Mini-post - Quick Update on My Story

Time to Fly Again :)

So once again, I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who's sent me messages of support via twitter, FB, in game & of course, in RL. It's been a tough couple of months but yesterday I had my post-op results. The Doc basically told me to go away & come back in 6 months for a check up! When he told me I didn't need chemotherapy, I had to ask him to repeat it 3 times before it really sunk in as I'd been told from the start that chemo was virtually guaranteed. Obviously, I'm not totally safe yet - there will be a lot of regular checkups in my future but the odds are definitely in my favour now.

I'm surprisingly not annoyed about cutting my hair off as early as I did. I wouldn't have been able to wash it properly anyway & the money raised so far is going to a very very good cause & a well run charity. I'm a long way from my target still but I'm going to keep trying to reach it.

If you haven't donated yet, the link is https://www.justgiving.com/Helen-Shorey - Breast Cancer Care is a British charity so if you are UK based, any donations will qualify for Gift Aid - the charity can claim back some tax so if you donate £10 for example, the charity can claim another £2.50 back. We all like getting cash back from the Taxman, don't we?

As for my European, Oceanic & American friends, the website takes all sorts of currencies so nothing stopping you there :P

I know times are tough for everyone right now, myself included but even a $5 donation will help - it all counts. If you're embarrassed by not being able to give very much, there is an anonymous option too.

So it's fantastic news for me but there are still a huge number of women out there who can benefit from the work this charity does. Remember, this cancer can hit anyone, it's not just for the ladies so please, please, please, check yourselves regularly.

Thank you all one more time - you're a fantastic bunch of people out there

Nev
xxx

PS Yes, that is me in the photo - just one of my past oddball adventures & now many more on my list to be completed :)

A Big Thank You!

Before & After

It's been a hectic 10 days since my last post 'Introducing Me'. Various tests & check ups to make sure I'm fit for surgery, having my haircut & getting my ponytail sent off to the Little Princess Trust charity amongst it all. I've also been playing WoW much more - I guess I'm hiding in that wonderful world because I'm playing Horde now & don't know where anything is so I have to concentrate :)

I'd especially like to say a big THANK YOU for all the twitter retweets, comments on my post, private tweets & emails I've received. I won't list everyone - there were so many but I really appreciate that you all took the time to send a message to someone you've never met!

I'd like to make a special mention to my lovely friends & fellow bloggers for their support - I was overwhelmed when I read the first post or two - I honestly had no expectation of such responses to my own post.

First to surprise me was Alyzande over at The Gold Queen, she adapted a WoW icon and made it available for all to use to show their support. You can read her lovely post 'Pink Ribbon for Nev'. She's also been keeping me sane late at night on Facebook! mwah!

Then my kind & generous friend Jim over at PowerWord:Gold wrote a heart warming post 'Help Nev Support The Fight Against Breast Cancer'. Jim was the guy who persuaded me to join him on his fab podcast last year - an experience I thoroughly enjoyed & hope he'll have me back again sometime soon :)

Phat over at Phat Lewt's Gold blog also added a header to his latest post 'Lull Gold Making' sending his readers to my post in droves!

And then there was Focushot over at HunterMastery.com - a relatively new person in my circle of friends but one I've been following for a while :) His post 'Support Nev, The Fight Against Breast Cancer' made me choke up a little too.

A nice surprise for me was a brief post by Euripedes over at Call To Auction - one of the most popular podcasts that is making a comeback. Short & to the point 'Cancer Sucks' says everything :)

And last but not least by any means, my dear friend Cold over at Cold's Gold Factory shocked and amazed me with his post 'When Bad News Turns Good'. We had spoken in the days before his post came out so I knew he was planning something but I have to admit, I never expected that! I will also admit that I cried buckets when I saw what he had done for me - happy tears though. I just hope he forgives me for pinching his skype piccie! lol

Many others have added Alyzande's Pink Mageweave Shirt to their blogs & some have changed their Twitter icons for me. Retweets have been bouncing around & messages are still arriving. I knew there would be some response but I had no idea it would be this big!

So what next? Well, my op is next week with an estimated 4-6 week recovery time - but that's for normal peeps! I'm hoping I'll be able to play WoW & type blog posts long before then! Poor little Shoofly is kind of lonely at the moment but I hope to get her moving again soon so look out for some updates on that project. I've also been doing some more farming so if I can get my head into writing mode, there'll be another post or two there for lowbies & newbies :)

But in the meantime, I still need your money peeps! We're only at 27% of my £1000 target so please, spread the word however you wish & maybe donate a little bit too. Every Pound, Dollar or Euro counts so if you are embarrassed by donating a lil bit, you can stay anon by clicking the relevant box. My charity page is https://www.justgiving.com/Helen-Shorey - please, dig deep for such a worthy cause & don't forget Ladies - check, check & keep checking - early detection is vital! Love you all, thank you so much for your support

Helen/Nev :) xxx

Introducing The Real Me, A Message & A Plea

I don't often talk about my life on here - this is a WoW blog after all but shit just got really real here at Casa Nev & I need to make some changes so here goes. If you don't want to read all the blubby stuff inbetween, there's a TL:DR bit at the bottom ok? :P Settle down, this could take a while :)

May I Introduce Helen

First off, I want to introduce the real me - not Nev, Lyss, ArtyAllsorts or Gala98, me - Helen Shorey. I've always kept the various parts of my internet life separate so as not to bore photographers with WoW stuff & vice versa but now I want to pull all of you together, you'll see why in a little while.

I'm eclectic - I write 3 blogs or more (actually, I've lost track!) as well as a few guest posts here & there (not all WoW), I have my Squidoo friends, my Etsy friends, my Microstock friends & of course, all my lovely fellow WoW addicts. All of you know me by the name I chose for that 'category' of my life online but I can only make one page for this so I need to come out of the closet at last. I'm me, just Helen, a girl with lots of interests & lots of curiosity about all sorts of stuff.

The Story

So long story shortened a fair bit - I found a lump in my breast about 3 weeks ago. Not a huge one but still much bigger than I ever expected to find. My Mum & grandma both had breast cancer so I've been very careful about checking regularly. Just 2 months ago, there was nothing to be found, now, it feels about 2inches long.

I've had the usual tests & got my results earlier this week - it is definitely cancer but the bad news was that it is a type 3 (for my American friends, not stage 3, that's different again!), which as far as I understand so far, that means fast growing with the potential to be aggressive. I had a week of waiting for results & I felt that I had accepted the cancer part & I knew from experience that it would require surgery to remove said lump. I was ok with that - it's just a bit of fatty flesh after all.

I wasn't prepared at all for the Doctor's  decision though - due to the speed & aggressiveness, they want to make sure & play safe by taking the whole breast - that shocked me to the core & I almost howled there & then. I've calmed down a lot in just 2 or 3 days - now I only howl occasionally :)

So now I'm waiting for a date for my surgery & then about 8 weeks after that, I will probably start chemotherapy. The full treatment plan will be decided after my operation - whilst they are in there, they will check my lymph nodes to see if its started to spread - if it has, then the treatment plan will change but for now, it's op & chemo.

The Plea

So why am I telling the whole world about this? Because one idea that hit me the day of the tests & being told even then that he was pretty certain it was cancer, was to do something positive. I have long hair & it is very thick & chemotherapy will most likely rob me of it for a while. I decided I wasn't going to just let that happen, it's my hair, I'll decide where it goes! So I am going to donate my ponytail to a charity that makes wigs for children suffering with cancer & hair loss.

OK, so that still doesn't really involve you guys does it? Well, here's the other bit - I want your money! I'd like you all to 'sponsor' me to cut it off - I've created a page on JustGiving where you can help me raise money for a fantastic support charity - Breast Cancer Care. I will admit, reading the information there scared me shitless at first but it gave me enough knowledge to take in what the Specialist told me this week without asking what every little bit meant.

You can donate easily via Paypal as much or as little as you wish. Any UK donations will also qualify for Gift Aid - a tax break for charities - just tick the box on the site to make sure the Inland Revenue refunds the tax bit to the charity.

I'm going to be tweeting, Facebooking & blogging about this for a while to come - I'd like to ask you to spread my message & help me raise this cash. Retweeting, FB liking or even just a link somewhere to my charity page would all help. As an online community, our power to do some good is amazing - we stretch across the world like a spiderweb, all of us just reaching a few others outside our circle.

I have some good support around me, Mum of course, is being wonderful even though it must bring back all her own memories. Dad is head chauffeur & dealing with official stuff with me & my long time best friend & sister in law is her usual no-nonsense kick butt self. But online I have some very special people too & I'd like to publicly thank Scott, Rob & Michelle for all their loving support from the first horrible day. I'm not sure that I would be this positive already without them - I love you guys, thank you <3

I can beat this thing & with your help, we can help these charities to help others to beat it too.

The Message

Yes, I'm still talking! I have one more important thing to say & this is probably more important than asking for your cash.

LADIES - check yourself! Every month, just have a good feel around. Next time you visit your Doc, ask them to show you how to do it properly & get used to doing it yourself. Learn what feels normal for you & if something changes - DON'T HANG AROUND, GET IT CHECKED please :) Mine appeared in under 8 wks, you may not have time to faff around - just go get it checked.

GENTS - not only can you check your girls' boobies under the name of fun :P but you should check yourselves too - guys do have some breast tissue there even if you don't have moobs. Guys can get breast cancer too so same thing applies - check yourself & get any changes checked out.

TL:DR

I am Helen, I just got breast cancer & I want your money for charity! (There - see, I can do short sentences sometimes!!! lol)