May 9, 2021Does positivity cure cancer?16 months on from my diagnosis for a borderline operable Stage 2b Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma, from which half of patients die within 12 weeks, I gave a talk for the Professional Speaking Association called ‘Refresh Your Perspective’. One of the questions from the audience has really stayed with me, and I’ve…Cancer Survival6 min readCancer Survival6 min read
Feb 6, 2021The Forgotten C in the the Forgotten CIt’s hard to speak with one voice, when some of us need to shout so much more loudly to be heard. Some cancers are more forgotten than others. Some cancers are more affected by the Covid crisis than others. There is a #CancerGap! Thursday this week was #WorldCancerDay. I was invited to speak at the #CampaignerConnections event, co-organised by Cancer Research UK, Macmillan, Action Radiotherapy, and Pancreatic Cancer UK. …Pancreatic Cancer4 min readPancreatic Cancer4 min read
Dec 19, 2020Pancreatic Cancer; my Christmas diagnosisSomething isn’t quite right… — Saturday 7th December, 2019: We were excited to see our good friends and their 1 year old daughter who were coming for a meal and to stay overnight. Before they arrived, I popped to the gym. About half way through my normal workout, I just ran out of steam. I…Pancreatic Cancer7 min readPancreatic Cancer7 min read
Dec 1, 2020Cancer: a clue in the looI think most of us know that any blood when you go to the loo is a problem. I’m not sure that most people know that pale floating poo can be a sign of cancer too. This time last year, I was blissfully ignorant that I had a deadly cancer…Cancer4 min readCancer4 min read
Oct 19, 2020Cancer survival; running the numbersI run numbers. I do this almost constantly. Maybe it’s symptomatic of being a patient of what is commonly referred to as one of the ‘least survivable cancers’- when the numbers are so stark it’s almost impossible not to think about it. I know that no individual is an average…Pancreatic Cancer4 min readPancreatic Cancer4 min read
Oct 1, 2020Living in the shadow of cancer survival statisticsPancreatic adenocarcinoma has a 7% five-year survival rate, and a 1% ten-year survival rate. Anyone diagnosed with cancer has mortality thrust in their face. Anyone who survives cancer has the chance of recurrence to live with. …Cancer2 min readCancer2 min read
Sep 29, 2020And, then I remembered…For two minutes on Sunday morning everything was normal. I woke up in my bed, my husband was downstairs making breakfast for our daughter, and I was just me. My body was my own. My mind was still. And, then I remembered… I’m a cancer patient. I turned onto my…Cancer2 min readCancer2 min read
