1. There are 2.5 million people living with cancer in the UK.
The number is surprising, overwhelming...
One lady describes her cancer ward as "like an airport" - "It’s amazing what goes on here. You do not realise. It's like when you go to the airport, you don’t realise there’s people going everyday, buzzing here, flying there. These places are going on all the time."
2. Everyone remembers the day cancer became their "new normal”.
"Cancer", "the big C", or as Dominic says, "the worst word in the dictionary". You remember exactly when someone said it to you - who you were with, what you were wearing.
Cancer becomes a whole new vocabulary to learn, involving new places, new experiences and new people. You're the same person and, at the same time, you're a completely different one.
3. There’s no rule book for dealing with cancer.
There are many different types of cancer, many different diagnoses, and everyone deals with the experience differently. Sally summed it perfectly:
“There is no right or wrong of living with [cancer]. I’ll have the most horrendous days. I’ll have not too bad days. There’ll be ups and down days, and nobody knows days”.
4. Having cancer doesn't make you brave.
Everyone's just doing what they need to live - you'd do the same.
“We’re not heroic, or brave. And when we start treatment, our bodies are not battlefields” - Victoria Derbyshire.
“Everybody keeps saying, Margaret you’re strong, you’re strong and I’m thinking, no I’m not!” - Margaret.
"I don't want sympathy. I want to be up, and laughing, and joking, and listening to people telling tales" - Dominic.
5. It can be disorientating and lonely, so people try to cling on to what’s important.
And at night, it's the toughest. "Cancer is always trying to encroach on other areas of your life [...] You’re constantly telling it, keep back, keep back" - Yvette.
6. Everybody’s got an idea of what they’d do if they had cancer...
...but you absolutely don’t know if you'd take that approach, follow that diet or undergo a certain procedure unless you actually have it.
“There are so many people telling you what you should do. Everybody’s got an idea [...] Well, I would never do that. I would do this. And I always say until you’re in the position that you have cancer, you don’t know what you’ll do. You absolutely don’t know ” - Yvette.
7. 50% of people survive cancer for 10 or more years. 50% don't.
There are over 350,000 new cases of cancer in the UK every year. Some, like Yvette, may still be living with the disease 20 years after diagnosis.
8. You never know what people are going through in life.
So be kind and compassionate, listen and understand - and reach out to those affected.
If you, or someone you know, has been affected by the issues raised in "The Big C & Me", Macmillan is here for you.
Thank you to everyone in the programme for sharing your stories.
