Journal   Comments Off on 05/03/2022   5 March 2022
Natalie and Trooper

One of things that is said quite often is about the amazing friendships made through the cancer community. My first foray into fundraising and making contact with members of the bowel cancer community was almost 10 years ago, not long after Mum had had her bowel operation. What has followed has massively changed me as a person, and added so much to my life. There have been times when I’ve felt disconnected and wondered if my fundraising time had run its course. However, I don’t feel that way for long and even if they don’t know it, the friends I’ve made play a big part in lifting my spirits. It is these friendships and the amazing people here that have shown me such love, support, generosity and kindness. Thank you ♥

One of the kindest, compassionate and bravest people that I have come to know is Natalie aka @iamnatwoodward on Instagram. Another young person with advanced bowel cancer, Nat has been through more in such a short space of time than most of us will ever experience in a lifetime. Not least of which was having pelvic exenteration surgery which involves the removal of multiple organs in the pelvis. Life-changing doesn’t even cover it! She keeps things real, whilst showing so much compassion for others and looking for the positives to take out of every situation. I’ve yet to meet Natalie in person, but I hope that the opportunity arises in the not too distant future.

I bought Natalie one of the Gift-A-Bears, which I am selling on my rivers2cross.com website. The idea behind these teddies is that you can gift them to a person or organisation and then also choose which charity the profits are donated. In this case I chose to donate the profits to Monique Buckingham’s Go Fund Me page. They are a great way to raise funds for your chosen charity and to make someone’s day a little brighter x

Confession time… The recent Little Wing package that I put up for grabs to raise funds for the ALK+ Europe charity and Joanna Jonathan consisted of a copy of Freya North’s new book, a teddy bear, and a personalised bookplate from Freya. Well one of the two people to be successful was me! 😍 To be fair I didn’t choose these beautiful words written by Freya on the bookplate, but how lovely to be on the receiving end.

This is Beauty who is Prince’s sister. Just over a week ago she had a lump removed from the back of her mouth by the vet, and sadly it is an aggressive and untreatable form of cancer. Like Prince she has just turned 13, and the next couple of months, perhaps more or perhaps less, is all about making her time left as comfortable and happy as possible. Saying goodbye to our pets is so so hard x

I hope that everyone has had a good day. It’s been a cold, grey and dreary day in the Thames Valley. However, the good news is that I have received some new Life of Mique teddy bear orders to add to the fundraising for Monique. So all is well 😊 Until tomorrow x