A WORCESTER teacher, who was diagnosed with tongue cancer after seeing a large lump on her neck in a party photo, is launching Race for Life in the region and urging everyone to join her.
Julie Page, 58, had felt the lump in her neck previously but dismissed it as a swollen gland. It was only when she saw a photo of herself at a party in April 2019 that she realised how big the lump in her neck was.
Now cancer-free for three years and acutely aware of the importance of research, the St Barnabas Primary school teacher is set to take part in Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life at Pitchcroft Racecourse on Sunday, July 9 to raise vital funds for the charity.
Standing proudly at the school gates holding a Race for Life back sign and ringing the school bell to sound out the rallying cry, Julie is hoping to encourage people of all ages and abilities to sign up to their local event at raceforlife.org
Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life, in partnership with headline sponsor Standard Life, is a series of 3k, 5k, 10k, Pretty Muddy and Pretty Muddy Kids events which raise millions of pounds every year to help beat cancer by funding crucial research. This is the 30th year of Race for Life and participants will receive a special medal to mark the milestone.
Julie, who is mum to two grown-up sons Zak, 28 and Fynn, 26, spent six months being fed by a tube because she lost the ability to eat or swallow. The cancer at the base of her tongue had to be treated with intensive radiotherapy that left her mouth feeling like “sunburn with a bucketful of ulcers thrown in”.
She lost so much weight – over six stone – during her illness that when she returned to work many of her colleagues didn’t recognise her.
Julie said: “If I hadn’t seen that photo taken at the party I probably wouldn’t have gone to the doctors. Even when I did go, I was expecting a diagnosis of tonsillitis or glandular fever, so it was a massive shock to be told it might be cancer.”
Because Julie delayed going to the doctor until term was over and the process of tests, scans and biopsies took some time, it was October 2019 before she got her cancer diagnosis, and November before the primary site of the tumour was confirmed – at the base of her tongue.
On 5 January 2020, which should have been the first day of the new school term, Julie began six weeks of intensive radiotherapy. She also had two days of chemotherapy at the start and halfway through her treatment.
She said: “I hadn’t prepared myself for the intensity and invasive nature of the treatment. I could write a book on ‘the mouth’, how it felt like sunburn with a bucketful of ulcers and how talking was physically and mentally exhausting, everything just felt so painful.
“When I received each round of treatment, I would close my eyes and imagine being somewhere else. I knew each session would take the duration of four songs, and I would sing the words along in my head.”
Julie now makes sure she has a drink to help swallow her food and has check-ups with her consultant as part of a five-year follow-up plan.
After six months off work, she returned to the classroom and is now passionate about encouraging people to go to their GP if they notice any changes in their body.
Visit raceforlife.org for more.
