Splott to Split
Donation protected
I hadn't felt ill, I had no pains or aches. But a doctor looking at the results of my liver function test noticed one small irregularity. She suggested I get a follow-up Ultrasound scan. I didn't think this was necessary, I was perfectly well. But I went and, bingo, an 8cm lump (orange size) shows up on the right side of my liver.
It was April 2013 and I had just been diagnosed with liver cancer.
The odd thing about getting news like that is you have no place to put it. You are so busy with the day to day details of your life that it doesn't have anywhere to fit. Yet it's there... you have cancer, big time, serious cancer.
It begins with meetings, specialist doctors, specialist nurses, radiologists. You have to get used to words you never heard before, a new science. You begin to realise you are at sea, a long way out, you feel lost. The staff of my local hospital, the BRI in Bristol, and the people at Macmillan Cancer Support, were great. The hospital staff spoke of possibilities, the Macmillan people spoke of support, anything I needed. It was like finding new friends, ones you never knew you had.
Five months later, after the radiologist had been into my liver twice performing their own version of magic, the surgeons went in and removed five-eights of my liver. It was the first time this particular procedure had ever been done, and it worked. They had saved my life.
A week later, with an opening the length of a chair leg across my middle, I am home.
You begin the process of recovery but it's slow. You are weak, you are sore but you are, for the moment at least, cancer-free. Slowly your abilities come back. You begin to look about at everyone and you realise that, for you, life has altered.
There is a calmness about you now, a sense of proportion that, you realise, was not there before. What worried you once couldn't now if it grew fangs. You realise life is temporary, and yours, but for the slimmest of chances, should be over. But it's not. You are still in the land of the living. You have been given a second life.
To celebrate this second life, and to raise £20,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support I want to cycle between a suburb in Cardiff, Wales, called Splott, and the town in Croatia called Split. It is a 1,400 mile ride, I'm sixty one and no great cyclist, but I'll do it.
Splott to Split will start in Splott at noon on the first of August this year and end on August 31st in Split.
I have a Splott to Split justgiving page and through it I have begun raising money that goes directly to Macmillan. I am also inviting other cyclists and cycling clubs to join me along the route and I expect more and more money to come through this site as the momentum for the cycle ride builds.
Right now however I need to start raising money to enable me to do the cycle. The ride will cost £2,500. The money will go on bike equipment, servicing, food and fares.
If I don't have the money to do it, then it will not happen. So I do need your help now.
Splott to Split has the potential to raise many thousands of pounds for an organisation that helps people to deal with life when they are told they have cancer. I would be extremely grateful for any help you can give.
I don't know if cancer will ever be eradicated but if we all start acting together, helping those that are dealing with it, then a lot of lives will be made not only better but longer too. One in four of us get cancer. So let's all get together and help those who are fighting it now.
For further information on joining the ride, or any other aspects of it, please visit; splott2split.wordpress.com
Thank you.
Bob Fannin
It was April 2013 and I had just been diagnosed with liver cancer.
The odd thing about getting news like that is you have no place to put it. You are so busy with the day to day details of your life that it doesn't have anywhere to fit. Yet it's there... you have cancer, big time, serious cancer.
It begins with meetings, specialist doctors, specialist nurses, radiologists. You have to get used to words you never heard before, a new science. You begin to realise you are at sea, a long way out, you feel lost. The staff of my local hospital, the BRI in Bristol, and the people at Macmillan Cancer Support, were great. The hospital staff spoke of possibilities, the Macmillan people spoke of support, anything I needed. It was like finding new friends, ones you never knew you had.
Five months later, after the radiologist had been into my liver twice performing their own version of magic, the surgeons went in and removed five-eights of my liver. It was the first time this particular procedure had ever been done, and it worked. They had saved my life.
A week later, with an opening the length of a chair leg across my middle, I am home.
You begin the process of recovery but it's slow. You are weak, you are sore but you are, for the moment at least, cancer-free. Slowly your abilities come back. You begin to look about at everyone and you realise that, for you, life has altered.
There is a calmness about you now, a sense of proportion that, you realise, was not there before. What worried you once couldn't now if it grew fangs. You realise life is temporary, and yours, but for the slimmest of chances, should be over. But it's not. You are still in the land of the living. You have been given a second life.
To celebrate this second life, and to raise £20,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support I want to cycle between a suburb in Cardiff, Wales, called Splott, and the town in Croatia called Split. It is a 1,400 mile ride, I'm sixty one and no great cyclist, but I'll do it.
Splott to Split will start in Splott at noon on the first of August this year and end on August 31st in Split.
I have a Splott to Split justgiving page and through it I have begun raising money that goes directly to Macmillan. I am also inviting other cyclists and cycling clubs to join me along the route and I expect more and more money to come through this site as the momentum for the cycle ride builds.
Right now however I need to start raising money to enable me to do the cycle. The ride will cost £2,500. The money will go on bike equipment, servicing, food and fares.
If I don't have the money to do it, then it will not happen. So I do need your help now.
Splott to Split has the potential to raise many thousands of pounds for an organisation that helps people to deal with life when they are told they have cancer. I would be extremely grateful for any help you can give.
I don't know if cancer will ever be eradicated but if we all start acting together, helping those that are dealing with it, then a lot of lives will be made not only better but longer too. One in four of us get cancer. So let's all get together and help those who are fighting it now.
For further information on joining the ride, or any other aspects of it, please visit; splott2split.wordpress.com
Thank you.
Bob Fannin
Organizer
Robert John Fannin
Organizer
