Archive for the Cancer Support Category

How SimPal Is Changing Lives!

Chris On August 25, 2019 / cancer awareness, cancer charities, cancer publicity, Cancer Support / 2 Comments

Life has been very fast and furious in the last few weeks! So many incredibly positive things happening around me at the moment that it is becoming difficult to take time out to write about them through this blog. In this post I would like to focus on the work that my charity SimPal is doing and the progress we are making across the UK. We are the only charity in the UK giving free pre-paid sim cards and mobile phones, to people affected by cancer, with no means testing and including ‘people affected by cancer’ not just patients! Our offer is to sponsor people for an initial 6 months, which is then reviewed. Once your application has been approved, the card/phone remain yours, at the end of the term.

Macmillan Cancer Support, Are You Listening Yet?

Chris On July 28, 2019 / cancer, cancer awareness, cancer charities, Cancer Support, cancer survival / 19 Comments

I have just been sent a copy of the latest set of accounts from Macmillan Cancer Support, the headline being that ‘fundraised income’ dropped from £247.7m in 2017 to £230.8 in 2018. A drop of nearly £17m, which is large in anyone’s book. So finally even the ‘big green corporate beast’ of the cancer world is being impacted by it’s continual practice of wanting to totally dominate the sector, from small groups right up to Government. Doing it’s best to tell us what we want/need, which of course must be right because Macmillan tell us! This organisation has become the darling of the media and politicians. On almost any cancer related issue it seems it is not complete without a quote from their many highly paid ‘media friendly’ team. Macmillan

Cancer Care Is Lost Amongst Political Posturing!

Chris On July 14, 2019 / cancer, cancer awareness, cancer charities, cancer information, Cancer Support, cancer survival / 4 Comments

The one thing we all know is that cancer does not wait for anything. It continues on it’s destructive path no matter what is happening in the world, showing no respect to any human in it’s way. My belief is that it is the modern day plague. On most days our media will contain stories about food, pollution and lifestyle encouraging the relentless charge of cancer. Also we hear about wonderful new treatments that might change our lives in the future. We have indeed made some progress over the years with approximately 50% of us actually living with the disease rather than dying of it. But our chances of being directly affected by cancer have got worse, going from 1 in 3 to just 1 in 2! We have already

Tired Of Being Tired?

Chris On June 30, 2019 / cancer, Cancer Apps, cancer awareness, cancer blogs, cancer information, Cancer Support, cancer survival, cancer treatment / Leave a comment

Yep that’s me too! Despite the number of projects I am involved in, every one takes a massive effort, not only physically but emotionally too! I often say I have the best job in the world. Meeting and helping incredible people whilst having fun can’t be beaten, but for me it is a major task to just get out of bed, as my treatment side effects and the ageing process take their toll. But being able to improve the lives of people affected by cancer has become my oxygen. Recently I was contacted by the incredible Jelle Damhuis from Holland. He is a man who has experienced cancer more than once in his young life and like many of us wanted to use his personal experience to help others. He

How And What Do We Celebrate As Cancer Patients?

Chris On June 9, 2019 / cancer awareness, Cancer Support, cancer survival, cancer treatment / 29 Comments

Having been a cancer patient for twelve years now my emotions have changed dramatically since I was initially told I had just six months to live! I still attend my oncology clinic every two months for regular monitoring of any sign of disease and side effects worsening. With my writing and speaking continuing, and the demand for support from SimPal increasing I find my self talking cancer, for many hours a week. This continues to reinforce how unique every case of cancer is, and our reactions to it are. On my diagnosis and prognosis I was frightened like nothing I had ever felt! The fear of the unknown and how my life was changed forever. It is certainly very different now, but not in every case for the worse. I

No Hierarchy As A Cancer Patient!

Chris On May 19, 2019 / cancer awareness, Cancer Support, cancer survival, cancer treatment / 2 Comments

Firstly I would like to apologise for any problems you may have faced with my website last week! We got hacked by somebody very malicious who wanted to break the site. Many people saw all sorts of strange websites including pornographic ones. Some now want me to continue with that, rather than go back onto the cancer track! Apologies to those people, but my site is back, with my observations of the cancer world as usual!! Chris’s Cancer Community will not be broken. Since my own cancer diagnosis back in 2007, things have come a long way. Back then we thought giving booklets to patients was a breakthrough! I remember I was bombarded with literature, about my disease and treatment. After reading it I felt a lot worse, and

Cynical And Misleading Cancer Advertising!

Chris On April 7, 2019 / cancer awareness, cancer charities, Cancer Support, cancer survival, cancer treatment / 22 Comments

When people say that cancer is ‘life changing,’ they are not exaggerating! Whether it is you that have cancer or your friends and family, I believe EVERYONE is affected by it. My question is do we then start feeling vulnerable and more fragile, whether physically, mentally or both? I would like to start by using a quote to define the word. VULNERABLE: “It’s best used for a person whose feelings are so delicate that they can’t withstand any criticism or pressure” As an adult I have never felt vulnerable, always up for a challenge, and feeling emotionally strong, even during the most challenging of times. But in hindsight I realise that it was because I always assumed that my body would be able to stand up to the rigours of

Never Too Young!

Chris On March 31, 2019 / cancer, cancer awareness, Cancer Support, cancer survival, cancer treatment / 2 Comments

I would like to thank Dafina, for sharing this incredibly passionate piece, which is very appropriate for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. “My name is Dafina and I’m 39. Four years ago, I was living a normal life and doing all the things that young people do. But while I was planning my future, I didn’t know my life was already in danger. I had no idea I was carrying a growing tumour, eventually weighing 500g. In July 2014 I started becoming very bloated, which was unusual for me. I saw my GP almost 4 months in a row, but she didn’t touch or examine my abdomen even once and instead sent me to see a gastroenterologist to have my stomach checked. They didn’t discover anything either, and I tried to