In support of my wife Kate

Fraser Eadie's wife was 51 when she was diagnosed in bowel cancer. To support her and help raise funds, Fraser and his two sons have signed up to all take part in Decembeard.

My wife Kate is 51 years old and has just recently been diagnosed with bowel cancer. She was feeling unwell, generally just a little lethargic and run down, and slightly breathless. She visited the local GP who ran some blood tests and concluded that she was anemic. This led to an endoscopy and colonoscopy which found a cancerous growth in her bowel.

Kate has had a CT scan and is going into surgery on 4 December to have the growth removed along with 30% – 50% of her large intestine. We are expecting her to be in hospital for about one week and a six to eight week recovery at home.

The news that Kate had bowel cancer was a particularly hard blow for her and the family as she was only six months away from a five year "all clear" from throat cancer. We had already started to think about celebrating her all clear when she received the latest bad news.

Kate has a very positive attitude and outlook and has an extremely strong character. The fortitude that she has displayed has been overwhelming and is a testament to her strength as a much-loved wife and Mum.

I first saw Bowel Cancer UK on Facebook just a few days after Kate was diagnosed. I immediately thought that the idea of growing a beard to raise awareness and monetary support was something very simple, but very effective. I discussed it with my two sons Keiran and Adrian and they were very keen to get involved too. Keiran already has a very impressive beard so he started the event with a Facebook Live Shave Off at 7pm on Friday 30 November.

We started organising our event just a few weeks ago by creating a JustGiving page and promoting it on Facebook. I also sent an email to all my contacts and we were blown away by the response – we raised £1,390 in the first 24 hours! Progress has been slower since then and we are now at a grand total of £1,915 – not too bad considering our target was only £250. The generosity of friends and family has been incredible.

We're not far away from £2,000 so that can be our next target. Our daughter Rachel has also done a fantastic job sharing our posts and spreading the word! I'm sure that regular photo updates will help the funding flow too.

As a family, we all have a very challenging time ahead, none more so than Kate. By doing this small thing, Keiran, Adrian, Rachel and I hope to not only raise much needed funds for research but to also raise awareness. We are just at the start of a long journey and the support shown by everyone around us has been amazing. But not everyone has that level of help by their side and by supporting Bowel Cancer UK, we hope to make a difference for others.

Sign up to Decembeard

Decembeard is our annual campaign calling on men to ditch the razor, let their beards grow and raise funds to support our lifesaving work. Join us this December, get growing and raise as much as you can.