Suzanne's Miles for Hope: Driving home the message for NET cancer awareness

Starting on 1 November, I'm driving 2,000 km across the country, from Invercargill all the way home to Whangārei, in my first-ever motorhome, the Alicorn. I'm raising awareness and funds for neuroendocrine cancer, to help others with NETs who are still searching for answers.

My goal is $2,000: $1 for every kilometre.

For years I lived with constant abdominal pain and vomiting that no one could explain. Anxiety loomed over every part of my life. Even catching up with friends or a trip to the supermarket was a struggle. I felt hopeless.

Then a friend of mine helped me out of my spiral with a dare: travel the length of the country, from the very top of Cape Reinga to the bottom in Bluff. It was two thousand kilometres and I'd never done it before, so I said let's go.

I made it home in one weekend, by bus, two planes, a train, a bike, and a convertible – I found my spark again.

Now, three years on from my diagnosis, I'm repeating the journey that saved me, this time in the Alicorn. Everything I've been through has taught me to say yes to life (again!), and I'm using that as my superpower to help others who are on the same long road to a NET diagnosis.

Why "the Alicorn"? It's the name for a unicorn's horn, a nod to the founding name of Neuroendocrine Cancer NZ (Unicorn Foundation). NET cancer is so hard to detect and diagnose that those of us living with it often feel like unicorns.

"The ones with NETs that don't know it yet, those are the ones I want to save."

If this trip helps even one person get an earlier diagnosis, it will be worth every kilometre. To everyone still searching for answers, and everyone learning to live with NETs, the message I'm driving home is: don't let the cancer take away your spirit.

Double your impact: November is Matched Giving Month, so every gift is matched, dollar for dollar.

Thank you for coming along for the ride. Keep an eye out for the Alicorn in your part of the country!