As 2016 comes to an end, senior editor Tess looks back at a good-news story from earlier in the year about two of the people featured in our information booklets.
We only use photos of real people affected by cancer in our information booklets. Every year we arrange lots of photoshoots in hospitals and volunteers' homes all over the country. And in 2013, I was lucky to meet Nicole and Jehad while we were doing a photoshoot at the Beatson Hospital in Glasgow. They were in the Teenage Cancer Trust Unit, chatting to their nurse and playing pool. You can see some of the photos we took of them in our booklets above.
Then earlier this year, we spotted an article about Nicole and Jehad in the news. It was lovely for us to read what they've been up to in the three years since we met them, and we were thrilled to read how well they’re both doing. Nicole is now at university training to be a social worker, and Jehad has opened his own craft beer shop in Glasgow.
Nicole and Jehad met at a support group for young adults with cancer in 2012. When they met, Jehad was having treatment for testicular cancer and Nicole had recently finished treatment for ovarian cancer. After a few months of seeing each other at the support group every week, Jehad asked Nicole out on a date. And four years later, they’re still very happily together.
Cancer can affect lots of areas of a person's life:
All these physical, emotional and practical changes cancer can cause can be very hard for the person with cancer. And if they have a partner, it can also affect them and put a strain on the relationship. Nicole and Jehad were in an especially difficult situation, because they were both going through their own cancer experience as well as supporting each other. But they also both felt lucky to have a partner who understood what they were going through.
Now that Nicole and Jehad have both finished treatment, they are moving forwards with their education and careers. They also both want to use their cancer experience to help other people in a similar situation. They both raise money and volunteer for the cancer charities that have helped them. Jehad also gives talks about his experience, and he still goes to the support group where he met Nicole so he can chat to other other young people who are currently going through cancer treatment. And the reason Nicole is training as a social worker is that she had support from social workers herself, which inspired her to help other people in the same way.
If you’d like to know more, we have lots more information about cancer and relationships. We also have information written specifically for teenagers and young adults with cancer. Or you can order the information as free booklets:
From all of us in the Cancer Information Development team at Macmillan, we wish Nicole, Jehad and all of you a happy and healthy New Year.
