Blast from the Past Blog Post: The vInspired National Awards 2013 in the Roundhouse London (I was a Finalist)

+vInspired website link: http://vinspired.com/

Vinspired National Awards 2013 

{Tuesday 26th March} at the Roundhouse London!

      I first started volunteering at 15 years old and helped people with severe disabilities and learning difficulties of all ages in my local community. I really enjoyed helping out as it was a lot of responsibility at 15 but I enjoyed it as the members had fun doing activities from art to sport and listening to music. The members had a multi-sensory room. Definition of a multi-sensory room below.

Link for quotation below:

http://www.surestarthounslow.org.uk/sample-page/the-sensory-room/the-benefits-of-the-sensory-room

"The Benefits of the Sensory Room

The Sensory Room fosters an atmosphere of relaxation. Relaxation is good for children’s emotional health; it gives them a chance to explore their feelings and to become interested in their environment.

This calming environment is a place for parents/carers to bond with their children, providing a restful and peaceful experience in today’s busy and sometimes stressful lifestyles.

A facility such as this has many benefits for children with special needs as it creates a stimulating and yet calming atmosphere and among other things can help to improve hand and eye co-ordination and develop language skills. The overactive child can be calmed, the inactive become interested.

All young children can benefit from using a sensory room to develop fundamental sensory skills needed in later life. Sensory rooms are particularly useful for children with sight or hearing problems and have been proven to be extremely valuable to children with autism.

Benefits:

• Supports the development of communication
• Enhances sensory skills, hand-eye co-ordination and cause and effect response
• Assists the development of social and emotional skills
• Reduces tension and increase relaxation
• Provides fun and enjoyment
• Improves levels of concentration, alertness, calmness & general awareness"

  
In 2012 I first found out I was nominated by my sister for a volunteering award from +vInspired.

  +vInspired is a charity that helps 14-25 year olds to find volunteering opportunities in their local community in a sector the young person is interested in and chooses. 

    I was nominated for volunteering in 2012 as a wheelchair dancer in the gravity section of the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympics London 2012 which I did over 100 hours all together, if not more to get the dance routine right for the big finale in the Stadium in Stratford while battling extreme pain and fatigue. (Which I still have now!) While taking this huge challenge I did fundraising for completing and got £236 aprox for Sarcoma UK.

  When I'm able to I help raise awareness of bone cancer/Osteosarcoma and fund raise for cancer charities such as Bone Cancer Research Trust, Sarcoma UK, ACLT, Clic Sargent and Teens Unite to name a few!
    I am a Cancer Activist and enjoy blogging to raise awareness, help others by supporting, I have empathy and know what's like to have cancer. I offer advice and recommend other cancer charities or blogs/sites I think should be recommended to others.
Luckily the charities are very flexible and understand about my medical condition and that sometimes I can get unwell and are very flexible and that helps me pace myself.

  I was nominated for "All round commitment to volunteering." I was a VInspired regional winner and was the only one representing London in my category. We had to kept quiet before the nominees were officially declared. We were told months before about getting through so we could save the date of the awards for our diary! I then luckily got through as a national finalist. There was only 3 of us in this category.
  It took place at the Roundhouse in Camden, London on Tuesday 26th March 2013 with The Saturdays headlining and performing their first number no.1 single!!! We were presented with champagne and fabulous food!! The buzz in the Roundhouse was amazing from all the inspirational young people, +vInspired staff, guests and celebs supporting this great charity.
  My category was up first and the presenters for the night were Katie Piper and Eddie Kadi. The award was supported by Currys and PC World. Some of The Saturdays presented the award but unfortunately on the night I didn't win but the girl that did was a really worthy winner as she set up a support group for her sister who has ADHD and others going through the same thing and their family and friends can access the support group to discuss similar issues, support each other and just talk and  help them socially.

I chose to wear nail wraps from New Look and it had a glitter effect but by the time I got to the event some bits of the nail wraps were coming off and it started to look like tin foil lol at one point. 

In my opinion I wouldn't recommend these nail wraps.

The food on the night:

Picture I took on my ipad looking at me and it took the top of the roundhouse which was lovely.

CEO of Vinspired Terry Ryall doing speech at Vinspired National Awards 2013 at a reception:

Myself with the Pandemonium Drummers.

Pandemonium drummers from the Olympics performing at Vinspired National Awards 2013: 





Katie Piper and Eddie Kadi presenting the Vinspired National Awards 2013 at the Roundhouse in Camden:

Presenters Eddie Kadi and Katie Piper above^^

Pictures of Katie Piper and I:

Link for The Katie Piper Foundation: http://www.katiepiperfoundation.org.uk/

I GOT TO SIT IN THE VIP AREA!! #THAT_IS_HOW_I_ROLL! ;-)

LISTENING TO MUSIC THAT DJ GOLDIEROCKS WAS PUPMING OUT:

GOLDIEROCKS AND I HAVING FUN TAKING PIC ON MY IPAD LOL!

Goldierocks link: http://www.goldierocks.co.uk/

The Saturday's headlining the Vinspired National Awards 2013 at the Roundhouse Camden

A*M*E performing at the Vinspired National Awards 2013 #VInspiring

Vinspired National Awards 2013 - The Saturdays

 


 The Saturdays performing their no.1 single "What about us" at the Vinspired National Awards 2013

Rare Laid Bare (Surviving and Striving)

      (Sarcoma Survival Story)  

🏥 Art from Cancer Hospital 🏥

SARCOMA AWARENESS WEEK is from the 4th-10th July 2016 and I wanted to take part by showing a diary extract below I found and wrote at the time when first getting a benign tumour at 18 and also a timeline to show how many health professionals I had to see before being diagnosed with a type of Sarcoma when I was only 21.

My Sarcoma journey is slightly different because not only was my cancer Osteosarcoma it turned into a Primary Bone Cancer which means the cancer started in the bones first.  It was also rare because it grew from a benign tumour and it was in my spine (Up to L4) and in my sacrum until it transformed into cancer after just three years. My Orthopaedic Consultant said he had only seen one other patient in his working career where a benign tumour had turned cancerous. 

"Pain pain pain. why me, doesn't enter my head but why now? I just want to reschedule the pain to a time that's convenient to me. If only life was that simple. You see I don't hate my pain and I'm not in love with it either but we have a special bond. The pain is constant, twenty-four-seven, seven days a week, no let up even my sleep is scared of my pain.

 My story of how I met my pain had started many years ago. We were introduced by my leg who on the night of the 4th April 2005 had begun to hurt and I begun to limp. By the end of the week it was still there and unknown to me I had a drop foot but I soldiered on. Every tick of the clock the ache got stronger and stronger. It was draining my energy this thing that was inside of me and taking my essence, my life. I knew something was wrong but not that. The pain at night became unbearable, it was torture, like a dripping tap hitting a sink.that needed to be fixed but instead it was me that needed to be fixed. So I took my pain to find help and support but in reality what I found was a bit different.

 The college nurse said that if my pain persisted to go to my GP as she did not see anything to be concerned about. As the words left her lips I knew that this pain was not going to get better. This is just the second week and I find myself in pain limping into the local walk-in-clinic to see another nurse. In the waiting room I was nervous that they might say that something is wrong, it felt like hours before I was called. I wondered what the other people were here for or whether they were in as much pain as I was. If only we could tell just by looking at someone if their health is in danger and warn them. Pain is also a helper and it's telling you there is something wrong, so go and get checked out! I'm still in the waiting room and more new patients come through the doors.

My name is called and I am now having difficulties getting up from a chair!  I limp slowly after the nurse to her room. She asked me a series of questions and then she examined me. The examination consisted of me kneeling on a chair, (really I was) The nurse checked the back of my legs and reassured me that I do not have a DVT, that's' a relief.....NOT!   I know my own body. This brings me onto Pain's sibling called "Referred Pain" which means that the pain you feel in your leg comes from somewhere else! (Is this for real?) The nurse gave me some tablets for the pain and sent me on my limping way but unfortunately for me the tablets did not do a thing and this intense pain was very scary. Walking with a limp is exhausting, pain is exhausting and telling a professional is exhausting. The tiredness is so overwhelming you can not sleep, you have to wake up earlier to go to college because you are so slow because of the limping. I couldn't run anymore and I began to get cramp in my legs a lot so I bought banana's (thinking I was low in potassium) but they did not work, nor did the heat rub I bought and it stank.

 Being young in the cancer world is sometimes fraught with danger with a delayed diagnoses and unfortunately it was the same for me! Crossing the road was so dangerous for me and when a friend thought I had broken my foot it was indeed time to go back to the professionals. The same nurse I saw last week.

Now into my third week and on my return to the Walk-in-clinic yet again. I was no longer concentrating at college and the nurse advised to go else where ...the GP.  The GP said to come back in two weeks if it is persisting. The same day I ended up in our local A & E and the reason was I had sneezed and my back jared and I was now dragging my leg and that is why I ended up in A & E.

They gave me tablets and sent me home. The next day I begun to get pins and needles in my legs and things did not feel the same so we called an ambulance. They were not going to take me because in their opinion I was not letting the tablets from yesterday's A & E trip work. My Mum insisted. I forgot to mention I could hardly walk now. This A & E trip was no better, no tests of any kind was performed and the doctor was rude when he grabbed my stomach and said you need to tighten this up and do some swimming.  My brother's carried me up the stairs and I stayed on the floor until I saw a physio who we had to pay for. She knew as soon as she saw me that something was seriously wrong and I was sent to my GP that day as she had called ahead.

At this point being misdiagnosed with M.S. was a relief as it meant I was to be rushed into the hospital that day. I was found to have a mass in my sacrum and spinal column (Cauda equina syndrome) and could have been paralysed.

"Cauda equina syndrome requires emergency hospital admission and emergency surgery, because the longer it goes untreated, the greater the chance it will lead to permanent paralysis and incontinence." - NHS Choices

For me it was life changing, mentally and physically."

This then leads us onto the actual timeline below showing what had lead up to my benign tumour and then my bone cancer in my sacrum.

Timeline:


12/04/05 - Saw College Nurse.

13/04/05 - Saw Nurse in Minor Injuries Centre.

21/04/05 - Saw Nurse again at Minor Injuries Centre.

25/04/05 - Saw my local GP for the first time.

25/05/05 - Went to A+E just before 9pm, I fell on to concrete and I heard a snapping sound.

26/05/05 - Called Ambulance and went to A+E.

31/05/05 - Saw physio (I had to pay for) who then emailed/rang my GP straight away about she discovered.

01/06/05 - Saw another GP at my local Doctors and got a second opinion - Referred to a specialist Neurologist.

08/06/05 - Received appointment letter from local Hospital which was too late, as it arrived on the day of the actual appointment and was sent by 2nd class. 

15/06/05 - Saw Consultant Neurologist in Clinic at 9:30am 
- About an hour later got phone call from registrar from another Hospital to come into the Neurology Ward
 - By the evening had a MRI, Cat Scan, Chest scan etc.

17/06/05 - In the morning, I was told results and that I had a tumour in my spine
- I had an angiogram later that day.

(Ultrasound machine - having an ultrasound in the past) 

20/06/05 - Had Ultrasound - found out I had Cyst on my right ovary too.

21/06/05 - Registrar told me about Operation.

22/06/05 - Day I had Surgery
- Partial removal of tumour 
- Biopsy taken
- Bone Graft (taken from my hip)
- Aspiration of Right Ovarian Cyst.

07/07/2005 - I was in hospital when the 7/7 bombing occurred.

11/07/05 - Discharged from Hospital.

27/07/05 - Letter about Ankle Foot Support 
- Appointment 11th August 2005 - When I went to Physio, I had realised they ordered the same plastic brace I already had and didn't need.

29/07/05 - Appointment with GP for more medication.

02/08/05 - Physio.

04/08/05 - Physio.

08/08/05 - Physio. 

10/08/05 - Physio.

12/08/05 - Physio.

11/08/05 - Ankle Support Appointment.

07/09/05 - Gave Thank you card to Neurologist who discovered tumour. 

20/09/05 - Follow-up appointment with Hospital  Neurology Consultant.  All fine. 

28/09/05 - Went to A+E because my pain was extreme and it was affecting the way I walked. (The Benign Tumour had grown back but it had doubled). 

14/10/05 - Neurology Consultant rang and said I needed surgery in another Hospital, because he did not have the expertise.   

21/10/05 - Ended up in A+E with pain and stayed in hospital until 4 November.

04/11/05 - Went to a new Hospital.

07/11/05 - Had MRI.

15/11/05 - Had CT in yet another new Hospital not far from one I was staying in.

18/11/05 - Had Embolisation 9:30am - 3pm.  (This cuts the blood supply to tumour)

21/11/05 - Had Major Operation today 
- Full resection (all the tumour was hopefully out).

11/01/06 - Hospital Appointment to see Consultant.

08/02/06 - Saw Registrar and Had X-ray.

March 2007 - Appointment with Hospital Doctor 
- My increased pain was noted.

23/08/07 - Appointment with Consultant
- Told him my back was hurting and tender to touch 
- He said he would do something BUT DIDN'T 
- Was meant to show me x-rays but didn't 
- I told him about my increased tiredness and weight loss.

20/09/07 - Doctor said I should have a scan in 6 months time (aprox Feb 2008).

2007/08 
- Weight loss, had told everyone who would listen and the only one who thought it didn't sound good was the Pain Management Nurse.

03/01/08 - Appointment (Told no progression of tumour).

19/01/08 - Letter from my Consultant to another Doctor said "She certainly does not have any progression of disease from a Tumour point of view."

07/02/08 - Appointment (Had CT Scan).

12/02/08 - Report from scan from 07/02/08 showed that there was deterioration in the Sacrum and Radiologist said in my notes that the metal artefacts were obscuring vision.
(I had metal holding up my spine at time that my Doctors put in when I had surgery in 2005.)

THIS WAS A RED LIGHT PRIORITY REPORT (12/02/08) - Don't know why there wasn't any blood tests taken or scans??

05/03/08 - Saw Consultant and he said "I looked fantastic and x-rays were satisfactory and we know that there is no significant Recurrence of her disease and he is happy for me to go on crutches at the time. " 
16/04/08 - Appointment with Consultant, he weighed up whether I should have biopsy or not. 

06/05/08 - Biopsy 1 - not enough sample taken. So had to have it done again.

14/05/08 - Biopsy results had not come back. They did not tell us, so a wasted trip to hospital and I was so exhausted at the time.

23/05/08 - Biopsy 2 - Three containers this time.

30/05/08 - MDT Meeting with my Orthopaedic Consultant and Oncologists from another hospital.

11/06/08 - They called to say that the biopsy had not come back yet, so had to cancel appointment.

17/06/08 - My notes said my biopsy had been seen by 3 Professors and a Doctor.
- Came back as 'Telangiectatic Osteosarcoma' and also written down was 'Giant Cell Rich High Grade Osteosarcoma' on my notes at the time.

19/06/08 - Appointment letter arrived today, just 2 minutes after the hospital transport arrived but I did not know so I could not go.  

20/06/08 - Told by Consultant I had 'Osteosarcoma' in my Sacrum.  In December 2008 I was also told that I had it in my spine as well!

©chronicallyhopeful

On the Cancer Ward in 2008 while wearing my wig below when we had look-a-likes visit the ward for the day. 

Waiting for Radiotherapy in 2009 below:

You know your own body. Be persistent and stick with your gut feeling if something doesn't feel right. 

 S  URVIVING 
A
R ARE
C ANCER
O BJECTIVE
M ORE
 A WARENESS


#STAYAWARE


#SARCOMAANDME