My very dear friend Brenda was diagnosed with a Neuro-Endocrine Tumor (NET) in October 2010. She passed away on 9 September 2022 a few months short of her 80th birthday. The photo was taken in 2019 on one of our trips (Brenda on left). She was very fortunate to remain fit and well for all but the final 9 months, so we were able to enjoy many outings together and her family had many years of quality time with her. NET is incurable and somewhat rare. There is no government funding for a cure so I want to raise awareness for this type of cancer and to encourage the government to provide funds for research.
On 13 October 2023, I will be walking the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea. It is a challenging 98 km walk over a mountain range and through jungle. I will be 3 weeks short of my 73rd birthday when I complete the 8 day trek. I am not an athlete nor someone who has led an active life so I have had to do a lot of training, beginning this year, to become fit enough to undertake the trek. In order to assess my physical and mental fortitude I recently walked for 8 days around Lake Ginninderra, a local walking track of 7kms. I was able to walk a total of 165 km over the 8 days and managed to persist each day even when it was quite painful. I am currently working on my climbing endurance by using the StairMaster and incline treadmill at my local gym. That’s fairly uncomfortable too – continually out of breath and ever sorer feet and legs!! By doing these things now I am hoping I will be able to keep up!
Please consider donating to this worthy cause, every bit helps.
Gail Brien