'There's a party in my head'

There's a party in my head was a comment I made to The ' Kempsters ' on my first day of my holiday to Jamaica!... Of course why wouldn't there be ? (party in my head) I'm in Jamaica ... But the HAPPY HAPPY feeling went beyond the location, right to the unconditional rewards of great friendships and straight to the core of me!!

After the year I have had Jamaica was my 'job well done' treat!!.. I decided to surprise hijack the holiday of my Australian friend Di and her son's Chris and Jason and his partner Ran! 

Di will take on the rest of this post as a 'guest blogger'; rather brave of me to do that, but it also adds another dimemtion to my story... for reflection! 

Suzanne and I are on holidays in Jamaica, she came here to surprise me and I can't tell you the feelings that overwhelmed me when I saw her!

          Good friends Jamaica 2009

Being so far away from her as she has fought so hard has made me want to jump on a plane many times. The blog has been wonderful but knowing Suzanne, it was clear to read between the lines about what she didn't say at times.

Suzanne's inspiration to others is amazing - I'm not sure that I would have the courage she has shown. 

Her emotions sit just below the surface . I know Suzanne has taken the cancer in her stride, but the Suzanne who first arrived was not the one  I left in the UK in 2009. It seems clear to me that her confidence has taken a beating by how others have placed expectations on her at a time when she has been most vulnerable! 

Suzanne is now free to live her life her way and so the 'party in her head' begins! 

Suzanne, today has laughter that bubbles out, the sad lookin her eyes is now replaced by sparkling beauty, her short hair has enhanced her beauty- if that was possible- and heads have turned in Jamaica! I've lost count of the number of Jamaican men that want her to be their number one! Lol!

Our days have been made special by the likes of Dave Ellis, our waiter who serenaded us at breakfast one morning and  got whole dinning room singing 'one love'!!

Then there was Dwayne, the resort photographer, who on Suzanne's first day at the swim up pool, told her to sit up and show off her nice boobs for a photo! He couldn't understand why we were laughing hysterically when she said no!! Suzanne felt free to see the humour and enjoy it! If you don't find this funny , I'm sorry, but you just had to be there!!

So as the party in her head continues, she will be free to live her life to the fullest and do it her way!

Suzanne, my sons and I love you to bits and celebrate with you finding your way! 

Ya mon! 

Be extraordinary and VOTE for #Inspirational awards for women 2014

You may recall that I have been rewarded with the privilege of attending the Inspirational Awards for women on 2nd October 2014.

Well, I received a lovely email from #IAUK recently, advising me that I had been nominated by a couple of people for an award myself, and whilst I have since learned that I have not been short listed, the nomination itself, and the lovely words written about me is reward enough!  Thank you Jackie and Taymar x

But, I still get to go to the awards….Yay!!….. The nominees have now been announced and having put my votes in already, I feel so excited at the prospect of meeting these most inspirational ladies!!

I'm not sure we celebrate each other enough and I don't know why, because  the actual process of voting gave me such feel good mood boost!!

Being inspired is about feeding from the positive energy of others and giving recognition to the people that have influenced your thoughts and behaviour in life, or any given day or situation feels extraordinary and it's simply infectious…so lets start an epidemic ….…. After you have voted for your inspirational ladies at #IAUK…..go and compliment those around you today that deserve the recognition for a 'job well' done!!

…..And if you receive a compliment, especially my fellow ladies out there…..'TAKE IT' and be transformed by that feeling and go and 'change the world'! ….

'People strive to do more of what brings praise from others' and I know that the 'encouragements' I have received since my diagnosis, have been such a powerful influence in terms of my blog and fund-raising escapades!

#LGFB ICON WALK

My friend Kathy Sanford, a lady I met fleetingly, but have developed a strong connection with, most recently encouraged me on; "You have helped so many Suzanne with taking the terror out of the diagnosis"!!….Can you see the magic that happened there??? …Kathy was inspired and gifted me those words and in turn those words have inspired and encouraged me!!

Voting didn't take me long at all, please take a few moments to take a look at the nominees, vote and motivate extraordinary women  to carry on doing extraordinary things!!

JK Rowling- a personal favourite

The awards will be raising money for #Breakthrough Breast Cancer, and they have just launched their new Stop Breast Cancer for Good, campaign, and their first step is to Demand a Fair Price for Life Extending Drugs!… Take a look and sign up to the campaign!!

Take care of each other ladies and be marvellous!

Project Boob!

It was a Herecptin day for me on Tuesday 2nd September, but the 'highlight' of my medical week was my appointment with Mr Dawson on the 4th September!

I went to the appointment without preparing for the discussion I knew I would be having about the reconstruction of my boob. I did very little research before hand and I had not commited any questions to paper, which is unusual for me, but reflective of busy, inefficient mind wanderings and other preoccupations!

Of course I had questions and thought I could 'wing' it  confidently….but the familiarity of Dr D seemed to draw out the vulnerability within me and I found the appointment to be a somewhat emotional one.

Without the research or my note pad, I certainly felt on a back foot.... even Dr Dawson made comment on my absent note pad! I'm not saying that it would have made me feel any less emotional, but the lack of structure to my thoughts, made me feel disconnected from it all and I didn't get as much out of the appointment as I could have done. Note to self!

Never the less, Mr D negotiated his way beautifully through some 'confused' ramblings and went through the options in terms of reconstruction, and whilst he was certainly not pushing me to make any decisions, I was simply incapable of focussing my thoughts that day on booby matters! 

I looked to Mr D to tell me exactly the route I should take…pretty lazy I know, and as he was talking about 3 options, recovery and risks, as he is duty bound to do, the prospect of a reconstructed boob wasn't as exciting as once it appeared…and all of a sudden I didn't feel so brave! ha!

Despite my lack of preparation I left the appointment feeling that 'Project Boob' had been well and truly launched. Whilst I have yet to make a decision on my recon option, I have been referred to a plastic surgeon at the Leicester Royal Infirmary for a consultation about the DIEP Flap reconstruction, which is favoured as the 'gold star' option for it has the most natural result.

I was also able to talk to Mr D about ongoing screening and the questions I had about reoccurrence. It seems there is no miracle blood test or method to detect reoccurrence in advance of any symptoms. I am left relying on yearly mammograms,  described by Mr D as the most effective way to screen for reoccurrence.

It doesn't feel enough, but I'm realistic and I am happy to live my life with uncertainty,  and it's many opportunities.

The Power of the Media - #warpaint4life

Just in case it has escaped you !!!!… my #warpaint4life image was used in the #SundayTimes magazine last Sunday… A double whammy, both in The Style and The Sunday Times magazine!

It is all terribly exciting and somewhat surreal to have ones image in magazines, but that's not half as thrilling as seeing the #warpaint4life campaign 'catch fire'!

Over the past few weeks, both The Sunday Times, in it's in Style & Sunday Times magazines and #TheMailonSunday, in it's 'You' magazine,  have donated advertising pages, which has helped propel the #warpaint4life campaign further into the public domain.

It will be thanks to their generosity that #LGFB will be able to reach out to more women and teens and offer the 'gift' of self confidence, self esteem and empowerment during the most difficult time of their lives.

You may recall that I first learned about the work of LGFB from Dawn, a friend who had spotted an ad  in the Mail on Sunday!  So there you have it , I'm a living example of how an ad can make a difference to someone in need of 'strength' in order to cope with the  'miserable' experience that cancer is.

It's exciting to think, with all of this recent media coverage, how many women like me, will have been reached. I would just love for every woman going through cancer treatment to experience the feelings of confidence I had after attending the LGFB workshop back in January.

It doesn't stop there….the campaign has also featured in online mags such as ELLE, LOOK and Beauty Mag and some monthly magazines including #marieclaire  and #companymagazine. AGAIN this is all thanks to donated ad space…..!

Imagine how smug I felt, when I saw Kreena's #warpaint4life image in #Instyle Magazine , (September edition) whilst flicking through magazines at Gatwick Airport recently. I was on my own at the time and was bursting to tell someone about it!!

Kreena will also be in  the October edition of #PrimaMagazine, and it seems this will include an article about her story…so watch out for that !!

 'Look' mag/ You mag.

Women & Home magazine will be running  a feature on LGFB in celebration of their 20th Anniversary year and I have been interviewed for the article, which comes out in October for the November edition.  

Jo Glanville-Blackburn, Health and Beauty Director,  interviewed me over the phone a few weeks ago. Jo had attended the #warpaint4life press launch back in June and was already aware of all things LGFB when we spoke, so our discussions were about my personal cancer story and about my experiences of LGFB….Of course I had lots to say about that and I'm hoping I did justice to the work of LGFB. 

#woman&home magazine

You may recall that Outdoor Plus launched the campaign on an electronic bill board at Vauxhall Cross in London and then in some shopping Malls….. well… Redbus media, have followed suit and gone on to donate ad space in their 125 'out of town' retail parks locations, so the campaign will be seen by shoppers all over the country!!!! Yay!  We are not sure when and where the ads will run, so please do get in touch if you see us!!

Thank You Media Friends of LGFB, on behalf of all the women and teens you have already helped LGFB connect with, and in advance from those that are waiting to be reached!

This post has been somewhat of a LGFB love fest….and I make no apologies… he he… LGFB is just fab, and as such I've made it my small mission to raise as much money as I can for them, so more women like me and teens can be supported.  

With the LGFB Icon Walk- Up at the O2,  only 5 day's away,  it's a perfect opportunity for me to do this!! There will be 130 climbers on the day including my booby buddies, Jo Jo, Jan and Debbie.

I have  been building my stamina and fitness gently over the last few weeks and I am confident that Jo Jo, Jan and Debbie will not have to carry me over the O2 and I will not be letting anyone down that has supported and sponsored me so far!

Thank you SOOOOOO much to each and everyone of you that has helped me raise an amazing  £774.43 already, which includes a couple of bucket challenge donations from The Shipman family and £500 from one of my sons customers at work. I never met this customer, (doesn't want to be named) and it seems she was inspired by LGFB's coverage on the #LorraineShow. The power of the media!!

Lorraine show clip 

The thing I love about raising money for LGFB is that I know exactly how te money will be used. I know that with the money you have sponsored me so far, this could fund 1workshop for 10 women, 2 master classes, train 6 volunteers and provide 3 confidence kit's!! 

Jo Jo, Debbie and Suzanne -Pre Climb preparations

If you are able to support this wonderful cause and make a donation, you can visit Suzanne's Just Giving Page.

Finally Thank You once again for reading my blog and believing in me x