Life - Cancer & Life Again: Sharing My Journey With Other People

I would like to dedicate this to my family and friends for been my rock and to a special friend called T.D ….

You made the dark days disappear and made me smile .. thank you ….            

I guess the place I should start with is the day I was Diagnosed with stage three mouth cancer (SCC) Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

I have had surprises in my time but this one beat the lot. I travelled on the train with my mum to see the maxillary dental department and I guess this will always stay with me. As I walked into the room there were four people in the room and the first thing I thought was oh, that's odd, they asked me to take a seat and when you first hear those words .. I am sorry but its cancer, wow this is not really happening, I remember saying to my mum after been told the prognosis, ok I want to go home now. I guess it's my way of dealing with the initial shock. That train journey back home was so hard to do, people laughing and getting on with their normal day to day things as mine had just hit a brick wall.

Not sure how many times I had picked up my pen and looked at the blank page.. We can all write a fictional story, full of super action heroes but this was to be about me and how I could help others. During this journey I have found myself doing a lot of thinking about my past, present and future, how do we deal with cancer and how it redefines our lives.

Hopefully you will then understand where I am coming from.

I'm a confident and strong-willed person and I agree, a little bit stubborn at times, these traits that I inherited came into play during my cancer treatment.

As strange as it sounds, I don't feel bitter, just grateful that I have been given another chance and after two major surgeries followed by six weeks of radiotherapy back in July and August 2017, I am now in my third year of remission with no sign of cancer recurring.

My advice for you as follows:

• Please accept the help when others offer
• Do something nice for yourself once a week
• Live in the present, not the past
• Take one day at a time, you will get there trust me
• Come to terms with what you have been through and love yourself

It is ok to feel the way you do, you will have good days followed by the hard ones but they do get less as time goes on. Please remember you are not alone. Cancer has so many names you could call it, its DISRUPTIVE, INVASIVE and a painful DISEASE, one word that turns your life upside down.

Since I have been in remission I have achieved four challenges:

• Beating Cancer head on
• 100 miles cycle ride
• 50 mile walk
• One million step challenge for diabetes

I wish you all the very best and health.. Let's all beat Cancer together.. We stand together and keep moving forwards together…

I would like to thank for their continued support:

Royal Preston hospital - Rosemere Cancer Foundation and ENT

MacMillan Cancer Support

Gary Hall

I was asked in May 2019 by CancerCareParcel if I was willing to share my journey with other people that have either recently been diagnosed or going through cancer treatment. If I can help another person with my story then it's been worth it

Further reading

Mum, Cancer and Me:  How I Helped My Mum Fight Back From Across the Miles 

I am a 2x AML leukemia survivor and a stem cell transplant recipient.

Navigating the Coexisting Worlds of Cancer Treatment and Parenting

A Plastic Surgeons Day: Skin Cancer, Breast Cancer And A Lot More