In September 2021, The Reformer Studio family was hit by the news that one of our long-time instructors, Laura, had been diagnosed with Stage 2 Triple Negative Breast Cancer at the age of just 28.
This was completely out of the blue. All our members who know Laura know how much she loves all things health and fitness, the overwhelming reaction to the news in the Studio was “but she’s so healthy!”, which truly illustrates the point that cancer doesn’t discriminate. A healthy lifestyle does reduce your risk of developing a number of different cancers, but some risk will always remain, and Laura has been unlucky in this case.
Laura’s treatment plan began in October 2021 and involves fertility preservation through egg freezing, chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy. She is so far handling the treatment fairly well with minimal setbacks so far and hopes she will be back teaching in the Studio towards the end of the summer (2022)
Thankfully, Laura found the lump that led to her diagnosis through a self-exam, which just underlines the importance of checking and knowing your body. By checking for unusual lumps and bumps, or changes to your skin, regularly you’re more likely to notice when something isn’t right and EARLY DETECTION SAVES LIVES! If you find something has changed, monitor it for 1-2 weeks and if it’s not gone back to normal, please book in to have your GP take a look. Getting it checked won’t change what it is (the vast majority of the time it will be nothing at all!) but getting it checked earlier if it is something could mean it’s easier to treat!
A few minutes a month is all you need, and you can set up a handy reminder to FEEL IT ON THE FIRST through Breast Cancer charity CoppaFeel here: https://coppafeel.org/remind-me/remind-me-sms/
After Laura’s diagnosis, she and Holly decided to focus on something positive. Aiming to raise awareness of early detection, and raise money to support vital research and services for those living with cancer, LAURA’S MOVEMENT was born.
In October 2021, The Reformer Studio hosted a 25-hour (thanks daylight savings time!) reform-a-thon, running classes from 8am on Saturday 30th October 2021 to 8am on Sunday 31st October 2021, getting the message out on local and regional news and raising £6,467.24 for Breast Cancer Now.
Check back soon for our charity event plans for this year, but if you are looking to make charitable donations in the meantime we would love you to consider supporting Maggie’s (https://www.maggies.org). The Maggie’s Centre at Nottingham City Hospital has been, and continues to be, an invaluable support to Laura, her husband and many others living with cancer in the East Midlands.
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