My 9th cancerversary

It’s my 9th cancerversary today, 15 April. But I should really call it my 9th primary cancerversary, since I was diagnosed with secondary (terminal) breast cancer last July.

Not a happy event for sure, but I see it as a good milestone. I am still here, so I celebrate that.

I have a cake every year, because cake is good. And I am glad to be alive, especially since my latest diagnosis.

Hopefully, I will get to celebrate my 9th secondary cancerversary one day too, in July 2032.

I am grateful to be alive, and that my children and husband haven’t had to deal with another early death in our family and the never-ending grief from that.

So, am I full of joy and thankfulness, skipping along and singing  to the birds? No, not usually. I know that a (hopefully slow) decline awaits me, before a painful death. Although, the thought of being full of morphine and blissfully unaware does help.

What makes it harder is that my local hospice, Prospect Hospice, are really struggling with a lack of funding and donations. Like many hospices, they are fighting to keep going. When the time comes, I don’t want to die in a grim hospital room or at home (my poor family, having to deal with that!) So, I am extremely invested in Prospect Hospice thriving for many more years.

If you have the luxury of a few spare pounds, please do consider donating to them? It can be a one-off or regular donation, or you could enter their monthly lottery.

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Many local people already know what a wonderful place it is.

Even though I am fairly well and able now, I have already benefited from their free massages and visits from their social worker. If I needed a spinal operation, even last minute, then they have promised to make a hospital-style bed available for me at home, or I could stay at their beautiful location in Wroughton while I recover.

Palliative care is so important, and means a lot more than dying with dignity and not in pain, although that is obviously vital.

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My 5th cancerversary

The 5th cancerversary is a big milestone for survivors. And 5 is a big number, definitely. Sadly it doesn’t mean that it will never come back. Cancer can hide in your cells, even spread to many parts of your body, even decades after treatment for the primary cancer has finished. But, of course I am grateful to be well now, and happy to have been around for those extra years with my family.

This year, the whole world decided to join in with the chemo feelings of social isolation; loneliness; possible loss of income or job; fear of being really sick and dying; lack of control; and general inconvenience. Doesn’t feel great does it?

Strangely, this isolation caused by covid 19 has helped me to feel less isolated. Because we are all in this situation together, my family has not been singled out for a change. That feels much more manageable. We’ve got it a lot easier in fact, than many people do. We are not NHS or key workers. All we have to do is stay home. Thankfully, so far none of my friends or family has caught the virus.

When I received the unexpected shielding letter from my hospital last week, I was not as relaxed about it. I have had a few random health problems over the last few years, including an awful cough and breathing problems caused by a chest infection that didn’t heal for 6 months. But I suppose that it’s the chemo that got me on the list.

So, once again, the shadow of cancer hangs over me, meaning that I am again seen as a vulnerable person. I have been put into the ‘poorly person’ box  again, and I don’t like it at all. I think that the biggest problem is one of identity. I am Alex. I am not a cancer victim. I am not my illness. I needed to remind myself that the letter doesn’t change this. They are, in fact, looking out for me. That’s a good thing, that the NHS cares about little old me.

The other issue is one of control. I have been in uncontrollable  situations many times, so have learned this lesson before. But I guess it’s a lesson that needs to be learned again. Strangely, there is so much strength from admitting weakness, by realising that there are very few situations where you are actually fully in control. Nobody is always strong.

That’s the advantage of having faith in a God so much stronger and wiser than me. I don’t need to pretend to myself and others that I am god of my own life. Because I’m not. I didn’t choose when or how I was born, and I won’t choose when or how I die. I have found a peace in that.

For now, I am enjoying my lovely house; garden full of new life; and family who I get to spend more time with.

I will never be grateful that I had cancer, but I am here, I got through it. And if that isn’t a good reason to eat chocolate cake, I don’t know what is.