Hi and thank you for visiting my just giving page.
Every two minutes in the UK someone is diagnosed with cancer, many of you will know that not so long ago I was one of those people. Just hearing those words fills you with dread, fear and uncertainty or what the future will bring.
My cancer, which was tonsil cancer was caught relatively early, and I needed to have six weeks of radiotherapy treatment, however before I could start treatment I had to undergo a bilateral tonsillectomy and have two wisdom teeth removed. Neither of these procedures were very pleasant but nothing compared to what was to come.
I started my treatment in March 2017 and everyday I would arrive at a Mount Vernon and would be zapped! All was going OK until the beginning of week 5 when I found I could not eat or drink anything at all. So I was admitted to Mount Vernon for almost 3 weeks. During that time I was transfered to The Lister to have a Rigg placed, this is a feeding tube which goes directly into your stomach so you can be fed with a special formula which takes care of your nutrition needs, fluids also pass through the feeding tube to keep you hydrated. During this time I was still receiving my last 2 weeks of treatment. My last day of radiotherapy was 17th April 2017 and if you have or know someone who has had R.T you will know that this date is etched in your mind forever.
It took many months of recovering to even start to feel half "normal" again but after 6 weeks I was well enough to have the feeding tube removed, that was also a day I will never forget. As time went on I started working again part time and things were slowly "getting back to normal" but I kept thinking of all the people all over the UK who would be told that day that they have cancer and might only just be starting their own cancer journey and the thousands of people who would be making that daily trip for treatment or having similar procedures done as I had. I wanted to give something back as I had directly benefitted from this amazing charity. We have all heard of Cancer Research but like so many other things in life we don't take much notice of things unless they affect us directly. As I've already said one person every 2 minutes in the UK will be told they have cancer and as of now half of those people will survive for 10+ years. The figures for cure and survival have increased dramatically over the years, this is due to charities like Cancer Research, which receives no government funding.
So what do they do... Obviously they research into the causes of cancer, improving diognosis and screening methods and the treatments themselves trying to find ways of lessening the physical impact on the body, trying to make them kinder.
No one knows what life has in store for them. But right now I am fit and well and cancer free. I see my consultant at The Lister hospital every 6 weeks and as long as he's happy, I'm happy. What I would hope for in the future is no one to feel the way I felt when I was diagnosed last year and we are able to treat and beat all cancers and not fear it. This can only be done through research so every penny really does matter so please donate what you can no matter how small (or large!) don't forget to gift aid if you can.
Thank you again for reading my story.
