Archive for the Cancer Support Category

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

The Lack Of Action Is Killing Us!

Chris On March 10, 2019 / cancer awareness, Cancer Support, cancer survival, cancer treatment / 27 Comments

My working life has changed dramatically since the start of 2019, and it is all incredibly positive! SimPal is now serving families across the entire UK and we are working with some incredible partners, which is making life a lot easier. As things in the charity world continue to evolve, we are being contacted by national companies who are disillusioned by giant charities, and can see the impact we are having in the community. Being small we are restricted what we can take on due to limited finance, but we are open and honest with people. Our work is innovative and we are very agile, due to the way we work in a fast moving sector. The projects I do personally are getting more high profile, and I am working with

Betrayed By Those Who Should Protect Us!

Chris On January 27, 2019 / cancer awareness, cancer charities, Cancer Support, cancer survival, cancer treatment / 4 Comments

It is still very early into 2019, yet my work is already moving much quicker than last year. Our brief but impactful appearance on the BBC News has accelerated interest in SimPal. Not only by more people who want to use the service but organisations who would like to help us expand. This is involving more meetings and presentations across the country, hopefully increasing our donations and allowing us to support more families. Also my personal work is more in demand as social media spreads news quickly of the impact we are having. This is the year that I stand up taller and challenge the organisations that are there to supposedly help us in our time of need. We are making great progress in that quest, as more and more