Walking for Prostate Cancer

It’s 4am, I’ve awoke early like a child I’m eagerly anticipating a special day, today is the day that I join a group of wonderful people some I don’t even know but I already class as wonderful because they are going to do something wonderful. Today we are going to meet up in London and walk the sights of the Monopoly board to raise awareness of this disease that is Prostate Cancer. The facts are this cancer will affect 1 in 8 men but horrifically 1 in 4 black men. Men you need to know about this awful disease that at it’s best takes away your ability to be a man at its worse takes away your ability to live. It’s a killer and I’ve got this killer inside of me, it’s a serial killer of men. We need to let people know about this because for all men if it’s caught in its early stages it can be controlled and can lead to a fairly normal life but let it get out of control and catch it late it’s deadly and nasty and I’ve got to deal with that.

And as I sit here writing this anticipating my alarm to ring to tell me to get up I’m still stunned how many men have not heard of a PSA test which can detect early signs of this cancer and catch it before the damage is done. Why on earth is there a disease in this country that affects such a high percentage of men not high up on the government’s health agenda, why are men of a certain age not called to be nationally screened for this, I mean come on 1 in 4 black guys that’s in my calculations 25% of the black male population and 12% of the rest of us blokes will get prostate cancer. So instead it’s up to us to do something about it and today a small group of us are by raising awareness and money on the streets of London and social media. Throw a small stone in a pond and it creates a ripple that expands and grows, today we are that small stone.

You can help and support us by donating here

I will be jumping in and out of the blog today, the total distance we plan to walk is just over 28km. Now realistically I’ve never walked that in my life so with two tumours in my back and another in my right hip I doubt I’ll walk the whole thing and sadly already as I get up my back is telling me a firm no. So I’ll jump on a train meet the group and do what I can. See you later 😀

I made the train just as it was about to leave the station due to some misunderstanding  on my part on where I could leave my car for he day,. Seconds later and I would not have made that train, it was meant to be….

After meeting Ian and Zoe a few stations along and then the rest of the team met for breakfast and after eating a hearty fayre of English breakfast type foods and introducing ourselves to each other we set off on our journey the time we started walking was 9am the sun had decided to join us the air was cool our spirits were high and we were excited to go and face this challenging walk to raise awareness and money for valuable research into prostate cancer, we were the small stone ready to make that ripple.

The challenge was to walk a route in London which took in every single site on the Monopoly board game. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of this was to create a route ( well done and thanks to Ian) which would enabled us to be able to do this, the average age of the group was probably around 50 some a little older , and some a bit younger, it would be fair to say with out offending anyone in the group or team that none of us were Olympic athletes who train day in and day out for this type of thing We were a team and as one we set off ready to take on a huge challenge.

I won’t write about every different place that we visited just some of the highlights of the day that stood out in my mind as I type this. I remember thinking to myself as we started I won’t last long today, I just had a feeling that I couldn’t do it, but strangely I told every single person who I walked with that I am going to do this, mind over matter had started to take over and gradually what I started to tell myself changed. We walked and walked and talked and talked  and the sun warmed us and London welcomed us. Then I started to get what would become the first of many hot flashes, superheating my body, causing me to sweat to the point I could feel it running over my skin but then only a few seconds later shivering as the internal warming stopped and I walked into the cool shady areas of the route. This for me was a particularly difficult part of the journey as I spent much of it either roasting or shivering and soaked in sweat it was impossible to feel comfortable, this is a side effect of the treatment I’m on, my treatment is not designed to go on long walks such as this. As we walked so we passed the famous landmarks on the most famous family game in the UK.

At first London was sleepy but as each hour passed London town woke up, it became bustling and busy and enveloped our team as we made our way through the streets of London and its beautiful array of people. We saw Londons people of all kinds, the tourists , the very rich and the extremely poor. People who had nothing, their homes were paving stones and cramped shop doorways, it made me feel how lucky I am, yes I’ve got cancer but I’ve got a warm home loving family and kind friends, these individuals have nothing except for the dirty clothes and blankets they were sleeping on. How sad that in this day and age the streets are still littered with the homeless and destitute, I struggle to comprehend how when we pass the Ferraris and Lamborghini’s that were parked outside the casinos, clubs and Hotels of Mayfair and Park lane that a stone’s throw away people were sleeping in shop doorways, the world is unfair at best.

We reached lunch, and settled for some food at a pub by this point the team had walked about 12 km which I didn’t realise at the time was just under half way. I had a delicious vegan burger at a delicious price. We had all got to lunch feeling in good spirits and it was at this point that my self talk started to say ” hey Woody, you can do this you know” and I started to believed it.

After lunch we journeyed on. What was so beautiful about the team was how we all talked to each other. No one was left alone there was always little conversations going on and as the walk started to get harder we all put an emotional arm around each other and urged each other on.

I’m not sure what point along the journey where I lost interest in the sites we were finding, my body was starting to speak up and say “what the hell are you doing, call it off, you don’t have to do this” but my mind had changed and was determined that we would do the whole lot. The temperature had turned up a few degrees and I remember how soaking wet I felt when we reached Trafalgar Square as another drug induced hot flash hit me. It was packed with people, excited tourists were everywhere and our growing weary band were amongst them. We stopped for a short rest. I watched the multitudes of people, most were smiling and happy, lots of pictures were being taken and the atmosphere was kind happy and excited, you could feel it with every breath. I smiled and thought for a few seconds life is a beautiful thing, yet in back of my mind were the images of the homeless from earlier.

We stumbled across a lovely olde traditional pub, I couldn’t tell you where it was except my memory says it was in a quaint little back street were tables and chairs were packed with people eating and dining, this pub was dark, wooden and smelled of beer and had that lovely pub atmosphere that you get in an English pub when people are happy and enjoying themselves it was welcoming and jolly I suppose. The team were in need of refreshments by this stage ,we were still in good spirits but needed some recharging as our batteries were starting to run low. I ordered a very weak bitter shandy, I don’t drink alcohol any more but I wanted the taste and feel of it and holding a pint glass, I almost downed it in one, I think my shandy dissapeared in three goes but my god it felt good as I felt it racing around my body, refreshing me from head to toe. I was glad of the stop, I needed to take my shoes off, they were killing me. I had a pair of newish light walking boots and thin socks, my feet had started to swell and my boots were becoming too small for me. Surprisingly my back and my hip which is home to my cancerous tumors were not bothering me, my back brace was doing a great job. My main fear all along was the damaged nerves in my spine would stop me from completing the walk early in the day. Today they let me walk and only bothered me towards the end, and I thank them for that.

Reluctantly we left the comfort of that fine pub and it’s lovely beery atmosphere and good cheer and set off for the final part of the journey. This was to be the longest and the hardest part of the day. After about an hour my right leg started to hurt, caused by my damaged nerves from the cancer, the right side of me suffers from sciatica and it decided to say hello about three quarters of the way through. Our spirits were lifted as we reached the bustling vibrancy of Leicester Square where dancers and singers entertained the crowds. Some of the team were dancing, my right leg was numb and both feet were on fire as they swelled more and more. I sat down very unsteadily I loosened my boots, I had somehow picked up a couple of small stones in my boot, how they got in is a mystery. At this point I would have quit. My body was telling me no, I wasn’t the only one we were all struggling. I was noticing that many of the teams light and confident walking gaits from earlier had changed, they were heavy and difficult. I heard Graham our team leader saying “just remember one foot before the other, it’s easy”. The last hour was a bit of a daze. I don’t remember much my feet were in so much pain and my right leg was really telling me to quit I was walking robotically struggling to put one foot in front of the other, this weary band of people looking like the walking dead as someone said, it made me laugh and gave me an extra burst of something, a second wind arrived and I think washed over all of us. I watched as groups of two encouraged each other, we gave each other strength and we got it done. The final sign Fleet Street appeared in our sight we had done it. The team had walked and covered every point on the monopoly board, we didn’t have much time for farewells as we went our seperate ways desperate to seek the comfort of our own homes.

17 miles is not much to your average fit and healthy person but we didn’t train for this we just turned up with a common thought and a common goal and that thought was to raise awareness of prostate Cancer on social media and I believe we achieved that.Today the latest total is £3100. We thank everyone who’s so far donated, we have not set the world on fire but each one of us has started to make ripples in the pond and maybe we have made quite a few people sit up and take notice and hopefully take action

Men you are vulnerable to this cancer, if what we did yesterday means one man sits up and thinks “what’s this back pain I’m getting, why is my bladder acting strangely, I know, I’ll take a PSA test ” then every one of those 38,500 steps yesterday will be worth it.

Lastly before I finish this blog I would like to say a huge congratulations to the team Graham for organising it all, Ian for sorting out the route and Zoe, Sheila, James, Terry, Neil, Aga and John. Thanks for all of your encouragement and non stop support with out it I couldn’t have done this. I learned a lot today about team spirit and how a group of people can when the mind is in the right place, and the heart is too we can do anything.

Lastly ive got stage four prostate cancer , yesterday it did not have me, yesterday for one day at least in my life I beat it. I proved I can do more that I’m supposed to be able to. Anyone reading this you can do anything if you put your mind to it, don’t be scared stand up to Cancer and do the impossible. Thanks for reading and please carry on supporting us by donating to Prostate Cancer UK just giving page thank you.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/keith-woodward3

Love Woody ❤️

Some pictures from today