Be a bit more Deborah……………….. Dame Deborah James died recently, 6yrs after her diagnosis of bowel cancer. Deborah never stopped talking about life as worth living. She did this on her @bowelbabe blog and Instagram account, as co-host of BBC Radio 5 Live’s award-winning, lively podcast about living with cancer, You, Me and the Big C, and her books. She talked in detail abouther experiences and symptoms, such as “pooing blood”, because “one of the biggest problems is that people aren’t frank enough”. Her tireless campaigning to raise awareness of bowel cancer symptoms will have saved countless lives. The 3 main symptoms of bowel cancer are blood in Continue Reading …

Developing Resilience to cope with Difficult Times Lots of us are dealing with difficult times, worries and uncertainty right now. We can’t change what happens, but we can choose our response. Happiness isn’t about everything going well – it’s about responding constructively, even in difficult times. By making positive daily choices we can help make life calmer and happier.      

Clair@DyingWell_UK “So here’s a turn up: something that’s floored me. I don’t talk much about my kids’ reactions because that’s their story, not mine. But my son has volunteered this and wanted me to share it with you”. Clair’s son has given his permission to reprint his article here. What my Son (16) said Since mum’s original diagnosis, I have found that honesty and transparency have been the two most important things. They have helped us to make the difficult decisions less difficult and make the ones that were best, not just for mum but for the family as a Continue Reading …

Clair has stage 4 colorectal cancer and is receiving palliative care. She has a website where she tells her story: www.dying well.uk “Diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in 2018, initially I was given less than a 50% chance of surviving a year. I first knew I was really sick when I had to be rushed to hospital in an ambulance. For a couple of days I was given lots of drugs while doctors decided if I could have the surgery that I needed to keep me alive. I woke up in ICU with a stoma & the news that Continue Reading …

‘Now, a little over a year later, as far as I’m aware, I’m cancer-free. Yet nothing will be the same again. Cancer has changed my outlook on the world regarding the people in my life, my identity and mortality. I’m sure anyone who goes through something like this experiences a level of shock, no matter what age. But as a young person barely into my 20s, cancer presented me, for the very first time, with the fragility of life and the human body. However, I’ve gained a lot through this shift in perspective. Now I feel I am no longer Continue Reading …

At the age of just 22, the very last thing you want to hear is that you have stage 4 cancer, but for some people the only response is to tackle it head on – which is just what Ellie Edna Rose-Davies did ‘I barely noticed it at first. A bump on the right side of my neck, small but definite. I was 22 and had no health issues (I’d never even broken a bone), so I didn’t think much of the lump. But my boyfriend was concerned, so I made an appointment to go to the GP. For the Continue Reading …

This year has been like no other, although some will say there have been similarities with the war years.  During the pandemic, all of us have been affected one way or another.  Lockdown measures have created serious threats to our emotional wellbeing, particularly from loneliness. We’ve lost valuable aspects of our social connections with others, such as hugs and handshakes, social activities and simply sharing the same physical space with family and friends. We have had to cope with the loss of power and control over our lives, and maybe with the loss of our job or income. Health services Continue Reading …

After 7 hours in surgery; 9 months off work; 3 years of chemo; 4 years of drug trials; and 10 years of post-cancer treatment and monitoring, Russ got the ‘all-clear’ from cancer. He doesn’t have any advice to give on how to get through cancer, but here are some of the things that worked for him. “I realised very quickly that I was helpless. I didn’t ‘fight cancer’. I just lay in a bed while the NHS fought it for me. I was a battlefield, not a combatant. But oddly, feeling helpless allowed me to slip into a relaxed attitude Continue Reading …

Eid, Chanukah, Christmas, and New Year – it has been imprinted on our psyche from a young age that we spend special holidays with family. This has been a year like no other and many of us will be unable to be with our loved ones, either because a loved one has died or Covid restrictions prevent us from meeting up. We will miss our loved ones even more than usual. Our sense of loss is magnified – the sadness deepens and the sense of loneliness can feel isolating. How can we celebrate togetherness when those we hold so dearly Continue Reading …

This year has challenged us all. But for Sarah Hughes it’s been particularly hard. Here, she talks about living with cancer – and letting in the light in the darkest of times. ”The strangest thing about having an incurable illness during a time of pandemic is the weird but unavoidable sense that everyone has finally caught up with you. As people started talking about how worried they were, how they couldn’t stop thinking about the virus, how difficult life now seemed, how isolated, the temptation to say: “Hey guys, welcome to my world” was overwhelming. The thing about living with Continue Reading …