Hello,
My name is Claire and I have never blogged about my cancer experience before...
I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in July 2009, a few months after my 30th birthday and well, as anyone who has been through this will know, it was a shock (to put it mildly!). Since then, I have had 4 surgeries (3 of which were debulking) and I am currently having my third round of chemo (in my case each round consists of 6 cycles of chemo lasting 3 weeks each).
In 2010 my consultants told me the cancer was now officially incurable and it was just a question of buying me time (they were talking 3 to 6 months). One year and a half later, I am still here and loving life, for however long it lasts. Each day is precious as far as I'm concerned, the goods and the bads...
I still tried to get back my old life after round 1 of chemo, but I have now realised and accepted that my life has been changed by cancer forever. The surprising thing though is that I can honestly say that I am happier now than I was for the first 30 years of my life. Don't get me wrong, cancer is not my friend and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, but it has given me the opportunity to learn what makes me happy and understand better what I want from life.
I used to always be busy doing things, socialising, seeing friends, travelling, working (a lot!) but because of the side effects of chemo, I have had to discover new hobbies to enable me to continue enjoying life without exhausting myself or going insane.
This is what I would like to share with you, the tips and tricks that have made chemo more bearable for me, the activities which bring joy to my life and inspire me to keep going. This sounds terribly arrogant, but over the last 3 years, I have come across so many "non cancer affected people" who have found these new hobbies inspiring that part of me can't help thinking I should share this with the people who are going through the cancer treatment like I am, in the hope that maybe one of my tips might bring some joy to your day or a smile on your face. Even if it is just for a few seconds, it will be worth it...
