So this is where my fundraising began in November 2012 with the Beating Bowel Cancer Fundraising Book. It was published shortly after her bowel operation, which successfully removed a section of her bowel containing the cancerous tumour. The care and attention mum received at Mount Vernon, Wexham Park and Harefield Hospitals was first class, and it was while mum was undergoing treatment that I decided I wanted to do something to raise funds for a cancer charity and give something back. I came upon Beating Bowel Cancer and have fundraised for them ever since. Their recent merger with Bowel Cancer UK means they are now the UK's leading bowel cancer charity.
It was in April 2012 that the dreaded cancer word came into our family. One minute I was sitting with my mother expecting a normal discharge from hospital, and then in the blink of an eye our world was turned upside down when we were told that mum had bowel cancer. She had been having trouble going to the toilet and was sent to Wexham Park Hospital for an endoscopy, and it was at that point we learned she had bowel cancer. Her treatment involved radiotherapy and chemotherapy to shrink the tumour, before a successful operation to remove it was performed in the September. She made an excellent recovery, although she had an operation to remove a cancerous nodule from her left lung in January 2013, and had to undergo the same operation on her right lung in the March. For the next 18 months she did really well, but unfortunately in November 2014 we discovered that the cancer had returned to her left lung once again, and she underwent successful surgery in February to remove the nodule. Unfortunately before 2015 was out another nodule had appeared on her left lung, so the decision was taken to remove the lower lob of the left lung in early 2016. Worse was to follow as before any operation could take place, the cancer spread to her brain. She had CyberKnife treatment for that, and then had the lung surgery. Sadly the brain cancer treatment was not successful, and in the summer of 2016 she had a big seizure which paralysed her down one side and putting her back in Wexham Park Hospital. At this point in spite of valiant efforts by the medical team her condition became terminal, and she spent her last 5 weeks at the St. Marks Nursing Home in Maidenhead. She passed away on August 29th, 2016 with the family at her bedside one week after her 80th birthday.
It was in April 2012 that the dreaded cancer word came into our family. One minute I was sitting with my mother expecting a normal discharge from hospital, and then in the blink of an eye our world was turned upside down when we were told that mum had bowel cancer. She had been having trouble going to the toilet and was sent to Wexham Park Hospital for an endoscopy, and it was at that point we learned she had bowel cancer. Her treatment involved radiotherapy and chemotherapy to shrink the tumour, before a successful operation to remove it was performed in the September. She made an excellent recovery, although she had an operation to remove a cancerous nodule from her left lung in January 2013, and had to undergo the same operation on her right lung in the March. For the next 18 months she did really well, but unfortunately in November 2014 we discovered that the cancer had returned to her left lung once again, and she underwent successful surgery in February to remove the nodule. Unfortunately before 2015 was out another nodule had appeared on her left lung, so the decision was taken to remove the lower lob of the left lung in early 2016. Worse was to follow as before any operation could take place, the cancer spread to her brain. She had CyberKnife treatment for that, and then had the lung surgery. Sadly the brain cancer treatment was not successful, and in the summer of 2016 she had a big seizure which paralysed her down one side and putting her back in Wexham Park Hospital. At this point in spite of valiant efforts by the medical team her condition became terminal, and she spent her last 5 weeks at the St. Marks Nursing Home in Maidenhead. She passed away on August 29th, 2016 with the family at her bedside one week after her 80th birthday.
The fundraising experience has been a massive journey of discovery. It soon become obvious just how important it also is to raise awareness about bowel cancer, as well as funds for the charity. Unfortunately running a business on my own imposes restrictions as to what I can do, but the idea of writing a book seemed the perfect solution. I had been a keen amateur photographer for a couple of years, and the idea I had was to write a book featuring photos on various subjects, ideas and technical approaches. Beating Bowel Cancer therefore is a charity book featuring a collection of photographs and the stories behind them to raise funds for the Beating Bowel Cancer /Bowel Cancer UK charity. All proceeds raised are donated to the charity.
The ebook version on Amazon is £1.99 of which the £1.00 I earn is donated to the charity. It is for the Kindle, but there are freely available Kindle reader apps for Ipads, Iphones and computers. From outside the UK please use Amazon.com to buy the book.
The physical book version is available for £7.21 on Amazon with around £1 going to the charity and it can also be bought from Create Space for $11.49. I have since added the book to my bowelcancerfundraising.co.uk website selling at £7.00 with each sale raising £2.45 for the charity.
The original plan was to try and sell 1000 copies, but I would estimate that I have sold around 350 copies so I still have a long way to go! However it has raised over £500 over the years, and it was a brilliant learning curve giving me the confidence to produce the follow up book Lives & Times.
