Teenage Cancer Trust Trek - Camino de Santiago

Hello, I’m Gonzalo! In November 2021, at 23 years old and in the midst of navigating the joys and challenges of early adult life, I was diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. The diagnosis came as a shock, and with an overwhelming uncertainty of what the future would look like. After 12 sessions of chemotherapy I underwent in Edinburgh that came along with immense fatigue, nausea, and more medications than I could count, and a huge amount of support from both my friends, family, and partner, and from the Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT), I finally found out a few weeks ago that I’m now cancer free! I want to begin my journey towards recovery by undertaking a multi-day walk, the Camino de Santiago, while fundraising to help TCT continue to support teenagers and young adults (aged 16-25) facing cancer in the UK.

There’s never a good time for a cancer diagnosis, but receiving it at this time in your life is particularly disruptive and destabilising. TCT nurses offer consistent medical advice, Youth Support Coordinators help with psychological support, creating connections and community between patients, and make the experience of cancer significantly more manageable. Besides providing care and resources to individual patients undergoing treatment, TCT also works in cancer policy across the UK. ([https://www.teenagecancertrust.org/about-us/our-policy-work](https://www.teenagecancertrust.org/about-us/our-policy-work))

Throughout diagnosis and treatment, to finally hearing I was in remission, the wonderful staff at TCT have made my experience of cancer enormously less clinical and distressing. They provided me with a guitar to play while I was undergoing treatment, supplied painting materials for my partner and I to paint during chemo, connected me with other patients my age with whom I found solidarity and deep friendship, signposted me to other forms of support, from financial to psychological, and made what is traditionally a cold hospital environment into a warm and welcoming one.

Now in remission, I want to give back to this fantastic organisation through this fundraiser, while commemorating finishing treatment and beginning the process of recovery and re-strengthening by completing the final 100 km of the Camino de Santiago, a 500 mile pilgrimage through France and Spain finishing in Santiago de Compostela, typically undertaken by people in search of healing, time for reflection, solace, or spiritual guidance.

75% of the raised funds will be donated directly to the Teenage Cancer Trust, and 25% of the raised funds will contribute to funding the walk itself.

Thank you for your support, truly, and I’ll keep you updated on my adventure through here!