Fundraising Effort! I'd love your support...

One day this summer along with some of the YogaBellies family, Andy and Hannah from Insight Photography/Tummy to Toddlers took some pics.  This has now turned into a Charity Fundraising Calendar for two charities very close to my heart, Tommy's (YogaBellies Charity of the Year) and Yorkshire Cancer Research.

I had the idea to do a fun and cheerful calendar earlier in the year, and then when the shit hit the fan it got waylaid a little, but I've finally got there, with lots of help from my friends.

This is just a taster of the pics, we were on Mappleton beach (which was new to lots of the mummies and I know lots of them have visited it since), the weather did us proud, with lots of sunscreen needed on the day!  The families all had a fun time, with some of the little ones paddling, digging in the sand and a couple of babies were reported to eat the sand - I'm sure it went straight through them too!

I wanted it out before now, but I've struggled a little bit recently with energy levels so I've not got long to get them shifted, so would appreciate any help spreading the word. And of course, buying one!

To buy this you just need to press on the link here to PayPal Me!  (Very Easy, just fill in the amount and tell me where to send it!) The full colour A4 Calendar is £6 for the calendar or £7.50 with postage (UK only) Collection is available from me (Hull) in classes or from my lovely hubby Allan at MKM Beverley.

The charities are both very close to my heart, maybe the Yorkshire Cancer Research is obvious, I'm a Yorkshire Lass and I've had cancer... Each week in Yorkshire 565 people are diagnosed and the rate of cancer is the third highest in the UK!  And two people in my circle of friends in the last few weeks!! Tommy's is the YogaBellies Charity of the Year which is one reason they are to benefit of this fund raising effort, another reason though is that Tommy's exists to save babies lives and fund research into miscarriage and pregnancy complications. Very sadly we've had a miscarriage in our family this year and my son and daugher in law are still recovering from this.

Lots of you said 'If there is anything I can do please let me know'... So please support me in this effort.  Press the button!!

Thank you xxx

Shoot me now!

I feel I have a lot to say about the language used around cancer, but I'm having difficulty articulating what it is I want to say but for now, what I can say is the violence metaphor is very prevalent!  We battle with cancer (and sometimes lose that battle), we have a war on cancer, we fight the disease and I hate fighting, but it is one of the metaphors that is constantly used, even though research has shown that people with cancer can find it disempowering.  Hell, even searching for an image for this post put me in a hot sweat!  The pictures that come up are so scary!!
So why am I talking about Shooting?  Well, I had this lung biopsy...

There I was, flat on my back on a narrow hospital bed, with 7 members of staff around me, all fully introduced as is the protocol, with my nurse for the day at my head talking to me, and the large polo-shaped scan machine placed so the Doctor could see inside me to take a lung biopsy.  I had to keep my breathing regular, and not too deep as he didn't want my lungs too mobile (believe me I was breathing deeply to try to keep my anxiety levels down), and he would take the biopsy just to the right of my breast bone.

As an aside, when I went in I was asked if I was allergic to medical tape as they might need to tape my breast out of the way... Hello, I'm 50, laying on my back, my boob is in my armpit, surely that's enough out of the way?  It wasn't mentioned again ;)

Back to the biopsy, nurse chatting at my head, talking about so many different topics, (she honestly never shut up, I think she was well suited for the job)  I have a local anesthetic in my chest  and I'm all set up.

Nurse: 'The Doctor is going to do the biopsy now, he's prepared the gun, he's placing it on your chest'

Me:  Nods in acknowledgement, I can feel it there.

Nurse: 'He's going to shoot you now'

Me: Nods in acknowledgement - Bang of the gun into my chest, I feel it!

Nurse: ' He's going to shoot you again now'

Me (Internally Shouting) For Fluff's sake use some different language!!!

As if being flat on your back on a hospital bed, in an open hospital gown, surrounded by fully clothed people, knowing this procedure may give you a diagnosis of cancer, doesn't make you feel vulnerable enough ... they they get a gun and shoot you!  Now I'm not sure what other language could be used here.   It was what happened - he got a piece of equipment and shot it into my lungs and withdrew two tiny pieces of tissue (I know how tiny they were, I asked to see them before they went off to the lab for testing).  At least it wasn't a bullet.

It was all so common place for them, the placing of the gun on my chest and the shooting. Me, who doesn't like violence and shooting - but that day - I felt like I wanted Clint Eastwood (circa The Good, The Bad and the Ugly days, or Dirty Harry days - Do You Feel Lucky Punk?) to come out from behind the scanner and shoot the Doctor and the chatty nurse for me, it was so surreal for me I honestly wouldn't have been surprised if it had happened!