Sarcoma UK

Jessica's Charity Page

Jessica Waugh

Jessica Waugh

My Story

I was diagnosed with stage 3 Rhabdomyosarcoma in January 2021. This is a rare form of muscular cancer, as unfortunate as I was, I was also very fortunate for the NHS and the support provided by Sarcoma UK, Macmillan, and the Teenage Cancer Trust.  Sarcomas are rare with around 15 people a day diagnosed with this subtype, that is around 3,500 people per year.  It is still unknown how sarcomas arrise meaning there is no true tailored treatment for them, so many patients (myself included) have/ will have to go through really intensive chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery for a chance which is not always gaurenteed. 

Initially I had no symptoms, I thought I had simply pulled a muscle when I felt a lump, and after 3 days of it not going away I headed to my local GP. Unfortunatly with sarcoma not being common (a GP will maybe see 1 case of sarcoma in their professional lifetime). I was misdiagnosed, which is a story all too common with sarcoma and TYA patients. After pushing for more tests a few months later I was diagnosed stage 3, with a couple of stage 4 scares in the mix. 

Symptoms of a sarcoma are: a lump which is growing/ changing/ or larger than a golf ball (5cm), tenderness or pain around the bone which is worse at night, stomach pain, feeling sick, loss of appetite, and blood in either your stools or vomit. This list is not exhaustive, but any lumps or bumps where they shouldn't be, get it checked!

After undergoing 9 cycles of intensive chemotherapy, and 6 weeks of proton therapy for the past year I have been quite deconditioned, struggling to get up stairs and get around. I am now fortunatley on a clinical trial for sarcoma, so I am still undergoing chemotherapy but I have more energy. 

I've set myself the task of running (and walking) the Great North Run, in order to fundraise for an amazing charity (I could have picked a lot more but this one took the spot). Any money invested to this charity would be helping fund cutting edge research and support for cancer patients, so hopefully they have better chances of being in remission and prolonging survival. 

to top it all off I thought the chemo wasn't enough torture on my bodyso I chose to add a half marathon to the mix!!

If you can donate that would be wonderful, but if not I would greatly appreciate it if you could also share this page! I understand everyone will be fund raising at the same time for their own personal charities but any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have included the links to sarcoma UK if you are interested in seeing more infomation about this charity/ and or curious about symptoms. There are also links to support networks for Macmillan and Teenage Cancer Trust. Macmillan can be accessed by anyone going through cancer, or anyone who has a loved one going through who may need support.  

https://sarcoma.org.uk/

https://www.macmillan.org.uk/

https://www.teenagecancertrust.org/

Thank you for reading!!

Love, Jess :)

Sarcoma UK

Raising for:

Sarcoma UK
9%

Funded

  • Target
    £1,500
  • Raised so far
    £140
  • Number of donors
    11

My Story

I was diagnosed with stage 3 Rhabdomyosarcoma in January 2021. This is a rare form of muscular cancer, as unfortunate as I was, I was also very fortunate for the NHS and the support provided by Sarcoma UK, Macmillan, and the Teenage Cancer Trust.  Sarcomas are rare with around 15 people a day diagnosed with this subtype, that is around 3,500 people per year.  It is still unknown how sarcomas arrise meaning there is no true tailored treatment for them, so many patients (myself included) have/ will have to go through really intensive chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery for a chance which is not always gaurenteed. 

Initially I had no symptoms, I thought I had simply pulled a muscle when I felt a lump, and after 3 days of it not going away I headed to my local GP. Unfortunatly with sarcoma not being common (a GP will maybe see 1 case of sarcoma in their professional lifetime). I was misdiagnosed, which is a story all too common with sarcoma and TYA patients. After pushing for more tests a few months later I was diagnosed stage 3, with a couple of stage 4 scares in the mix. 

Symptoms of a sarcoma are: a lump which is growing/ changing/ or larger than a golf ball (5cm), tenderness or pain around the bone which is worse at night, stomach pain, feeling sick, loss of appetite, and blood in either your stools or vomit. This list is not exhaustive, but any lumps or bumps where they shouldn't be, get it checked!

After undergoing 9 cycles of intensive chemotherapy, and 6 weeks of proton therapy for the past year I have been quite deconditioned, struggling to get up stairs and get around. I am now fortunatley on a clinical trial for sarcoma, so I am still undergoing chemotherapy but I have more energy. 

I've set myself the task of running (and walking) the Great North Run, in order to fundraise for an amazing charity (I could have picked a lot more but this one took the spot). Any money invested to this charity would be helping fund cutting edge research and support for cancer patients, so hopefully they have better chances of being in remission and prolonging survival. 

to top it all off I thought the chemo wasn't enough torture on my bodyso I chose to add a half marathon to the mix!!

If you can donate that would be wonderful, but if not I would greatly appreciate it if you could also share this page! I understand everyone will be fund raising at the same time for their own personal charities but any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have included the links to sarcoma UK if you are interested in seeing more infomation about this charity/ and or curious about symptoms. There are also links to support networks for Macmillan and Teenage Cancer Trust. Macmillan can be accessed by anyone going through cancer, or anyone who has a loved one going through who may need support.  

https://sarcoma.org.uk/

https://www.macmillan.org.uk/

https://www.teenagecancertrust.org/

Thank you for reading!!

Love, Jess :)