Take a break from melanoma

My name is Toni-Marie, I am registered disabled. 

I have Ehlers danlos syndrome & secondary Fibromyalgia. Causing dislocations, chronic pain and fatigue, these conditions themselves can feel quite challenging at times. 

My 2 beautiful children aged 9 & 7 are registered young carers. They are wonderful girls. Happy, thriving and with a bond like no other. 

In January of this year our life changed, very quickly. I was diagnosed with cancer, at 30.

Unfortunately a very aggressive form called nodular melanoma, the tumor found on my head was a stage 4 melanoma going skin to scalp. Telling my young children was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Their strength and resilience has carried me along and kept me focused on who I'm fighting for.

So far I have been through 2 surgeries, having 2 skin grafts and a sentinel lymph node biopsy to see if my cancer has entered my lymphatic system already. These next results will decide if I'm taken back in for quite big surgery to remove all the lymph nodes in my neck, or if I'm safe enough to move onto drug treatments. We have a long road ahead.

As a melanoma patient, we learn that this cancer can spread, quickly and at times undetected not only on the skin but into the organs. It is vital that I keep myself safe outside, not just in the sun. This means wearing clothing that has a special material to ensure I'm doing all I can to give myself the best chance of beating this awful disease. I've realised that the market for this comes at a heavy price, a real shame to those who need it most.

My girls have been put through experiences that no child deserves. Their little minds desperately need a break.

We have made the decision to take some time away from appointments, scans, doctors, and hospitals and travel our own beautiful country over this summer, before I start my next round of treatments.

We are hoping to raise some funds to buy enough clothing to be able to enjoy summer outside with them and to help us take a break away, focusing on our mental health and spend some quality time travelling, learning and growing, together. Our goal is to travel in a figure of eight around the UK exploring England, Scotland and wales. Eventually ticking off our Bucket list the north coast 500 (500 miles around the coast of Scotland) amongst many more incredible experiences and then home again to the southwest coast of England, roughly over 2-3 weeks.

It has been really tough at times navigating these last 4 months but I've found such incredible support. If you can help at all to brighten up our journey, from my heart, thankyou

If anyone would prefer to purchase a more tangible item that would really help us instead of a cash donation, the link below is our Amazon wish list. 

We will be slowly working through this over the coming weeks to purchase the items we need to be able to go. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/YS6C68JJOWCR?ref_=wl_share