Walkers to step out in support of Georgina

Dr Georgina Morgan was diagnosed with stage four appendix cancer last August and, because it is so rare, is in the dark about what the future holds.

Many of her friends and colleagues at the Rothbury GP Practice will have her at the forefront of their thoughts when they embark on their walk around the Coquet Valley on Sunday.

They are raising money for Pseudomyxoma Survivor, a charity which helps fund research, raise awareness, and support those living with the cancer.

So far, a fantastic £1,545 has been pledged.

Georgina, 43, has shared the ups and downs of her journey since diagnosis on Instagram.

“Raising awareness is so important and encouraging people to get unusual and persistent symptoms checked out is imperative,” says the mum-of-two.

After diagnosis, the disease began to progress alarmingly quickly. In just six weeks, the tumour which spread from Georgina’s appendix to one of her ovaries grew from 7cmx10cm to the size of a football.

She travelled to Basingstoke to have an operation which involved removing all the cancerous tumours before pumping chemotherapy drugs directly into her abdomen.

It took several months to recover from that and she has been receiving systemic chemotherapy since January. She won’t know until late in the summer how well the treatment is working.

Her latest cycle of chemotherapy has proved extremely hard.

“The fatigue is indescribable unless you’ve experienced it,” she wrote in her blog. “I feel like I’m running at 50% charge all the time and haven’t bounced back to 100% this time. All within the realms of normal for chemo but beyond frustrating. I’m grateful for no serious side effects so far and hoping that continues.”

Remarkably, she dipped her toes back into the world of work this week when she met a colleague at Northern Cancer Alliance to chat through some of the projects they’re working on and how she might get involved.

“I need to make it count and make a difference for others and improve cancer services,” she wrote.

“I have a patient, clinical and leadership voice that I hope can positively influence the outcomes for others diagnosed with cancer.”

Walking for Georgina starts from Rothbury Community Hospital at 11am, with registrations from 10am. A six-mile walk takes a route along the River Coquet to Thropton, up Physic Lonnen and back into Rothbury, with a shorter three-mile route to Tosson along the river then back via the road.

Donations can be made on the day or via www.justgiving.com/fundraising/the-rothbury-practice-rothbury

http://www.pseudomyxomasurvivor.org