A young woman whose bowel, bladder and uterus were removed because of a rare 'melon-sized tumour' plans on completing a half-marathon less than a year post-op.<br /><br />Courtney Blake, 27, suffered from the rare and aggressive cancer with only 150 recorded cases since the 80s.<br /><br />She battled through a long bout of angiomyxoma, described as a "rare type of soft tissue tumour."<br /><br />The graphic designer from Leeds, West Yorkshire, is currently six months post-op after she had a "cantaloupe-sized tumour" removed.<br /><br />The 16-hour surgery in November last year saw her bowel, bladder, uterus and "whole vagina" removed.<br /><br />She spent a week in an intensive care unit, where she eventually moved to another ward in St. James' Hospital in Leeds' Harehills.<br /><br />The six-month recovery included several MRI scans as well as getting used to a colostomy and urostomy bag, dubbed "David Bowel-ie" and "Urethra Franklin".<br /><br />Courtney said: "I had cancer. I’m not a victim of cancer. I just had it and I’m really trying my hardest to not make it my whole personality, but here we are. <br /><br />"It wasn’t a cancer where life was stripped away from me in my late 20s and luckily it doesn’t reign a lifetime of chemotherapy onto me either.<br /><br />"After only 10 days of being diagnosed with Angiomyxoma - a hormonal tumour that sits in the pelvic region of ‘childbearing aged women’ – I had a 16-hour long, major surgery to have it removed.<br /><br />"I’m down a uterus, an ovary, a bladder, rectum, colon, anus and a whole vagina. <br /><br />"My bowel is now in pieces and sits on the outside of my stomach in the form of a colostomy and a urostomy. <br /><br />"For those not aware of what that means – simply put – I’ll p*** and s*** into bags for the rest of my life.<br /><br />"It’s s*** that I won’t ever be able to have children and it’s s*** I can’t eat sweetcorn. I also s*** myself on a bus last month, which wasn’t very cool.<br /><br />"Although it's s***, it’s also just life. And I was simply unlucky. I was dealt a bad hand."<br /><br />Courtney has remained positive and humorous in the face of adversity and decided to hit back at cancer by taking part in Newcastle's Great North Run in September.<br /><br />Courtney, who describes herself as "s*** at running", has been training hard for the 13.1-mile race, where she plans on raising money for Cancer Research UK.<br /><br />She has been running four times per week since deciding to take on the half marathon less than a month ago, where she is gradually increasing her stamina and endurance.<br /><br />Alongside her at the Great North Run will be her fiance Mac, 26, who is also running for charity, supporting Sarcoma UK.<br /><br />Courtney said: "So I'm going to be running the Great North Run for Cancer Research. Or at least try to, I’m pretty s*** at running.<br /><br />"Cancer research does fundamental life-saving work to not just try and beat cancer, but to give a support system to those going through it too. <br /><br />"Anything you can donate will go towards giving someone a better life and I think that in itself is so f****** awesome.
