Louise Copeland's Tour De 4 Fundraiser to Fight Cancer

When I first heard about Sir Chris Hoy’s plan for the Tourde4 my first thought “that’s something I really want to do” my second was to remember that it was barely two months after having a hip replacement brought about by a recurrence of breast cancer in my femur. I hadn’t been on a bike for years but I'd read somewhere that cycling was good physical therapy after hip replacement so I decided that the Tour de 4 would be an excellent target for my rehab. That was about 8 months ago. I have loved being back on the bike although it has taken a bit of trial and error to get a “set up” that works for me after breast and hip surgeries, and certainly a few wobbly moments trying to stay the right way up! But every time I go out I have felt stronger and more energised, and at a time when walking is still a bit slow and tiring it has been wonderful to do something at a “normal” sort of pace. It has really put a smile on my face. And I just feel so, alive!

I am so excited to be participating in the Tour de 4 after 5 years on a rollercoaster journey with breast cancer. I will be cycling with friends and family and raising funds for Cancer Research UK. Every donation is very gratefully received and will help fund Cancer Research’s amazing work learning more about cancer, developing new treatments and save lives. It will also keep me focused on preparing for those 37.9 miles on 7th September. Thank you so much for your support.

Louise x

For those who don't know or want a recap of my cancer journey....

In 2020 I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer – a form of the disease which usually is accompanied by “aggressive” and “difficult to treat”. I started chemotherapy to try and shrink the tumour before surgery but the tumour continued to grow and my surgery was brought forward to December 2020. I restarted chemotherapy after six weeks recovery but a few weeks later the cancer became apparent again. It wasn’t possible to have any more surgery and the area affected was too big for radiotherapy. At that stage I was told I might have six months left but I should prepare myself for possibly having only a few weeks to live.

As chemotherapy hadn’t worked my Oncologist didn’t have much confidence that a different chemo drug would do much to help me. Instead I was offered the chance to try an immunotherapy drug which had recently been approved for triple negative breast cancer. We decided I didn’t have much to lose by giving it a try. After a couple of cycles of this new treatment – and by the time I had my next scan – I knew it was working.

The immunotherapy was amazing for me. Not only did it treat the cancer but with fewer side effects than with chemo. I took a break from the immunotherapy in 2023 to treat some complications from the reappearance of the cancer in 2021, and everything seemed to be going brilliantly. But in the summer of 2024 I developed pain at the top of my right leg, which I initially put down to starting Pilates but unfortunately it turned out to be the breast cancer back again - this time in my femur. I had a hip replacement in the autumn of 2024 and have restarted immunotherapy. I'm hoping it will be as effective this time as it was the last.

New targeted drugs like immunotherapy are helping more and more people living with cancer. Every donation will help Cancer Research UK do more. Thank you again,

Louise x