Cancer survivor almost at target (From Swindon Advertiser)

Cancer survivor almost at target

8:10pm Thursday 2nd August 2012 in News By Emma Dunn

A BOWEL cancer survivor who is raising funds for the charity who helped her when times got tough is just £300 away from her target.

Joanna Bundy, of Highworth , who has been given the all clear, is in training for the Great North Run next month to raise money for Beating Bowel Cancer.

The 31-year-old started training as soon as she finished chemotherapy in April and said she was delighted to be so close to her £1,000 target.

“Training is going well, I have done a couple of 10k runs. I am getting back into it gradually,” she said.

“People have been so generous, I’m about £300 short of my target at the moment.”

Joanna was training for last year’s Great North Run when she went to her GP because she was passing blood and suffering from swelling and pain in her stomach as well as tiredness.

She was diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer, stage four being the most progressed.

“If I had left it any longer and got to stage four, it would have been just palliative care. I was lucky I went when I did,” she said. “Bowel cancer is the second biggest killer of the cancers and there is not enough awareness about it.

“I am relatively young to get it. Going to the doctor when I did saved my life.”

Joanna had a tumour removed from her bowel and underwent eight cycles of chemotherapy at Great Western Hospital over six months. She was given the all clear on May 16.

Joanna has been attending a course in Cheltenham at Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centre, which offers free support for anyone affected by cancer.

“I’m doing a survivor course that helps you come to terms with what you have been through,” she said.

“The course is definitely helping to spur me on. They have got a personal trainer and a nutritionist too.”

Joanna, who will be cheered on by her fiance Alan Barnes at the event on September 16, is hoping to beat her time from last year by completing the race in two hours and 15 minutes.

To sponsor Joanna visit www.justigiving.com/jobundy.