Following on from last month's 'Meet the Champs' Q&A where we met Granny59, this month we meet Greg777, who you'll find Champing our Myeloma and Stem cell transplants for blood cancers groups.
Enjoy...
I joined the site in the Summer of 2016, about 18 months after being diagnosed with myeloma, a blood cancer which, like me, you have probably never heard of! I was having a tough time following a stem cell transplant and was under the care of a psychologist at the hospital where I was being treated. He suggested that I might find some benefit from sharing experiences in an online community setting (my new immune system was restricting me from physical meet-ups). I was not really the sort of person to join an internet forum (I still don’t use Facebook!) and had largely not spoken with other people about how cancer had affected me, but I was not in a good place and I figured that I had nothing to lose. I started by reading a few posts, finding my way around, and then dived in with starting a discussion. I was blown away with the compassion shown by other posters and never really looked back from that point onwards.
There have been so many that I couldn’t single out one. In fact, I would say that I get a highlight every time I come onto the forum. For sure, there is so much sadness and pain on the site, so many people struggling that it is sometimes difficult to read. But I try and remember that place I was in when I first joined and just how real the pain was that I was feeling, and how much of an impact the forum members had on me when I needed it most. So, I try my best to do the same. And when you read that maybe you have had a positive impact on someone, no matter how small, that is enough of a highlight for me.
'But the real beauty is in the now, in the moment'
There is one that sticks in the mind – “stay in the day”. It was written to me when I was going off the rails in the early days. It is so simple, but so true. My mind has a tendency to go wandering off in all sorts of directions. But the real beauty is in the now, in the moment, in whatever you are doing at any given time. That piece of advice has really helped ground me more times than I can count!
'Try to remember that the dark moment can't and won't last forever.'
It depends on what stage you are at. If you are newly diagnosed, then I would say take your time, be kind to yourself, breathe and take stock. There is going to be a hell of a lot of shock to deal with, and that takes time to process. If, like me, you are joining the forum well into your experience with cancer, it depends on the reasons you joined, but if it is like me and you are struggling with things emotionally, then my one piece of advice would be to try and remember that everything is temporary. There are inevitability going to be some dark times during an experience with cancer. And there have been times when I have been convinced that the dark times would never end. But I’ve come to learn that everything ends, because everything is temporary. So, if your current moment is a dark one and you are struggling to see any beauty in it, try to remember that the dark moment can’t and won’t last forever - it might take some time but you will definitely come out of it and you will see the beauty again.
'To think that he has literally saved my life is a very special thing.'
This one is easy, it’s my brother. To be honest, it is my whole family, but especially my brother because he was my donor for my stem cell transplant. He is a brilliant big brother, always has been, but to think that he has literally saved my life is a very special thing. I would really encourage everyone to sign up to be a stem cell donor - it is no more difficult than giving blood - I was very lucky that my brother was a match, loads of people don’t have that luxury, and to think that you could literally save someone’s life is in my opinion pretty much the most special thing that a human could ever do.
I was in a punk band between the ages of 16 to 18. We were pretty bad and only ever did 3 gigs, never making it out of our home town, but as I wrote the lyrics, it instilled in me a love of writing, and so you’ll often find me kicking around the Express yourself part of the forum. It’s a great place to explore your creativity and I actually found it very therapeutic on the cancer journey as well, so pop on over, you never know, you might like it!
In case any members or users of the Community weren't totally sure what a Community Champion is, our Champs are a group of dedicated Community members who've volunteered to keep an extra close eye on the site for us. Our Champs welcome new members to the Community, ensure they're comfortable using the site, offer fantastic support and give members a 'nudge' in the right direction on further support when it's needed.
