Not this time!

#19 The future

2022-08-12T09:59:00Z

I am truly hoping this is the final chapter in many respects, as it will mean that my remission continues. I know there will be check ups for another 3-4 years to check this is the case, monitor and support. There is always the possibility of some of...(read more)

#18 The first anniversaries

2022-07-27T11:05:00Z

One of the worst things for me about November is going to work and coming home in the dark. I am sure teenagers these days have a vampire-ness to them when they complain as I open the classroom blinds – my feeble attempt at seeing some daylight...(read more)

#17 Making Adaptations

2022-07-25T11:28:00Z

I ‘properly’ returned to work in the September, five months after treatment had finished. To start with I struggled with the fatigue and eating. For most of my colleagues’ morning break is challenging enough, taking a class to the r...(read more)

#16 Life after cancer

2022-07-03T10:49:00Z

We all experience our cancers differently and these experiences leave us all changed to some extent or another. To be in remission is a strange situation. On the one hand you are delighted that the treatment has worked and that there are ‘no ac...(read more)

#15 To work or not to work

2022-06-26T15:27:00Z

For some of us who walk this path we don’t get an option about returning to work, the long-term side effects are just too much to allow any return to a normal life. However, at 48 once treatment had finished and with thankfully manageable side-...(read more)

#14 Co-morbidities

2022-06-26T15:05:00Z

Many people who start along the cancer path already have some underlying conditions. I have no idea what the statistics on that are, but I am sure, anecdotally, that these can impact on treatment options, diagnosis, etc. For me, it is a bit of a chic...(read more)

# 13 Coping / Not Coping

2022-04-13T10:49:00Z

About 6 weeks after treatment had finished I hit rock bottom. I had thought I would be feeling much better at this stage. In all honesty I think the past few months caught up with me and once the morphine was lifting the truth and weight of what I ha...(read more)

#12 Getting Worse before it gets better

2021-11-25T19:59:00Z

Maybe I was extremely naïve, maybe I just hit peak information overload at some point, maybe I could only look so far ahead. When I was first told I had throat cancer I went off the scale to the dark side and thought that was it, worst outcomes ...(read more)

#11 My Support Team

2021-08-23T11:46:00Z

OK, so the cancer is in your body, but you do not need to go through this on your own. It is lonely at times, and you will think that no-one else in the world understands, but many do. Even if they don’t you will need some people, some will be ...(read more)

#10 Lockdown's Silver Linings

2021-08-03T13:32:00Z

Cancer in the Covid era will undoubtedly be a slightly different experience. In some ways it makes it a much lonelier journey, yet that also means it can at times be much more peaceful than might otherwise have been the case. Some of us decide to kee...(read more)

#9 No More Beige Food Please!

2021-07-27T14:34:00Z

Food is quite possibly one of the biggest hurdles when going through and recovering from treatment for throat cancer, once you have dealt with the psychological / emotional side of having cancer. Depending on where your cancer was found, in my case t...(read more)

#8 What is Happening to my Body?

2021-07-26T13:22:00Z

If you are at all easily offended or squeamish skip this post, you can’t complain later that I didn’t warn you! If you are at the start of your cancer journey hopefully this will give you an insight to some of the delights you have coming...(read more)

#7 Meds, meds, meds

2021-07-02T16:34:00Z

Eighteen months ago I took one vitamin tablet and one anti-histamine, both over the counter and not on prescription. The only reason I went to see my GP was every three years for routine smears and the occasional minor problem. Roll the clock forward...(read more)

#6 The Treatment Train

2021-07-01T16:05:00Z

On the Friday afternoon I had my last pre-treatment call from one of the chemo nurses. Talking me through what I needed. I took far too much with me as it turned out, but better that than being left high and dry I thought. I was advised to take drink...(read more)

#5 The Pre-Treatment Juggernaut

2021-06-28T15:47:00Z

At this point my throat was starting to recover from the tonsillectomy, I was dropping back down to paracetamol for analgesia and taking liquid ibuprofen to reduce the oedema in my hands. The latter of these was in part a revelation following on from...(read more)