One thing that really gets to me about all cancer as a whole, is that you cannot catch a break from it!!
It is everywhere. On TV programmes, Radio programmes, TV adverts, internet adverts, news articles, bilboards, EVERYWHERE!! So when one is trying to catch a spare 5 minutes from thinking about cancer, they can't, because it is plastered everywhere!
For my birthday last year, we went on a night out to our Students Union, and I was so excited. When we got there, however, there were people 'raising awareness' for Coppafeel, the breast cancer awareness charity, and that just put a dampener on the whole night! A place I'd gone to celebrate my birthday was full of people talking about cancer, something it would have been nice not to have to think about!
I know that raising awareness about cancer, and raising money for help in research and support is important, and I don't suggest that these things are removed, it is just so annoying to have to deal with them every 5 minutes, especially when trying to have some cancer 'down time'!
My CT results were OK. There's no new spread anywhere, which is amazing, but the lump that was removed back in August was the wrong one (!) so I've got more surgery soon to get rid of that.
I feel ok about it, it just brings up the whole 'cancer' thing again, and I've got better things to do, like write a dissertation!!
More surgery means more photo's tho! So keep checking back for that ;)
Friday, 25 January 2013
Tuesday, 8 January 2013
Happy New Year :)
Happy New Year everyone!!
I hope you all had a lovely Christmas with your nearest and dearest :)
2013 is already looking like an exciting year, with lots of interesting prospects, as long as cancer keeps it self at bay!!
I have a CT scan tomorrow (Wednesday) so hopefully that should be able to put our minds at rest for a bit, but I've got the usual case of major scanxiety!! I had three separate dreams about it last night...
I am also taking part in Cancer Research's 'Dryathlon' to raise money for CRUK :) It's been a whole week now, and it's getting easier :) if any of you fancy sponsoring me, here's the link! http://www.justgiving.com/dryathlete-phoebe-drinkwater
I hope to be able to give you some good scan-related news soon :)
I hope you all had a lovely Christmas with your nearest and dearest :)
2013 is already looking like an exciting year, with lots of interesting prospects, as long as cancer keeps it self at bay!!
I have a CT scan tomorrow (Wednesday) so hopefully that should be able to put our minds at rest for a bit, but I've got the usual case of major scanxiety!! I had three separate dreams about it last night...
I am also taking part in Cancer Research's 'Dryathlon' to raise money for CRUK :) It's been a whole week now, and it's getting easier :) if any of you fancy sponsoring me, here's the link! http://www.justgiving.com/dryathlete-phoebe-drinkwater
I hope to be able to give you some good scan-related news soon :)
Monday, 1 October 2012
Teenage Cancer Awareness Week
Hello All :)
First of all, I must apologise for my lack of posting for the last 3 (!) months! I don't really know where the time has gone if I'm honest! I had so many great ideas for posts, most of which are still just sitting in the 'draft' section!
Things are good with me. I had an operation at the end of August to remove a lump from the muscle layer over my ribs, which was another suspected Melanoma, but the GOOD NEWS is that it was just a fatty lump! I don't think I've ever been happier to have one! Apart from that, things are ticking along swimmingly, and things are definitely on the up :)
The main reason for this post, is that this week is 'Teenage Cancer Awareness Week' which is run by my charity of choice, Teenage Cancer Trust.
This week is all about raising awareness in young people about what cancer is, what it feels like, what is does and most importantly, how to tell the symptoms of cancer, so you know whether to get yourself checked out or not.
Teenage Cancer Trust have released a lot of really interesting stuff about this, including a leaflet from which this is taken (http://www.teenagecancertrust.org/workspace/documents/TeenageCancerTrustAwarenessWeek_Leaflet.pdf). These things are worth bearing in mind, no matter how old you are!!
I, for one, am pleased that this year they have included 'changes in a mole' as as an unofficial Melanoma spokesperson, I always feel it gets brushed under the rug a bit, even though it's the highest rising cancer in young people!!
Teenage Cancer Trust do a wonderful job both in hospital and out. If any of you fancy having a look at the website, the link is: http://www.teenagecancertrust.org/
Their sister site is JimmyTeens, with whom I made this video I made about diagnosis (also about symptoms!) http://jimmyteens.tv/2012/07/10/talking-diagnosis/
So, yeah! I don't like to be preachy, but it's always worth keeping an eye on your body and knowing what is normal and what is not, because the best cure for cancer is early diagnosis!
I promise, more blog posts soon!
Phoebe x
First of all, I must apologise for my lack of posting for the last 3 (!) months! I don't really know where the time has gone if I'm honest! I had so many great ideas for posts, most of which are still just sitting in the 'draft' section!
Things are good with me. I had an operation at the end of August to remove a lump from the muscle layer over my ribs, which was another suspected Melanoma, but the GOOD NEWS is that it was just a fatty lump! I don't think I've ever been happier to have one! Apart from that, things are ticking along swimmingly, and things are definitely on the up :)
The main reason for this post, is that this week is 'Teenage Cancer Awareness Week' which is run by my charity of choice, Teenage Cancer Trust.
This week is all about raising awareness in young people about what cancer is, what it feels like, what is does and most importantly, how to tell the symptoms of cancer, so you know whether to get yourself checked out or not.
Teenage Cancer Trust have released a lot of really interesting stuff about this, including a leaflet from which this is taken (http://www.teenagecancertrust.org/workspace/documents/TeenageCancerTrustAwarenessWeek_Leaflet.pdf). These things are worth bearing in mind, no matter how old you are!!
Teenage Cancer Trust do a wonderful job both in hospital and out. If any of you fancy having a look at the website, the link is: http://www.teenagecancertrust.org/
Their sister site is JimmyTeens, with whom I made this video I made about diagnosis (also about symptoms!) http://jimmyteens.tv/2012/07/10/talking-diagnosis/
So, yeah! I don't like to be preachy, but it's always worth keeping an eye on your body and knowing what is normal and what is not, because the best cure for cancer is early diagnosis!
I promise, more blog posts soon!
Phoebe x
Monday, 2 July 2012
Scanxiety
Scanxiety
n. the tension which builds particulary amongst those who have or have had cancer as they move towards their regular check up scan, hyperscanxiety being the period as they await results
I couldn't have put it better myself!
After a blissful, eventful and very happy few months, I was reminded with a bump, two days after arriving home from America, that cancer is never really very far away.
A mixture of jet lag and 'scanxiety' kept me up til 4am the night before my scan, which went perfectly to plan, but now I'm just waiting, waiting and waiting for results.
A week post-scan and all I can do is think about it. I'm constantly waiting for my phone to ring, and every time it does, I hope it's the hospital. Waiting is the worst. Especially when you're as impatient as me, and when the results are a matter of life or death-literally!!!
Well, as there's not a lot I can do about it, I will continue being 'scanxious' and update when I have some news!
For now...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
n. the tension which builds particulary amongst those who have or have had cancer as they move towards their regular check up scan, hyperscanxiety being the period as they await results
I couldn't have put it better myself!
After a blissful, eventful and very happy few months, I was reminded with a bump, two days after arriving home from America, that cancer is never really very far away.
A mixture of jet lag and 'scanxiety' kept me up til 4am the night before my scan, which went perfectly to plan, but now I'm just waiting, waiting and waiting for results.
A week post-scan and all I can do is think about it. I'm constantly waiting for my phone to ring, and every time it does, I hope it's the hospital. Waiting is the worst. Especially when you're as impatient as me, and when the results are a matter of life or death-literally!!!
Well, as there's not a lot I can do about it, I will continue being 'scanxious' and update when I have some news!
For now...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, 31 May 2012
Time Flies When You're Having Fun!
Sooooooo....I well and truly failed at writing every day this month, infant, writing any more at all! There are several reasons for this...
1) I've been insanely busy. Busier than I have been all year! The month started with me getting two (yes two!) jobs, on the union bars and as a student ambassador, especially for working with young people trying to inspire them to go to university. Then I was in the university's production of 'Poppea' which was, to all intents and purposes, rather successful :) I went to France for a week to visit Richard for the last time before he comes home, I went home home to see KLOS' Sound of Music, and plenty of other things-phew!!
2) I've also had a crazy amount of uni work. Apparently it was all waiting for May to come about, and that it did. I've written the equivalent of a dissertation this month, as well as a 20-minute performance!
3) Probably the most important factor is that I've been having a bit of time 'off' cancer. I haven't had any problems, haven't felt ill haven't found any weird lumps or bumps or marks, and havent been waiting on any results! I've been using the time to really just get away from the whole thing,NAND to be honest, I feel so much better for it. Even though it is a life fact, and something that is going to be there forever, it's sometimes very nice to be able to just not have it at the front of your mind.
But despite my poor excuses, Melanoma, and cancer in general, has obviously been around! Hearing the stories of some of the people I know, and what they're going through, reminds me on a daily basis of what a cruel disease this really is.
One thing that I am pretty shocked at though, is how little has been made of promoting sun safety, especially in the recent weather, and also the fact that so many people think that skin cancer is not serious. With. Few stories in the media recently, I have read so many comments recently saying that 'it's nothing serious' and 'it's not like real cancer' and this is the sort of opinion that I'm faced with a lot. A type of cancer snobbery really, people saying that it's it 'real' cancer, because of the fact that i haven't had chemo. This is the sort of thing that needs to be wiped out, and something that people need to realise is not the case.
It's these sorts of opinions that need to be changed, and the opinions that cause people to be irresponsible in the sun. Now, I'm not saying that sun is the only thing that causes melanoma, but it has a significant contribution. It's like saying if you smoke 40 cigarettes a day, you might get lung cancer, but you might not, I'm inclined to believe that more people would not take the risk. The same applies with skin cancer. If you burn in the sun, you might get skin cancer, but you might not. I really think it is an unnecessary risk to take, and I was getting incredibly frustrated by all the posts on facebook over the last few days, saying how hilarious it is that people are burnt raw, and how people are going to go outside and fry...what the hell?! These are mostly educated people, and they still go and do this...hmm. I'm a bit lost for words to be honest,I just really hope that people get the facts into their heads soon and start to take more care in the sun, like they all told me they would...
I feel bad dictating, and whenever I was to say this, it was going to sound like a lecture, but I felt here was the best place!
I think we've got a long way to go until skin cancer is considered as seriously as other cancers, but I really hope we get there, very soon, and save as many lives as possible!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
1) I've been insanely busy. Busier than I have been all year! The month started with me getting two (yes two!) jobs, on the union bars and as a student ambassador, especially for working with young people trying to inspire them to go to university. Then I was in the university's production of 'Poppea' which was, to all intents and purposes, rather successful :) I went to France for a week to visit Richard for the last time before he comes home, I went home home to see KLOS' Sound of Music, and plenty of other things-phew!!
2) I've also had a crazy amount of uni work. Apparently it was all waiting for May to come about, and that it did. I've written the equivalent of a dissertation this month, as well as a 20-minute performance!
3) Probably the most important factor is that I've been having a bit of time 'off' cancer. I haven't had any problems, haven't felt ill haven't found any weird lumps or bumps or marks, and havent been waiting on any results! I've been using the time to really just get away from the whole thing,NAND to be honest, I feel so much better for it. Even though it is a life fact, and something that is going to be there forever, it's sometimes very nice to be able to just not have it at the front of your mind.
But despite my poor excuses, Melanoma, and cancer in general, has obviously been around! Hearing the stories of some of the people I know, and what they're going through, reminds me on a daily basis of what a cruel disease this really is.
One thing that I am pretty shocked at though, is how little has been made of promoting sun safety, especially in the recent weather, and also the fact that so many people think that skin cancer is not serious. With. Few stories in the media recently, I have read so many comments recently saying that 'it's nothing serious' and 'it's not like real cancer' and this is the sort of opinion that I'm faced with a lot. A type of cancer snobbery really, people saying that it's it 'real' cancer, because of the fact that i haven't had chemo. This is the sort of thing that needs to be wiped out, and something that people need to realise is not the case.
It's these sorts of opinions that need to be changed, and the opinions that cause people to be irresponsible in the sun. Now, I'm not saying that sun is the only thing that causes melanoma, but it has a significant contribution. It's like saying if you smoke 40 cigarettes a day, you might get lung cancer, but you might not, I'm inclined to believe that more people would not take the risk. The same applies with skin cancer. If you burn in the sun, you might get skin cancer, but you might not. I really think it is an unnecessary risk to take, and I was getting incredibly frustrated by all the posts on facebook over the last few days, saying how hilarious it is that people are burnt raw, and how people are going to go outside and fry...what the hell?! These are mostly educated people, and they still go and do this...hmm. I'm a bit lost for words to be honest,I just really hope that people get the facts into their heads soon and start to take more care in the sun, like they all told me they would...
I feel bad dictating, and whenever I was to say this, it was going to sound like a lecture, but I felt here was the best place!
I think we've got a long way to go until skin cancer is considered as seriously as other cancers, but I really hope we get there, very soon, and save as many lives as possible!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Tuesday, 1 May 2012
Happy May!
Good Morning everyone, and welcome to May! I can't believe how quickly this year is going, and that it is May again already!!
So as some of you may know, May is Melanoma Awareness Month, getting people just in time for the summer! What I'm going to try and do (emphasis on try!) is to write a post on here every day, about Melanoma, other people I know who have suffered and general things I feel I should waffle about, with the aim of getting it spread to as many people as possible.
One thing that I think is really important to get across, is that Melanoma is a young person's disease. It is quickly becoming the most common cancer in young people, but if caught in the early stages is entirely treatable, and to an extent curable. That's why it is important to keep a really close eye on your skin, get to know your body, know what feels right and what feels wrong, and what looks write and wrong because it honestly could save your life!
So get reading, get sharing, and let's raise some awareness :)
xxx
So as some of you may know, May is Melanoma Awareness Month, getting people just in time for the summer! What I'm going to try and do (emphasis on try!) is to write a post on here every day, about Melanoma, other people I know who have suffered and general things I feel I should waffle about, with the aim of getting it spread to as many people as possible.
One thing that I think is really important to get across, is that Melanoma is a young person's disease. It is quickly becoming the most common cancer in young people, but if caught in the early stages is entirely treatable, and to an extent curable. That's why it is important to keep a really close eye on your skin, get to know your body, know what feels right and what feels wrong, and what looks write and wrong because it honestly could save your life!
So get reading, get sharing, and let's raise some awareness :)
xxx
Friday, 20 April 2012
L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N...
As Noah and The Whale put it, life does go on. But cancer is never really very far away.
After my recent reoccurrence, cancer seems to have taken on a whole new scary place in my life, as this shadow that is just waiting there to jump in and ruin my plans at the last minute. After the first bout and subsequent removal, I was naive enough to think that that was it for me and cancer, but the reoccurrence has proved me to be wrong, so now, every twinge, bout of breathlessness, lump, ache, pain, is automatically, in my mind anyway, cancer!
But however paranoid I get, I have to remember that yes, life does go on, and that if there is more cancer back, they will deal with it in whatever way possible and then that will be it! I am incredibly lucky in that the team I have working with me are so thorough and so on top of things that they will see me at the drop of a hat, and try their best to not have me waiting around for ages to get to see someone!
I think the thing that is making this all a lot worse is the fact that I did the ridiculous thing (don't ever do this!) but I googled my stage and prognosis, which quite frankly, was not what I wanted to hear.
So with that knowledge, I am back on track with making every day, minute, second matter to me because I probably don't have as many left as I thought I did!
And you know what? I would encourage every single one of you to do the same.
So with that in mind, I have created a 'bucket list' and though I won't divulge it all on here, I am well on the way to doing many of the things on there, starting with a trip to Vegas and the Grand Canyon (and Wisconsin!) in June, seeing Jason Mraz live in December, and just generally having a very jolly time :)
As Jack Dawson so eloquently put it:
'I figure life's a gift and I don't intend on wasting it. You don't know what hand you're gonna get dealt next. You learn to take life as it comes at you... to make each day count.'
After my recent reoccurrence, cancer seems to have taken on a whole new scary place in my life, as this shadow that is just waiting there to jump in and ruin my plans at the last minute. After the first bout and subsequent removal, I was naive enough to think that that was it for me and cancer, but the reoccurrence has proved me to be wrong, so now, every twinge, bout of breathlessness, lump, ache, pain, is automatically, in my mind anyway, cancer!
But however paranoid I get, I have to remember that yes, life does go on, and that if there is more cancer back, they will deal with it in whatever way possible and then that will be it! I am incredibly lucky in that the team I have working with me are so thorough and so on top of things that they will see me at the drop of a hat, and try their best to not have me waiting around for ages to get to see someone!
I think the thing that is making this all a lot worse is the fact that I did the ridiculous thing (don't ever do this!) but I googled my stage and prognosis, which quite frankly, was not what I wanted to hear.
So with that knowledge, I am back on track with making every day, minute, second matter to me because I probably don't have as many left as I thought I did!
And you know what? I would encourage every single one of you to do the same.
So with that in mind, I have created a 'bucket list' and though I won't divulge it all on here, I am well on the way to doing many of the things on there, starting with a trip to Vegas and the Grand Canyon (and Wisconsin!) in June, seeing Jason Mraz live in December, and just generally having a very jolly time :)
As Jack Dawson so eloquently put it:
'I figure life's a gift and I don't intend on wasting it. You don't know what hand you're gonna get dealt next. You learn to take life as it comes at you... to make each day count.'
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