Why now?

On 2 October I jump on a plane to face a challenge which excites me, scares me, fills me with hope and reminds me of all the people I’ve met during my 7 years running Yes to Life, before I handed the reins to the incredible Miquel and also now whilst working for Patricia Peat founder of Cancer Options. 

A cancer diagnosis feels like a death sentence – we have to change this narrative, to shift the paradigm and to educate, to let people know it doesn’t have to be. 

Yes to Life have for 20 years – (let me just repeat this 20 years) have been working tirelessly to get the message out there that there are options, choices and that with the right support to learn about taking control and building an integrative framework which they are at the centre of. You can find out more about their work here. www.yestolife.org.uk 

So back to jumping on that plane. Two years ago I had to make some big personal changes which included unpacking a lot of grief, some of it newish and some of it which I’d deeply buried but which surfaced with the new stuff – funny how that happens! I decided I wanted to do the pilgrimage and walk part of the Camino way. It beckoned me and I started to research it. Miquel the CEO of Yes to Life and a dear friend of mine had talked about Galicia a lot and after the loss of his Father who came from there it just seemed another reason to go there. Like a destiny thing. 

Too many decisions, which part of the pilgrimage should I do, how far, do I join a group or go by myself. 

I finally came to a decision to go it alone and planned to meet up with Miquel and his family when I finished – job done.  But it wasn’t to be at that moment in time.  My daughter shared her amazing news she was pregnant and two months later my son shared the news that they were to have another baby – their second child and both would be born within 3 months of each other. Such joyful and amazing news. So Camino on the back burner. 

Now fate has a marvellous way of knowing just when the right time is to embark on some mad journey. My phone rang and it was Miquel. His exact words – “do you want to know about the next crazy thing I’m doing” and there our journey begins.  I said ‘yes, yes, yes’ before I even knew we were going to be walking 230 km in 9 days! 

This journey with 3 amazing people – Robin, Miquel and Sarah will be life changing which is what I believe it should be. I’m honoured to be doing it with them and I know we will support each other through the hard bits of which I’m sure there will be quite a few. 

Support and friendship is something which meant so much to me when I was at Yes to Life.  Our Helpline was one of the first things Robin set up knowing how important it was to have someone at the end of a line that would listen. When you’re diagnosed no one listens. You are told what to do by your oncologist and their team, you are told what to do by your family and friends (who are mostly thinking they are helping you and are scared) you lose your voice. We gave and still do give people back their voices – they are part of their team taking part fully in decisions about what they want to do guided by experts in the field of integrative medicine and when they have a wobble someone is there to hold their hand.  Spending time with people who understand what you want to achieve and who are going through a similar journey makes an enormous difference. You are no longer alone having to manage this by yourselves and the shared empathy is like a soft, warm blanket keeping you safe. 

The Yes to Life Wigwam support groups was something I planted the seed for whilst there and I’m so delighted now that there are so many now up and running. 

Back to walking…. This is a pilgrimage for all four of us for different personal reasons but our mission is to raise a stack load of money so that Yes to Life can continue to help more people.  We know the statistics are not good so help us to reach our target in anyway you can.  We will be happy to do some silly stuff along the way if people feel they want a little something for their donation – bring it on I say. More on that through our social media channels but you may have an idea already so just let us know. 

If you can only be with us in spirit we’d love that as well but please do have a look at our fundraising efforts here and see how you can help. Maybe you have lost someone and you would like to donate in their memory. We will carry them with us in our thoughts throughout our pilgrimage. 

Watch this space as training has commenced and it might not be that pleasant. Cooper my dog is in for a surprise and yes there will be photos and videos! 

Sending love to all our friends and families and to all our clients at Cancer Options. We’ve got you. 

Sue De Cesare