A Stoke Mandeville mother who had an extremely rare cancerous tumour removed from her arm will join thousands of Santas walking and running through central London to raise money for charity.
Laura Isom, her husband Paul and 16-year-old son Harry will be among more than 3,000 people in Santa costumes taking part in Santa in the City with the family raising money for Sarcoma UK – the charity that provided crucial information when Laura was at her most vulnerable.
Laura, 58, was diagnosed with liposarcoma after a painful six-centimetre lump appeared on her forearm in March and began pressing on her radial nerve. The HR manager underwent surgery in June, followed by radiotherapy, and is now back at work but is having scans every three months.
It was in March this year that Laura started having problems with the grip on her left hand. A couple of days later, a painful lump appeared on her forearm. Not sure what was wrong, she had a video consultation with a doctor who immediately said she needed an operation.
A couple of weeks later, she saw a specialist, and an MRI scan confirmed her worst fears – Laura had liposarcoma, a rare form of cancer.
‘My family were devastated, really shaken,’ said Laura. ‘My son Harry was in the middle of his GCSEs, and I had to wait until half term to tell him.’
The lump, which was pressing on her radial nerve, was growing quickly and reached six centimetres in size before Laura had surgery to remove the tumour in June. This was followed by radiotherapy.
Laura is now back at her job as an HR manager but is having scans every three months to monitor her health.
Like many sarcoma patients, she had never heard of the disease until she was diagnosed. Laura searched online for information and found the website of charity Sarcoma UK, which provided reassurance during a traumatic time.
Laura, her husband Paul and son Harry, 16, will be taking part in a fundraiser called Santa in the City. Sarcoma UK is the event’s official partner and more than 3,000 runners in Santa suits will flood past landmarks including St Paul’s Cathedral, the River Thames, Millennium Bridge and Tower Bridge.
Laura said: ‘I have never really done any charity fundraising but I wanted to do something for sarcoma and raise awareness. Everyone I spoke to had never heard of sarcoma and there are not so many treatment options for sarcoma as other cancers.’ Sarcomas account for less than 1% of all cancer diagnoses in the UK.
So far the family has raised £1,660, with £1,000 donated by Laura’s employer, Esri UK.
Kate Quillin, Acting Head of Research at Sarcoma UK, said: ‘We are investing nearly £400,000 in two groundbreaking research projects led by Dr Zoë Walters at the University of Southampton, specifically focused on liposarcoma – the very type of sarcoma that affected Laura. Dr Walters’ work is tackling this disease from two crucial angles: first, by identifying specific genetic changes that can be targeted with existing drugs to provide more effective and less harmful treatments than current chemotherapy options; and second, by building innovative laboratory models that include immune cells alongside cancer cells, which will help us understand why some patients respond to immunotherapy while others don’t.
‘For patients like Laura who are living with the uncertainty of regular scans and the fear of recurrence, research like this offers real hope – hope for treatments that are not only more effective but also spare patients from the debilitating side effects of current therapies. We hope this kind of research will transform outcomes for liposarcoma patients in the years to come.’
Santa in the City is on 2, 3 and 4 December with the starting point being at St Paul’s Cathedral at 7pm.
To support Laura, Paul and Harry’s Santa fundraising walk, go to: https://www.justgiving.com/page/isoms-1
