Chris's Cancer Community

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

Lack Of Action On ‘Cancer Poverty’ Is A National Disgrace!!

Chris On January 13, 2019 / cancer awareness, Cancer Support, cancer survival, cancer treatment / Leave a comment

The worrying thing for me is that I wrote the below piece more than TWO YEARS ago! As with most things in this sector, the situation is getting much worse! Many more millions of pounds have come and gone. Several campaigns, but yet MORE people living in poverty because of their illness. This is an absolute disgrace and is yet another reason why the cancer support area must see radical change! We can no longer wait, for yet more discussions, this is reality! You will see at the end of this piece our recent article featuring simPal work featured on the BBC National news! “With my charity work increasing rapidly now, I have had so many conversations with both patients and health professionals about the issues during and after cancer

“While You See A Chance, Take It!”

Chris On January 1, 2019 / cancer awareness, Cancer Support, cancer survival, cancer treatment / 6 Comments

Is it because I am getting older, or busier, maybe a combination of the two? But here I am again looking at what happened in 2018, and thinking about what I want to do in 2019! Time for a bit of personal stock taking. When you have unreliable health you will know how difficult it is to make any plan, so for me it is important to prioritise my time to ensure that not a minute gets wasted. I have always been a person to take a chance when it comes my way, and as time passes, living with this disease has made me more empowered. Due to taking opportunities, many against my wife and medical team’s advice this year, I have done the #1 on my bucket list and

Why I Will Increase My Cancer ‘Disruption’ In 2019!

Chris On December 16, 2018 / cancer awareness, cancer charities, Cancer Support, cancer survival, cancer treatment / 9 Comments

Many people ask me why I call myself a disruptor, they think it is some fancy title, but here is the definition that describes it most appropriately. ‘Your idea far exceeds the status quo. You don’t just want to see your business model become a reality, you want it to become the new standard. You don’t just want your product idea to make it to market, you want to see it change the world. Unlike other people in your industry, you don’t want to settle for adjusting to changes, you want to be that change. In other words, you want to be so innovative, you will transform what the rest of the world accepts as normal. You are an entrepreneur, but you aren’t just building a business or a product;