My Story

Hello everyone! 

Kidney Cancer UK is a charity which is very close to my heart.

I was diagnosed with a rare form of Kidney Cancer (Chromophobe Renal Cell Carcinoma) in September 2020 at the age of 29. Since my diagnosis and throughout my treatment I have received invaluable support from the charity through the Facebook support group, the careline, the Zoom support group meetings and sessions of telephone counselling. The KCUK counsellor, healthcare professionals and other patients who I have been able to network with through the charity have all been by my side throughout the scariest time of my life to date, alongside my ever-amazing family and friends. They have played a huge role in helping me to cope with and process what's happened. 

I had surgery to remove the cancerous tumour from my kidney in December 2020 and since then, walking and hiking have been a huge part of my physical and mental recovery. Therefore, I felt that Walk for a Cure was the perfect opportunity for me to reach a milestone in my recovery as well as hopefully raising some money for this wonderful charity! I am therefore taking on the challenge of walking 21 miles (route TBC) on the weekend of 14th-16th May 2021. I hope that this money will help the charity to support other people going through Kidney Cancer, as well as to fund research for life-saving treatment. Kidney Cancer treatments have come on so much in the last few years but we still have a long way to go, as Kidney Cancer is extremely resistant to conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy. 

My surgery was extremely successful and the whole tumour was removed with a clear margin, meaning they got it all, and I'm currently awaiting the results of my first follow up CT scan to check there are no signs of cancer or recurrence elsewhere in my body. I will have years of monitoring scans to keep an eye on me. 

I am so grateful to you if you have taken the time to read about my journey and will be so grateful for any and all donations!!! 
 

Love,

Laura xxx