Megan’S Bristol 10K After Blogging Brave Cancer Battle

Enter the Simplyhealth Great Bristol 10k at: Greatrun.org/Bristol10k

A young mum who has blogged and honest and frank account of being diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at just 26-years-old has signed up to run 10k after being told she is now cancer free.

Megan Bassett, from Portishead in Bristol, was diagnosed with stage 4B Hodgkin’s Lymphoma last June, after finding that two large lumps had developed on her neck.

Megan was only 26-years-old and as mum to two-year-old Marnie, she was terrified for what the future would hold.

The cancer had spread to her lymph nodes, chest, bone marrow and behind her liver. Megan went through 12 gruelling rounds of chemotherapy, which she had once every two weeks, but wanted to remain positive throughout her treatment for her daughter.

Instead of focusing on the negatives, which included losing her hair, she focused her efforts on writing an online blog to share her story with others, called “My life with Marnie.”

This documented the decision she took to freeze her eggs, so she had the chance of having more children in the future, as well as how difficult losing her hair was and the strain of going through eight months of chemotherapy.

Megan and her partner Dean travelled to a fertility clinic in Bath to freeze her embryos before she started her chemotherapy treatment.

The local community rallied round her and managed to raise thousands of pounds to fund this privately and in time. Megan also found that taking herself out for a run on her ‘good’ days kept her feeling alive and positive and so she vowed to make sure she kept running throughout her treatment.

In February, she was finally given the news that she was cancer free. While undergoing treatment, she made a promise to herself that if she was given the all-clear, she would run the Simplyhealth Great Bristol 10k on Sunday 5 May.

Following the news that she was cancer free, Megan signed up to run the event for Penny Brohn, a Bristol-based charity who provided her with practical and emotional support during and after her treatment.

Megan, who is now 27, said: “When I first found out I was so scared and felt like screaming “why me, why now?!” I thought I had my whole life ahead of me and this shouldn’t be happening!

“But then my mind focused on my little girl Marnie who has just recently turned two. I have to stay strong for her, since then that has what has got me through everything.

“I tried to remain as positive as I could throughout my cancer treatment. I saw the positive in everyday and I took myself out for a run on my good days which kept me feeling alive. “I kept myself busy, writing my blogs and sharing my story with others in the hope it could be informative to someone else going through the same thing.

“My daughter kept me smiling and got me through! I found losing my hair one of the hardest parts but I found some cool headwraps and wigs and made the best of what I had. I had some very low days during my treatment but I picked myself up from those and focussed on the good.

“I have learned so many different things from having cancer and I feel like a new person. I look back at the start of my journey when I was going through the egg freezing process, hair loss and my first chemotherapy session and I remember being so scared.

Megan vowed to make sure she was better to be able run the Simplyhealth Great Bristol 10k in May.

She will join 13,000 others on the start line of the run which takes participants through the city centre and out along the Avon Gorge, passing under the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

Runners then head back into the city centre and experience an amazing finish line feeling as they conquer their 10k challenge.

Megan, who works in childcare, credits running for helping her through the darkest times in her life and wants to support Penny Brohn to give something back for all of the support that they continue to give her.

She added: “I have managed to run throughout the whole of my cancer treatment and I made a promise to myself that I would run the 10k when I got my all clear. It gave me something very positive to focus on.

“Having cancer has taught me just how quickly things can change, it has made me worry less and live life moreHaving cancer has definitely taught me how precious life is, I appreciate my life so much more now and I cherish every single moment.

“I love the saying “we all have two lives. The second one starts when we realise we only have one”.

To support Megan’s fundraising, click here.

Read more from her blog at http://mylifewithmarnie.wordpress.com

Enter the Simplyhealth Great Bristol 10k at: Greatrun.org/Bristol10k