Rothbury fundraisers take on 13-mile 'MoonWalk' for friend diagnosed with cancer aged 45

On Saturday, June 8 Lesley Etterley and her two friends, Sally and Sara travelled to Edinburgh to take part in this year’s The MoonWalk Scotland.

For the trio this was their first walk they had attended but the reasons why they took part was all too special.

Lesley was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2015 at the age of 45. She explained how it was her husband who discovered the lump in her right breast whilst the couple were on holiday.

She said: “ At that time, I thought it was just my usual lumpy breasts, as it was my time of the month. After my period had passed I forgot to recheck my breasts as I’d assumed the lumps had gone.

“Thankfully however my husband reminded me that the lump was still present which in itself reminded me of the importance of checking your breasts regularly in order to notice any changes.”

Lesley immediately knew that she needed to see her GP, and was referred under the two week wait rule to the local one stop breast clinic, where she had a mammogram, ultrasound and biopsies done, all on the same day.

After her diagnosis, Lesley was booked in for a mastectomy on her right breast just two weeks later, as well as the removal of all my lymph nodes on that side. The type of cancer was HER2 positive and after my mastectomy, she had six rounds of chemotherapy, three weeks of radiotherapy and a year of Herceptin injections.

Lesley said: “I’m continuing to take drugs which help prevent my cancer coming back, including Tamoxifen, which I’ll probably be taking for ten years. I have an MRI scan and a mammogram every year to check that I’m still cancer free.

“For me, raising money for breast cancer is really important. Every year, I try to do a challenge, which raises money and awareness. So - I was looking for charities which support breast cancer and found Walk the Walk and The MoonWalk Scotland.”