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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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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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Martha’s story – La historia de Martha
My name is Martha, I am 48 years old and I live in Florida. I was diagnosed with colon cancer on December 20, 2017 at age 45; this is my story. I am the mother of two beautiful young children and the wife of a wonderful man. The fourth of five sisters created by good parents, especially my mother. My life changed in December 2017 when what I thought was a simple problem of exhaustion turned into a nightmare. It was during a very important time, my daughter was turning 15 which is a tradition for young Latino women, the celebration of her 15 years. We were preparing a…
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Vanessa’s story
Well my story started with a trip, a journey back to Australia where we had not long moved from. It was our first holiday back home and I was at the airport with my two boys, going back to New Zealand where we are still living now. While I was in Australia my GP called me to get some tests done as she was a bit concerned after she found I had tested positive for HPV. As I thought she was exaggerating a bit, I asked if I really needed to go, and she assured me that yes, I needed to do a colposcopy and briefly explained what it was.…
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‘Colin the Colon’ Tunnel Educates About Colorectal Cancer
As you know, I now live with my family in Johannesburg which is where I received all my treatment. I have been fortunate to have phenomenal South African medical professionals treating me. I want to pay back that kind by raising awareness about cancer in South Africa. I am happy to say that I am collaborating with CANSA who have launched its Colorectal Cancer Awareness Campaign this month. Please keep reading to find out about this amazing campaign – raising awareness, educating and saving lives! Afrikaanse Media Vrystelling 11 March 2020 – CANSA launches its Colorectal Cancer Awareness Campaign in partnership with Medtronic, the global leader in medical technology,…
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Exercise during chemo?
Before I was diagnosed with colon cancer in August 2019, I regularly worked out. I would usually wake up around 5am and do strength training before my daughter woke up, although on occasions, she would wake up and watch me! During the last couple of months prior to being diagnosed, my energy dipped dramatically, I had extreme exhaustion which meant no more exercise. I also had severe abdominal pains and was on the toilet more often than I was off it. After my major surgery to remove my tumour, I had to take six weeks to recover as I had a pretty big scar and bruising to contend with! I…
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Angelica’s story
My name is Angelica Alen and I am 40 years old. I am originally from Brazil but I have spent the last 19 years living and working around the world. My last stop was New Zealand where my husband and I stayed for six years. I had my two kids there. It was a stressful time arriving in New Zealand, settling ourselves, having my first baby and second baby within two years a part with no family support. My youngest started developing symptoms of asthma in New Zealand and I found myself spending a lot of time in hospital by myself with a 1.5 years old baby. I was really…
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Life takes another turn
Monday 4th May, CT results day ! I woke up at 2:30am and thought oh no, I need to sleep properly! I relaxed myself and managed to fall back to sleep. I woke up to Damian at 6:15am turning the kettle on and he came and asked me if I wanted coffee, he hardly ever makes me coffee so he was feeling nervous too! I felt really tired and decided to get back in bed, Damian, myself and Arabella just snuggled and watched TV for a while. Around 9:30am my mobile rang and it was the clinic, Adam was off work sick but I asked if I could see Owen…
