A thank you and support to 3 Cancer Charities

Hi, Eimear here, I am fundraising in the month of October for 3 Cancer Charities.

1) The Irish Cancer Society

2) Breast Cancer Ireland

3) The Marie Keating Foundation

 

As many of you know I was first diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2018. It was a devastating and unexpected blow. I had always been healthy and there was no history of Breast Cancer in my family.  All was looking well after a year of intensive treatment that I would make a full recovery. I travelled, went back to my much loved job as a Primary School teacher and enjoyed nights out with friends and family. However on Halloween night 2020 I was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. It was now incurable.  I had been feeling unwell for a few weeks and had to go to A & E where my worst nightmare unfolded. 

 

It has been a difficult year with a lot of difficult treatments such as surgery and radiation  along with difficult conversations. I have grieved for the life I thought I would have. I needed to get on with and enjoy a good quality of life as much as possible while I could. All 3 charities have been a great support to me since then and I want to give something back.

 

For October I have signed up to do the Breast Cancer Ireland Great Pink Run, The Marie Keating Run, plus My School where I teach St Damians NS will host a Fun dress up day , along with adult coffee morning as a gesture to Irish Cancer Society. 

I have  made this Gofundme so whatever money I raise I will donate evenly between the 3 charities as I cannot possibly decide between them ( don’t worry I will show you proof!  )

 

 

I will try and tell my story between here and my social media pages so bear with me. Twitter ( creggie82) Instagram (eimearcregg) and I can also be found on Facebook. the school event will also be tweeted @damiansns 

 

It will be a challenge for me to do this as I had very intensive radiotherapy last May, which has left me with a lot of fatigue , pains and discomfort so I will need to train for this. I know there are lots of demands financially on people and people have personal charities but I would love if people could get behind me whatever you can give to these 3 great charities. 

Breast Cancer Ireland use the money to fund research into advanced breast cancer which would hopefully help women like me live longer in the future. I have been shocked by the amount of women who develop advanced breast cancer despite getting a good prognosis and finding their breast cancer early. It is mostly younger women as it is so aggressive. In the UK abreast Cancer is the single biggest killer of women under 50 so I assume it’s similar here. More research is needed in to advanced breast cancer which has spread beyond the breast. Nearly 700 Irish women die each year from advanced breast cancer. 

 

The Irish Cancer society have been a huge support with the extremely helpful nurse line service , advocating for the welfare of cancer patients , helping cancer patients rebuild their lives with advice on working and relationships. They have also been a great support to other members of my family who have had Cancer. 

 

The Marie Keating foundation has also been a a great personal support to me. After my original diagnosis I took part in their Survive and Thrive Programme which helped give me coping skills as I tried to transition back to normal life.  I am now a member of their positive living group which is where others living with cancer can share experiences and support each other.

If you can, hope you can help me thank these 3 great organisations this October. 

Eimear xxx