‘Running to my chemo sessions helped keep me positive’
Natalie Hall, 46, put on her trainers to keep her sane and healthy during gruelling chemotherapy for breast cancer
The day I became a solo parent in 2014, I took up running and found it therapeutic. Things remained amicable between me and my ex, and when our daughters Evie, then four, and Gracie, one, visited him every other weekend, I’d go for long runs.
Over the next few years, I took part in four marathons, and when Evie turned six, we both did the Race for Life, a charity 5k run raising money for Cancer Research UK. And as soon as Gracie had her sixth birthday in January 2019, she said, “Mummy, I’m old enough to do the Race for Life, too!” So, the three of us signed up for our local one in Regent’s Park, near our home in north-west London, for the following May.
We were looking forward to it, however there was a niggle in the back of my mind. A couple of weeks earlier, I’d had sore breasts, which I’d put down to hormones. But one morning, I found a small, hard lump on my right boob. I made an appointment with my GP, who said it was most likely a cyst, but referred me for a mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy. I wasn’t too worried, so only told one friend, and I went to the hospital on my own in early February. But after the scans, the consultant took my hand. “I’m sorry, it’s not good news,” she said. I just went numb.
The consultant explained that I’d have to wait a week for the official diagnosis, but she thought it was breast cancer and that I would need a lumpectomy followed by radiotherapy. I walked out in a daze. I’d been planning to run back home, but stumbled onto a bus and called my friend. As it happened, my mum Linda was driving from Wales to visit us. As soon as she dropped her bags and asked if I was OK, I burst into tears. When I told her, she was as shocked as me. Luckily, the girls were at school, and I decided I wouldn’t tell them until I knew the full story. During that time, I feared the worst. “Will I die?” I kept thinking. Although I ran my own dance school, I didn’t have much money. I started thinking of ways I could fundraise for the girls before I died.
The next week, I received my official diagnosis, and to my relief, the consultant explained that the cancer had been caught early. I was referred to the Royal Marsden Hospital, and my lumpectomy was booked for mid-march. When the girls came into my bedroom for a cuddle one morning, I explained that I had cancer, but the doctors were going to remove the lump. They took it brilliantly. Within minutes, we were back to our usual jokey selves. I was determined to keep my life as normal as possible, and four days before my surgery, I ran a half marathon and achieved a personal best time of 1 hour and 43 minutes. I felt great.
Two weeks after my lumpectomy, further tests revealed the cancer had spread to my lymph nodes, so I would need chemotherapy. I was terrified, but family and friends gave me so much support, I stayed optimistic. I was also determined to keep running, and when my chemo started in April, I ran the four-and-a-half miles to hospital for almost every appointment. I’d rock up in my training gear, and the nurses thought I was crazy but brilliant, and I inspired a couple of them to start running. “If you can do it, so can I,” one said.
It was tough going, though – especially the first nine days after the first round, as I felt sick, dizzy and exhausted. But the dark fog gradually lifted, and running helped keep me sane and positive. To try to prevent my hair falling out, I wore a cold cap during my first round of chemo, but it was so painful, I had to give it up. “Mum, you’re going through enough pain, don’t wear it,” said Evie, then nine. I was worried that the girls would feel upset about my hair loss, but it was the opposite. By the second round of chemo, my hair was coming away in clumps, so I invited a friend over to shave it off while the girls swept the hair off the floor. We made a fun occasion of it, and once my new look was finished, the girls loved it, and I thought that it was quite cool, too.
The next day, I felt like a warrior as I ran to my third chemo session, rocking my buzz cut! The girls and I were due to do the Race for Life in a couple of weeks, but then doctors said I needed a port inserted into my chest for chemo, so I couldn’t take part. I was gutted, but 20 of my friends signed up and ran with the girls. I was their cheerleader with my pink pom-poms and sporting a pink, shaved head. The girls were proud to get medals, and we raised lots of money.
I had 15 rounds of gruelling
‘I felt like a warrior’
Daughters Gracie and Evie ran Race for Life when Natalie wasn’t able to
chemo, which I finished at the end of September that year. By then, I’d found out that my dad’s side of my family had a history of breast cancer, so after I got tested, doctors confirmed that I’d inherited the BRCA 2 faulty gene. It meant my treatment was able to be adjusted, and instead of radiotherapy, I was offered a preventative mastectomy and preventative oophorectomy (removal of ovaries). I opted to have the surgery, and in November, I had a double mastectomy and my lymph nodes removed, followed by a breast reconstruction. I wasn’t sad to say goodbye to my breasts, I was just grateful to be alive.
Last August, I had my ovaries removed. Neither my health nor my race times are what they were, but I’m training for the London Marathon in October. The girls and I have moved to Marlow in
Buckinghamshire where there’s more open space, and I’ve recently qualified as a cancer exercise specialist.
I’ve explained to Evie, now 11, and Gracie, eight, that they can choose to have genetic testing when they are older. Hopefully, what I’ve been through will prevent them going through the same thing.
I’m grateful that I found the lump early enough, and want to encourage women to check their breasts regularly irrespective of their family history. It saved my life and could save yours.
● Natalie is supporting Cancer Research UK’S Race for Life, in partnership with Tesco. Run, walk or jog. Sign up to your local event at Raceforlife.org and raise money to help fund life-saving research