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Dawn’s colon cancer story
To think about when my story began, I guess it would have to be New Year’s Eve 2000. I went to a New Year’s Eve party in Connecticut (where I’m from) with my mother and step-father. That night my mom wasn’t feeling well. When I look back at the pictures, I can see that she did not look healthy. After the holiday, Mom saw her primary care physician who treated her for bronchitis and pneumonia. Early February came and her condition did not improve so they sent her to the hospital for x-rays and scans. It turned out that she had small cell lung cancer. Mom hated doctors and was…
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Intuition or paranoia?
Ever since cancer came along, my reading list changed to include books talking about diet, exercise, mental health, breathing etc etc in order to ‘stay in remission’. I am not so naive to believe that these factors will keep me in remission and I am fully aware that cancer can rear its head no matter what I do; that’s the scariest part. One book delved into ‘intuition’ and how our body uses its intuition to know when something is wrong or right for us. I knew something was wrong with me pre diagnosis because I also had physical pain, signals telling me that something is wrong. The hard part was…
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Understanding ‘mets’
When we talk about cancer, we use stages to determine where the cancer cells have traveled. When I was first told that I had cancer, the doctor said I had a tumour in my bowel and the cancer had traveled to my liver and maybe my lung (can’t remember which one now and it hadn’t, thank goodness) so bascially my cancer had mestastasized, quite simply put, it had spread from the primary source (my bowel/colon) through lymphatic nodes and to other organs. So, when people with cancer talk about mets (also known as lesions) or in my case liver mets, they are saying a form of tumour in another organ.…
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Benj’s story
‘Benjamin Anthony Millard, our son, Abigail and Stephanie’s brother, was a husband, stepdad, grandson, nephew, cousin and friend. We all loved him…we all love him. Where do you start a loved one’s cancer story, when the story was so short and the outcome was so poor, but that was Benj’s journey with cancer. So the start, as with every one, is the day Benj discovered he had cancer, and the end came less than eight months later when he lost his life to bowel cancer. Pre-diagnosis So rewind a little, pre-diagnosis, and meet Benj. He was 6’ 2”, he ate healthily and well, he went to the gym every day,…
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Angelique Lynch – Breast Cancer Survivor
We all have to fight for something in our lives. I have always had a fighting spirit and one of my proudest moments was when I achieved by black belt, 2nd Dan in Karate. I also received my Protea colours multiple times and competed at various World Championships. After working in London, U. K. I landed a job at AutoTrader back in South Africa and at the age of 28, having just been selected to be on the company’s Management Development Programme, I was faced with my toughest fight yet. I was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Stage 3 HER2+ Breast Cancer. At that moment my life was…
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Drika Louw – Breast Cancer Survivor
I named my cancer journey the roller coaster as I felt like I was on a roller coaster from the moment it all started. With a roller coaster you have the 4 parts: Being strapped in and waiting (15/05/2017) The climb (26/05/2017) – The longest part of the roller coaster The free fall (26/06/2018) The stopping moment Being strapped in and waiting: The first part of my roller coaster started in the first week of May 2017. Just before my Dad’s 50th birthday. I noticed some small changes and felt a lump in my breast while doing a self-examination. I knew I had a strong family history with…
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Steve Kelly – Breast Cancer Survivor “Everyday is a gift. Live life to the fullest.”
Detection In December 2018 my partner Sandy noticed something unusual in my right breast. There was a lump behind the nipple. The lump was not visible from the outside; however, if you looked carefully, you could see that the nipple was slightly inverted. This was painless, and I did not feel ill. Diagnosis I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Grade 3 Breast Cancer. The lump was a ductal carcinoma, approximately 17mm in diameter, or roughly the size of a marble. This is a common type of breast cancer; the standard international treatment protocols apply. Surgery I had surgery the following week, as the primary treatment. The procedure is known as…
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What do I eat?
What are we supposed to eat after cancer? I reckon this is has to be one of the most asked questions by anyone that has had cancer. A question, I have been asked a lot. Even after diagnosis, I was thinking about my diet because it was colon cancer. This can apply to anyone to be honest, we all would like to know more about which foods will keep us fit and healthy. I have thought long and hard about how to blog about food as it is a very conflicted area when it comes to cancer, in fact, this is my third edit. So, I have decided to walk…
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Immu ‘no’ therapy!
My oncologist, Adam Nosworthy recommended that after I had full recovered from my infection (post liver resection) I would do six sessions of immunotherapy (over three months) as a preventative of recurrence and I agreed to it. I started immunotherapy (Vectibix) on the 4th January at my oncology clinic (where I had my chemo) and I went in there positive that this was the last chapter and that it would be an easy one. I had IV steroids to start via my Portacath and then my immunotherapy was administered on a drip that took maybe one hour. I felt fine and left the clinic smiling. The steroids were my biggest…
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Turmeric and Black Pepper Anyone?
After much procrastination, I finally sat down and began to collate ideas about how I can inform others about my nutrition and supplement choices. Before I start, I am not a qualified nutritionist, dietician or medical doctor. I am writing about my choices, choices I have made through reading and researching, talking to people (who have also researched) as well as trial and error. These changes are not just about preventing a recurrence, it’s about having healthy eating habits, a positive mindset towards food, having energy, regular bowel movements, plenty of micronutrients and useful supplementation. When chemotherapy ended, I suddenly felt heightened anxiety and began to really panic about my…
