To Gabs and Rachael....the harsh realities of cancer hit home
I'm not going to lie today has been utterly shit in the most part.
A little context................
When you're diagnosed with cancer you're scared, no, actually petrified. You have horrible thoughts swirling around in your head for days on end, especially as you wait to find out the true nature of your disease and how far it has/hasn't spread. You're left in a quandary as to whether to share these thoughts with your closest family and friends, torn between a need to share these thoughts and a level of guilt at what you are putting your nearest and dearest through without burdening them further.
No matter the support from family and friends, there are some things and questions that can only be asked of a fellow cancer sufferer. So you turn to the online community and friends of friends in a similar situation. Only to someone in the same position can you share these deepest thoughts and ask the most personal questions. We are a sisterhood, even though we have never met in some cases. Our daily struggles are understood, our sad days tolerated and consoled, stories shared and experiences gained.
A friend of a friend (Gabs, that's you) died early this morning. Ovarian cancer, diagnosed in 2014. We had had several conversations over the course of my treatment and she felt like a kindred spirit. Very much the same outlook on life as me and hugely supportive and understanding of where I was at. 3 times her cancer came back. She was graceful and dignified to the end and had the death she had planned. I received the news that the end was near just as I wrote my last post and this is what I meant when I said that the Shine walk I am doing in just 2 weeks had taken on new meaning.
Also today, at around the same time, breast cancer also took the very brave Rachael Bland. She is the BBC 5 live presenter whose blog and podcasts I have been following. It all happened rather suddenly as she was told on Monday that she had days to live. I never met her, but could identify with her and her story. She talked about it being the club that no one wants to be in. The podcasts talk in a raw, honest and humorous way about the realities of living with cancer.
Apparently, 11.400 people in the UK die each year from breast cancer and 4,100 deaths from ovarian cancer. Putting it into context, this means that today 30 other families have suffered a bereavement because of breast cancer and 10 others due to ovarian cancer. That's simply too many.
This is the reality of cancer. Lives cut short, families destroyed, children left without a parent far too early. Cancer is not about pink ribbons and pink hearts posted on Facebook. It's a bastard and people like Rachael have changed the conversation hopefully forever. More research is desperately required for secondary/metastatic breast cancer (where it has spread elsewhere in the body) - survival rates have improved dramatically for early stage breast cancer which is fantastic, but those with metastatic disease have very limited options and hence limited survival.
To Gabs, Rachael and all the others who cancer took today, sleep well my friends and kindred spirits. x
A little context................
When you're diagnosed with cancer you're scared, no, actually petrified. You have horrible thoughts swirling around in your head for days on end, especially as you wait to find out the true nature of your disease and how far it has/hasn't spread. You're left in a quandary as to whether to share these thoughts with your closest family and friends, torn between a need to share these thoughts and a level of guilt at what you are putting your nearest and dearest through without burdening them further.
No matter the support from family and friends, there are some things and questions that can only be asked of a fellow cancer sufferer. So you turn to the online community and friends of friends in a similar situation. Only to someone in the same position can you share these deepest thoughts and ask the most personal questions. We are a sisterhood, even though we have never met in some cases. Our daily struggles are understood, our sad days tolerated and consoled, stories shared and experiences gained.
A friend of a friend (Gabs, that's you) died early this morning. Ovarian cancer, diagnosed in 2014. We had had several conversations over the course of my treatment and she felt like a kindred spirit. Very much the same outlook on life as me and hugely supportive and understanding of where I was at. 3 times her cancer came back. She was graceful and dignified to the end and had the death she had planned. I received the news that the end was near just as I wrote my last post and this is what I meant when I said that the Shine walk I am doing in just 2 weeks had taken on new meaning.
Apparently, 11.400 people in the UK die each year from breast cancer and 4,100 deaths from ovarian cancer. Putting it into context, this means that today 30 other families have suffered a bereavement because of breast cancer and 10 others due to ovarian cancer. That's simply too many.
This is the reality of cancer. Lives cut short, families destroyed, children left without a parent far too early. Cancer is not about pink ribbons and pink hearts posted on Facebook. It's a bastard and people like Rachael have changed the conversation hopefully forever. More research is desperately required for secondary/metastatic breast cancer (where it has spread elsewhere in the body) - survival rates have improved dramatically for early stage breast cancer which is fantastic, but those with metastatic disease have very limited options and hence limited survival.
To Gabs, Rachael and all the others who cancer took today, sleep well my friends and kindred spirits. x
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