Escaping Lockdown with Stage 4 Melanoma and Milestone Birthdays

After 100 days of lockdown shielding I was feeling euphoric to leave London for a day of hiking on one of my favourite hikes in the South Downs over the Seven Sisters to Beachy Head. As many of you are aware, I have been in the shielding category, which has been a big challenge. Even though I have been going out more in the past month I was still feeling quite trapped in the city and had major cabin fever after spending so much time at home. The sight of the sea and the cliffs was good for the soul and felt amazing, it was so quiet, and we hardly met anyone on the 20km hike. It was a shame that the pub at Beachy Head was not yet open as that is usually the half-way lunch spot but we stopped near there and had our picnic before heading back. It was a stunning day and I really loved every minute. My legs on the other hand were screaming as they are out of hiking practice; definitely more training required before we take on the next challenge on the Giants Causeway in October.

Next up was my big milestone birthday, on July 12 I turned 50. At the start of the year I was feeling so excited about my birthday as we planned a big party in a gorgeous house we had rented in Kent. The girls were also planning a trip to Ibiza but as the lockdown progressed it became obvious that both the planned party nor the trip to Ibiza was going to be possible with the COVID restrictions so they have been postponed to next year and I’ll be staying 49 for an extra year. I feel quite emotional and grateful to be turning 50. I think before my stage 4 melanoma diagnosis I may have been dreading reaching such a milestone age and worrying about getting older. Now that has all changed, every birthday is to be celebrated, (this one even more than most) as it represents another year that I am still here, healthy, happy and able to make the most of every day with family and friends. I distinctly remember almost 3 years ago to the day being discharged from Marsden HQ after my 3 week inpatient stay after experiencing extreme autoimmune hepatitis from my immunotherapy treatment thinking would I see the next Christmas far less dream of seeing my 50^th birthday. So the fact, I am celebrating turning 50, I feel hugely grateful to the fantastic melanoma team led by my Oncologist Prof Larkin and Nurse Nikki Hunter and all the team at the Royal Marsden for continuing to look after me so amazingly well. You are all superstars.

Although the birthday party was postponed, I had a gorgeous bday picnic at Cannizaro House in Wimbledon with family and friends. I was so excited to see everyone as I had been missing them all during lockdown and we had a gorgeous day. I was woken in the morning bright and early with my good friend Denise calling from Hong Kong where David and I used to live. As I was opening my birthday cards, in the middle of the pile were the forms for my blood tests that had been sent from the Marsden. I quickly put them to one side, as I did not need to be thinking about melanoma on my big day. The sun shone and we had lots of fun, I felt very spoiled and after the last 4 months of lockdown it felt that I was finally escaping. The next day David and I escaped to the Pig Hotel in Kent for a couple of days, which was really gorgeous. The hotel had put lots of safety measures in place to protect guests and staff against COVID and it was really lovely to eat out again in a restaurant after so much time at home. We then spent the day walking along the Kent coastline from Bottany Bay to Broadstairs, which was stunning. Here are a few pics. We both returned to London feeling rejuvenated and rested.

By Friday I was back at Marsden HQ for scans, mask on. The hospital was so quiet; I was quickly taken for my MRI and CT scan. Since I was last there in May it is now mandatory to wear masks in the hospital and I did wonder about needing to wear a mask in the MRI scanner along with the face cage, which is already very claustrophobic. Fortunately I was allowed to remove my face mask which was a big relief. As I had such a lovely birthday week and was feeling on a big high (I managed not to think too much about the scan results over the weekend) It was gorgeous weather and we met up with friends Phil and Jo to go hiking which took my mind off the scanxiety. I had also been feeling really well although that can lull you into a false sense of security. On Monday morning I was back at the hospital for results and fortunately the wonder targeted drugs continue to work over 2.5 years on and my melanoma is under control. This was just the best birthday present and a lovely finish to my bday week. I also saw my nurse Nikki which was lovely to catch up with her in person, as I hadn’t seen her since Jan as the consultations have all been taking place by phone. After picking up my drug supply it was off for breakfast with David to celebrate, we were too early for the Ivy café so that will have to wait. I feel very grateful that my treatment has not been disrupted by coronavirus, scans took place as scheduled, and I felt very safe at the hospital.

However the COVID situation has been very worrying for many cancer patients who have had their treatments postponed, scans cancelled and recently CRUK estimates that an additional 35,000 extra deaths could result due to treatments being deferred or cancers going undetected. Deborah James (aka) Bowelbabe a fellow Marsden patient recently presented BBC Panorama “Britain’s Cancer Crisis” which laid bare the impact of coronavirus on NHS cancer care and included some really heartbreaking patient stories.

We have seen this also in the melanoma patient community and this has a significant impact on patient survival. We are seeing too many young lives lost to melanoma tearing families apart. Covid 19 is also having a huge impact on cancer research and just a couple of weeks ago CRUK which is responsible for the funding of over 50% of UK cancer research announced it was making 500 people redundant and £44m cuts to its research.   

The Royal Marsden cancer charity had also been affected and has been running an emergency appeal. I recently wrote a blog for the charity and also spoke to the team in a short video about my experience at the hospital during coronavirus and why it’s so important to continue supporting the charity during this time.

Team Shomelanoma are back training for the next big challenge on the Giants Causeway at end Oct. It has been a shock to the system getting the legs back into hiking action but it has been good to be back out in the Surrey Hills training with the team. Next up we will be off to Scotland to see the family and tackle a couple of munro’s and we have everything crossed that the challenge will be going ahead. More details to come in the next blog.

As the heatwave returns to the UK this weekend we had the news today that Brits are spending 40% more time in the sun during lockdown than they did last year with over a third of us saying they don’t protect their skin in any way in their own outside space. The sun isn’t only strong abroad so please remember to protect your skin slap on the factor 50, stay covered up and out of the midday sun and most importantly don’t get burnt. Early detection saves lives, melanoma cases are on the rise in the UK and we are still losing 7 people every day to the disease. If you do notice any changes get an appointment booked with your GP or Dermatologist.

Thank you as always for all your support and look out for more Shomelanoma adventures coming your way next month.