is helping to accelerate this progress. Cancer is a political issue as well as a emotional one and it is something that matters to all of us. Survival rates have doubled over the last forty years but there is still lots more work to be done and this campaign is focusing on what the charity would like election candidates to focus on:

*Continued Support for Campaigns to Raise Public Awareness of the Signs and Symptoms of Cancer

Campaigns such as Be Clear on Cancer help raise awareness and encourage people to seek help when they feel they can identify some key signs and symptoms of cancer within their bodies. During the BCOC lung cancer campaign, 700 more people were diagnosed with lung cancer and 300 more received potentially life saving treatment compared to the same time period the year before. CRUK want the government to continue to support such campaigns in the UK.

*A Commitment to Increase Participation in the National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme

Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK. As with most cancers, patients diagnosed at an earlier stage are more likely to survive, with four out of five patients with the earliest stage of the disease surviving at least five years after diagnosis. However fewer then one in ten patients are diagnosed at the earliest stage. CRUK would like the government to ask local areas to increase the number of people participating in bowel screening by at least 10% as well as providing quality information on the risks and benefits of the screening process so people can make an informed decision on whether to participate.

*Strengthen the System and Processes that Support Cancer Diagnosis

Health is a devolved issue but people living in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can still get involved in the campaign as your next MP's will also need to be encouraged to keep cancer high on the political agenda. They will also have the power to advocate for improved health throughout the UK. Successful initiatives in England will have an impact on the other three nations so it is important MP's are aware of what is going on.

*Equal Access to Innovative Radiotherapy, Surgery and Effective Cancer Drugs, including Drugs Targeted to Patients' Tumours.

-Radiotherapy is a cost-effective and cutting edge cure for cancer. Treatments are becoming more sophisticated over time and CRUK believe it is important that patients receive the very latest treatments as soon as they have been proven effective and become available. Research suggests radiotherapy contributes to four in ten cases where the cancer is cured. My Ambo family helped secure over £23million from the government to help increase patient access to radiotherapy so that now over 6,000 more patients have access to a targeted radiotherapy with less side effects. CRUK now want to government to commit to a long term strategy to make innovative radiotherapy treatments available to all those who would benefit. This strategy should include details on how out dated radiotherapy machines will be replaced by newer equipment with more advanced techniques as well as how the workforce will be resourced,

-Surgery is essential when it comes to managing and treating cancer. It contributes to half of all cases were cancer is cured. Evidence suggests that older patients are less likely to have surgery for their cancer and CRUK believes surgery should be offered to ALL cancer patients where appropriate regardless of age. We want the government to commit to increase access to surgery for the older population.

-Cancer drugs are an important part in many patients treatment. Appropriate access to effective and innovative drugs is vital and we need the government to find a long term solution to make these drugs available to the patients who need them. NICE, the NHS and drug companies will be required to work together to make this happen. Personalised medicine is already revolutionising cancer treatment as it makes sure patients get the best drugs for their condition, and hopefully avoid side effects from the drugs specialists can predict will not work for them, We will hopefully develop many more targeted treatments in the future and we need to make sure the government and NHS develop a commissioning policy so patients can be offered the appropriate diagnostic tests.

Lizzy Allen, one of the lovely ladies looking after my Ambo family, has written a blog about the campaign which you can read here http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2014/10/24/its-time-to-cross-cancer-out-our-general-election-campaign/ 

You can take part in the campaign by taking two minutes to click the link and allow CRUK to email your election candidates and ask them to support the campaign. http://e-activist.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=149&ea.campaign.id=32425&ea.tracking.id=140b280a

Campaigns are what we Ambassadors do best and I'm hugely excited about this one. The build up to the general election is really important and I encourage as many people as possible to get involved and help decide who will be in charge of our country next. Thank you very much in advance for clicking the link!!

My story has been used as a case study which you can read here: http://m.newsshopper.co.uk/news/11885142.Chislehurst_woman_s_plea_to__cross_cancer_out__after_losing_6_family_members_to_the_disease/

xxx

For My Hayley xx

Today should be Sid Quorn's birthday. Sadly he passed away, leaving behind his lovely daughter, Hayley. Hayley is one of the funniest, kindest and most truest friends I have. Always ready to help anyone, always with something funny to say, always ready to put others before herself. Your dad would be really proud of you Hayley! I miss you brightening up my daily life!! Today's post is dedicated to the two of you xxx

Sadly poor Sid had cancer in a lot of places but Hayley did tell me that one place he had it was in the colon so today I'm going to explain the progress being made in the fight against colon (bowel) cancer.

Cancer of the bowel is the third most common cancer type in the UK, with more then 41,000 people diagnosed every day. It kills around 16,000 people per year in the UK. Thanks to advancements in research, half of those diagnosed with bowel cancer today will survive for at least ten years after the diagnosis. The work of CRUK has played a huge role in this.

Making a Difference:

So far CRUK has played a huge role in researching ways to prevent, diagnosis and treat bowel cancer:

*Faulty genes, including the APC gene, which are responsible for bowel cancers running in families have been discovered and this has also led to researchers finding the subtle genetic variations that increase the bowel cancer risk in the general population.

*There was a campaign for the introduction of a bowel screening programme in the UK which saves thousands of lives every year

*Major clinical trials have been funded to change the way those with advanced bowel cancer are treated.

*CRUK helped fund the EPIC, the largest ever study into diet and cancer. This discovered that a diet containing a high amount of red and processed meat, as well as high alcohol consumption, increases your bowel cancer risk. It also discovered that a diet containing lots of high fibre food and lots of physical activity can reduce your bowel cancer risk.

*CRUK helped develop and test many of the drugs used to treat bowel cancer including

-Oxaliplatin

-Irinotecan

-Capecitabine

-Raltitrexed

-Fluorouracil

*CRUK also helped fund the groundbreaking trial of an alternative bowel screening programme which is called a Bowel Scope. This could prevent a third of all bowel cancer cases.

Current Research into Bowel Cancer

Our donations to CRUK currently help fund a number of research projects into bowel cancer. There are currently around fourteen separate research studies into bowel cancer taking place in CRUK labs including:

*Dr Farhat Din is a Clinician Scientist with CRUK and hold a prestigious CRUK Fellowship which allows her to research how aspirin can reduce the risk of bowel cancer. This important work could lead to better prevention strategies in the future and will hopefully discover the best way to use aspirin to prevent bowel cancer. 

*Labs in Oxford, London, Edinburgh and Cambridge are currently tracking down the gene faults linked with bowel cancer. This will hopefully lead to a more personalised screening process and treatment.

*The Beatson Institute, Glasgow, is home to Dr Own Sansom who is currently tracking the changes that turn healthy bowel cells into cancerous ones. This important work will hopefully show us how the disease develops and how to treat it in the future.

*Prof Dion Morton is running a major clinical trial in Birmingham which is testing whether chemotherapy before surgery can shrink the tumour, making it easier to remove and reducing the risk of it coming back in the future.

*Christine Campbell is in Edinburgh researching how we can increase the amount of people having bowel screening, which has the potential to save lives by diagnosing bowel cancer in the early stages when it is more curable.

You can find out about even more research projects into bowel cancer at http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/science/research/who-and-what-we-fund/researchbycancertype/bowelresearch_new/

In celebration of Sid and Hayley I'll be making a little donation to one of these research projects. That means that donation will directly affect research into bowel cancer in Sid's memory. Hopefully this means his memory will help save someone else in the future. I'm not sure if I have ever mentioned that you can donate money to a specific research project, or a specific type of cancer, when donating to CRUK. All you have to do is visit the MyProjects page and pick the project you identify most with. http://myprojects.cancerresearchuk.org/projects/p/category/Bowel%20cancer

To read more of my bowel cancer related posts please visit 

Colonoscopy -http://pennysophia.blogspot.com/2013/04/bowel-cancer-awareness-month-colonoscopy.html

Bowel Cancer- http://pennysophia.blogspot.com/2012/02/bowel-cancer-uk.html

Thinking of you today my lovely Hayley, and really looking forward to seeing you next month!!! Lots of love xxxx

Cancer Research UK Kids and Teens Campaign

For those that don't know I'll explain why this campaign is so important to me. I've lost six relatives to cancer so far in my life. Sadly my cousin Georgie was one of them. He lost his mum when he was a baby and was then diagnosed with a very rare cancer himself on his second birthday. He was very very brave and he survived that first diagnosis. He grew into the most lovable, smiliest, most fun child in the world. He gave us all so much happiness. He was then diagnosed with osteosarcoma as a teenager and he once again showed bravery way beyond his years. Our hearts broke when he succumbed to his illness on April 25th 2011 aged just seventeen. Our hearts are still broken to this day as we still try to navigate life without his beautiful heart, his sense of fun, his love and his amazing nature. I will never ever recover from his death, there is a hole in my heart that will never heal. There is no way to describe watching someone you have loved from the moment they were born suffer in such a horrific way. The fact that he died on my birthday is just horrific - imagine the feeling of growing another year older on the same date someone you treated as a brother stopped living. The voluntary work is to ensure no one else has to lose someone the way we had to lose him.

Every day around 10 young people in the UK are diagnosed with cancer.  Despite being rare compared to cancer in adults, cancer is still the leading cause of death by disease in children, teens and young adults under the age of 24, and it has a devastating impact on youngsters and their families. Cancer Research UK have launched a new campaign to raise more money to research the cancers found in children, teenagers and young adults.

The cancers seen in children are usually very different to those seen in adults and “childhood” refers to any child aged between birth and fourteen years old.

There are twelve main types of childhood cancer:

*Leukaemia

*Soft Tissue Sarcomas

*Kidney Tumours

*Brain and Central Nervous System (CNS)

*Bone Tumours (Like the one Georgie had)

*Carcinomas and Melanomas

*Retinoblastomas

*Gonadal and Germ Cell Tumours

*Liver Tumours

*Sympathetic Nervous System Tumours

*Other and Unspecified Tumours

Childhood cancer is quite rare and makes up 5% of all cancers. Around 1,600 children in the UK are diagnosed with cancer every year, which roughly works out at thirty one children per week. Around one in every five hundred children in the UK will be diagnosed with cancer.

The UK’s childhood cancer rates are amongst the lowest in Europe, with Northen Europe having the highest incidence rate.

Leukeamia is the most common childhood cancer. Two thirds of all childhood cancers are  leukeamia, brain and CNS tumours and lymphomas.

Surviving Childhood Cancer:

More children then ever are surviving cancer. The survival rate has doubled since the 1960’s and at least 5,600 MORE children now survive for more then five years after diagnosis.

Around 33,000 people in the UK have survived a type of childhood cancer and almost three quarters of children with cancer can now be cured of the disease.

For every ten childhood cancer sufferers – eight will now survive for more then five years after their diagnosis:

*Nearly all children diagnosed with retinoblastoma are cured.

*Survival rates for Hepatoblastoma have doubled since the 1960’s.

*Around six out of ten children diagnosed with neuroblastoma are cured.

*Eight out of ten children with kidney cancer survive the disease.

*Rhabdomyosarcoma survival rates have doubled since the 1970’s.

Childhood Cancer Deaths:

Cancer is the UK’s leading cause of death (from disease) in children aged up to fourteen. A fifth of all childhood deaths are down to cancer.

Brain and CNS tumours are the most common fatal type of childhood cancer.

Around two hundred and fifty children die from cancer every year in the UK.

Childhood cancer death rates have halved since the 1960’s.

Causes of Childhood Cancer:

We don’t know much about what causes childhood cancers but there are several things we do know:

*Rare genetic syndromes such as Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (what Georgie had) can greatly increase a child’s risk of developing cancer.

*Children with Down ’s syndrome have a greater risk of developing leukaemia.

*2/5 retinoblastomas are linked to a faulty gene that has been inherited.

*Children that have had radiotherapy or chemotherapy in the past are at greater risk of developing a second cancer (As Georgie did)

If you would like to learn more about this campaign, childhood cancer, or would like to donate to the campaign, please visit http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/support-us/donate/kidsandteens