My Story

The lotto is over - I had 14 - but you can still donate at any time below to Little Lifts – the tiny charity giving big love to breast cancer patients

How many lymph nodes will my surgeon take out of my right armpit? Answer: 14!!!!

No one knows – not even the surgeon! It could be fewer than 10 or over 60. That’s why I’m turning this weird medical fact into a joyful guessing game to raise money for one of the smallest but mightiest UK cancer charities: Little Lifts. Set up by a cancer patient, the charity sends care packages to anyone undergoing treatment - all they have to do is ask. 

🎁 The prize:

I'll send a Bloom & Wild letterbox posy – my favourite online florist - to the person whose guess is closest to the number removed during my surgery (UK only).

💡 How to take part:

1. Guess a number between 1 and 60 (or go wild with more!). Or simply donate if you don't want to guess but would love to support the fund-raiser.

2. Leave your guess in the “message” box when you donate on this page

3. Please check existing guesses to avoid duplicates (or just go wild and hope for the best!)

💸 Donations:

There’s no set amount – just give what you can afford, whether it’s £5 or £25. It costs at least £50 for each box Little Lifts sends out, with items carefully curated and beautifully packed by volunteers to suit the needs of women having chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery.  All the contents are NHS-approved. I received one myself during chemo and felt the love and usefulness of every item. The money will go to their Kindness Fund which has so far sent over 32,500 boxes around the UK.

🔍 Legal bits (just to be safe):

This is a free draw to raise funds for charity. No donation is required to enter – though you’re warmly encouraged to support Little Lifts if you’re able.

👉 If you’d like to enter without donating, just email your guess to:
[email protected] with the subject line “Lymph Node Lotto”

The winner will be announced once I receive my surgery pathology report (timing may vary).

🧠 Why lymph nodes?

These pea-sized immune warriors filter out nasty stuff like cancer cells – and sometimes they even hold the line until we notice something’s wrong. In my case, I found my triple negative breast cancer by checking under my arm as well as my breast. That one little node may have saved my life. This surgery removes the whole lot from my right side, and only the lab can tell how many there are.

So... fancy a guess?

Thank you for lifting me up – and for helping give Little Lifts to others 💕