My name is M*** (Am I allowed to say my name?), I was born in January 1972.
It’s easier saying that way, otherwise I’d have to update this every year.
I have been very happily married since September 2004.
everything you're about to read is open, honest and not at all exaggerated.
At the age of 48, I was diagnosed with bladder cancer. This came as a huge shock to me and my family. I’ve never smoked (Well…I’ll come back to that) I don’t drink, not much, maybe a glass of cider once every 6 months, if that, so not much alcohol. Never worked with chemicals.
Smoking, well, when I was a teenager, I decided I’d try it, so I bought 3 different packets, had a puff from one cigarette from each pack. In total, I hadn’t smoked more than a whole cigarette.
My Mum asked what I was doing, so I told her I thought I’d try it.
My Mum said she could see that, but why did I buy 3 different packs?
I explained, I thought they might be like sweets, and thought maybe one was better than the other.
My conclusion was, they were awful, smelly and disgusting, I never did that again.
I have decided to share my cancer story, as I feel maybe it will help others, with a whole range of different reasons. This is unusual for me, by nature I’m quite reserved and a very private person, so once it was confirmed I had cancer, I only wanted to tell my family. But after processing and accepting this, I decided to be open about it, as I’m sure people will want to know for all kinds of reasons. I also believe people should be more aware of cancer.
I understand my case may differ to others, even with the same cancer, this is focused on just my experience.
We can all take steps to minimise the risk of cancer, which is a great help, but doesn’t mean to say we’ll never get cancer in our lives. It’s just one of those things, you get or you don’t, cancer chooses people rather than us choosing not to have it in the first place.
I would like to take this opportunity to say a special thank you to my Mum, Dad, family & friends, for all their help and support, I can't thank them enough.
I would also like to thank the staff at Burton & Derby hospitals for all their help and support, and for saving my life. All the staff have been so kind, caring, understanding and good to me.
To follow my cancer story and my wifes cancer story, please visit https://ourcancer.co.uk
