'Cancer free'?

You should probably read this first.

Waiting, while the girl I love underwent surgery to remove the cancer, was by far the most distressing and difficult experience of my life. Time has never passed so slowly. Seeing her afterwards was a brief respite, but having to leave her in the hospital whilst I went home was heart wrenching and I hardly slept at all during her four night stay.

The ten days following the surgery; ten days for them to analyse what they had removed, were agonising.  But then came the news we’d hoped for, but hadn't dared to dream of: the surgery was successful.  We are cancer free.

So that’s it, right? We won.

Well, no.

There’s still radiotherapy to come (which, thankfully, shouldn't be anywhere near the ordeal of chemo or surgery), and then we have to come to terms with everything that’s just happened to us and somehow move on.  Since May we’ve fought, struggled and battled our way through the treatment, always focusing on the next step and getting through each one at a time. We've not even begun to deal with the trauma of this whole experience.

My girlfriend's treatment may have been successful, but that isn't the end of the story. There is always the risk of the cancer returning, which is why charities such as Breakthrough Breastcancer are so important. Constant and continued research is essential to improve existing treatments and to search for new ones.  This research is vital in the battle to cure and eradicate this awful disease.

As well as their research, Breakthrough also offer valuable information through their website - information that is not only useful to breast cancer patients, but also anyone who is worried or wanting to know more.

I’m now even more focused than before to raise money for this vital charity, to make sure they can continue to help save lives.

Please give money if you can, share this with everyone you know, talk to me if you like and voice any ideas for ways that we can raise more money.

Click Here to donate

As some of you know, but many of you won’t, 

my beautiful girlfriend is currently fighting cancer.

In April 2012 she found a lump.

She went to see her GP, who referred her to the breast unit for a scan.

The scan led to a biopsy and we were told that there was a high chance that it was cancerous.

A week later, just a few days before her thirtieth birthday, we received confirmation that it was breast cancer.

She would need to undergo chemotherapy, surgery and potentially radiotherapy.

At time of writing, she has fought her way through 6 cycles of chemo and we’re now preparing ourselves for surgery in November and radiotherapy thereafter.

I’ve never met anyone in my life as strong and brave as her. If I were in her shoes, I wouldn’t have coped nearly as well and she makes me so proud.

You can follow her on twitter @eat_more_cake and read about her journey, her experiences and her fight. She’s happy to answer questions if any of you are worried, concerned, or curious about what we’ve been through and what it’s like to be diagnosed.

I’d like to say that I’ve been strong too, but I’ve often felt helpless and weak. Living with the constant feeling that there should be something more that I could do to make her feel better, to support her better and somehow take away her pain and suffering (chemo really is a horrible treatment).

Now that I know first hand what people go through following a diagnosis, what the families and those close to them feel and suffer, I have so much admiration and respect for charities who work hard, not only to fight for cures and awareness, but offer information, support and advice for all those affected.

And now I want to do all I can to help those charities and through them help others affected by the disease, other families who are struggling to cope and people in my shoes, who feel the way I do.

As helpless as I feel, I’ve found something that I can do, to help other people in the same situation.

I am going to challenge myself to raise money for Breakthrough Breast Cancer, one of the charities that undertake wonderful work in this particular field.

Next July, a team of 9 cyclists and I will be riding the 300 miles from London to Paris.

To challenge ourselves further and to raise more money for the cause, we’ll be setting off a day early from Bath (roughly another 120 miles).

We’re hoping to raise at least £20,000.

If you can help by donating anything, no matter how little the amount, you’ll be helping me, helping my girlfriend and helping thousands of others affected by breast cancer. You’ll be doing much more than you’ll ever know. If you can’t afford to donate, then please share this, tell your friends and help us reach our target.

>>>Click here to donate<<<

Or text 'LEGS98' followed by the amount you want to donate to 70070.

Thank you for reading, and if you’re going through anything similar to me, I’m more than happy to talk.

Hannes