Former business owner, mum of three and lung cancer patient, Amber Morrison-Campbell is taking on the London Marathon for the third time with her husband Nick. Two years on since her diagnosis, Amber, age 42 from Cornwall isn’t letting her lung cancer treatment stop her training!
“I ran the London Marathon when I was 29 and 30, Nick ran when he was 36. We were younger then and I didn’t have lung cancer but I’m confident I’ll cross that finish line with a smile on my face.
I ran a half marathon at the end of last year and we’ve been clocking up the miles ever since.
I’ve has a slight hiatus in the last week or so due to side effects from my treatment. But my doctor is happy for me to start running again – even though I’m typing this from my hospital bed!
It will feel like a huge accomplishment to run the London Marathon post diagnosis
I think what I’m most looking forward to, is sharing this experience with Nick and creating this memory with him, while also raising money for Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation.”
Amber’s lung cancer story
“In 2021 I received my shock diagnosis. I’d just given birth and was still breast-feeding when I started with headaches.
My GP didn’t know what the cause of these and my lung cancer was only caught when I was rushed to hospital where they found lesions on my brain that they believed were cancerous.
My world stopped for 24 hours. I was separated from my baby, and it was devastating, he’d never been without me.
It took a while for an official diagnosis, but the doctors confirmed I had lung cancer with Met Exon 14 Skipping Mutation, a rare mutation of the disease.
Since then, I’ve had a mixture of treatment, initially I started with duo chemotherapy and then went onto immunotherapy.
Last September I had Gamma Knife surgery to remove lesions in my brain that had returned, and the January just gone I underwent radiotherapy to my C6 vertebrae as the cancer had spread there.
My cancer isn’t stable but I’m optimistic about the future. I’ve just started a new approved drug called Tepotinib which such put my cancer to sleep.
The treatment hasn’t been easy, and I’ve experienced severe reactions to Tepotinib so who knows where next but as more treatments come available, I’m hopeful for the future.
I won’t let my lung cancer be the focus of my life. I will continue to do the things I love, exercising, travelling and spending time with my boys.”
Support Amber on her London Marathon challenge here.
