I went from cancer treatment to marathon runner
Laura
Laura had to undergo surgery for a stage three melanoma on her knee. Nine months later she was able to complete her long-term ambition of running a marathon.
She told us “I still run regularly now, and I’m just about to take on a half marathon in a few weeks. Each morning when I don’t want to get out of bed to go on a run, I remind myself that I’m doing the runs, because at one point I wasn’t sure if I would ever run again”. Here is her story on how she became a marathon runner and how her perspectives - in relation to life ambitions - changed hugely once her treatment was finished.
When I speak about my life I often refer to my life ‘before cancer’ and ‘after cancer’. Most people would assume that your life after cancer is worse, but for me I don’t find that’s the case. Don’t get me wrong, my life after cancer has its downsides, my anxiety is worse, I have more worries about my mortality and the potential return of cancer and I have to juggle ongoing challenges of balancing hospital appointments and the constant reminder that at one point your body wanted to do you harm. However, as a result of these negatives I have also seen an improvement in my attitude towards life.
Prior to cancer, my mind was living in the future, my plans were: where I would be in five years? When would I finally buy a house? And I had a continuous list of things I wanted to do in the future. The bitter reality of having a disease that ultimately turned your future upside down means that you need to live in the here and now, your future list turns into things that you want to do in the near future, not just one day. It pushed me to start now and not tomorrow.
In my life after cancer, I finally achieved my number one ambition of running a marathon. In 2020, I had cancer on a mole in my leg, which had spread to my lymph nodes in my groin on the same leg. In October 2021, just nine months after being given the all clear, I finally ran a marathon, with the same legs which had previously contained stage three melanoma. These legs managed to see me through the hundreds of miles of training and eventually the final 26.2 mile run. As you can imagine, running a marathon was not the easiest thing I’ve ever done, but I decided to run the marathon for Teenage Cancer Trust, and ended up raising over £1000. One piece of advice I was given was whenever a mile got hard, to dedicate each mile to a person. A lot of the people on that list were friends I had made through Teenage Cancer Trust, some who were unfortunately no longer with us, some who were still going through treatment and some who like me had come through the other side. I still run regularly now, and I’m just about to take on a half marathon in a few weeks. Each morning when I don’t want to get out of bed to go on a run, I remind myself that I’m doing the runs, because at one point I wasn’t sure if I would ever run again.
In October 2021, just nine months after being given the all clear, I finally ran a marathon, with the same legs which had previously contained stage three melanoma.
The day I was diagnosed with cancer, was the day that I was meant to take a trip of a life-time to Norway, although the pandemic had already cancelled this holiday, it was still a further kick in the teeth. Since then, cancer has impacted my holidays. As my cancer was melanoma, I have to be much more careful in the sun, we have to carefully plan our destinations and time of year based on the weather. One thing you don’t realise is how expensive your travel insurance will be for the next couple of years, I also need to now be more mindful of where we go on holiday. But in August 2022, we finally managed to go on holiday to travel around Norway. We hiked up Pulpit Rock, we took a trip on the Fjords and we cycled by the sea. It was amazing to finally see a country which I was desperate to see.
When I was first diagnosed with cancer, I was worried that I was going to miss out on the big things in life. I initially questioned if I would ever have kids or if I would ever get married. Although for most things I try not to book things too far in the future, unfortunately the UK wedding industry hinders this. My partner and I have just booked our wedding for September 2025, this will be a milestone, five years since the last of my cancer was removed from my body, which for a lot of cancer patients is a huge milestone to get to. Although I’m still taking everything a day at a time, there’s a part of me that’s looking forward to finally reaching the five year milestones.
I don’t think your attitudes or aspirations after cancer need to be big ones, a lot of times the smallest things matter. I try to say yes to every opportunity I’m given, although I know sometimes I need to say no as my social battery recharges when I’m alone. Paddleboarding in the freezing cold Scottish lochs? I’m trying it. Eating a whale burger fresh from the Norwegian sea? Go on then. Starting trail running with a group of people you don’t know despite hating running up hills? … you guessed it, I now love it.
So yes, my life after cancer is different, but I’ve done some amazing things, I’ve got some more lined up and I’m constantly taking new opportunities in my hands and giving them a go. My attitude has completely changed and I’m thankful for it.