9 YEAR CANCERVERSARY MESSAGE

November 15th is a very significant date for me and my family as it was the date in 2004 that I was told that I had stage IV testicular cancer.  The prognosis was not good (less than 60%) but better than the original one which was less the much less . My story is HERE

As soon as I was told I knew my life was going to change forever, some people automatically think the worst with cancer but it pays to stay positive even if you know that there’s a slim chance of survival because you are just hurting those around you if you don’t.  People can become very selfish when going through illness and not think of how it affects others, like the people that come to see you in hospital and report back on your condition to people that are too far away or are too unwell themselves to see you when you are in isolation.   It helps everyone including yourself to stay 100% positive.  Then people go away thinking  ”.he/she’s doing well”.  They’re very positive and smiling and that then makes them feel happy about the situation too, so all in all everyone is happy.

My life changed and still is changing, Soon after getting back into my life I started a testicular cancer awareness website to help people understand the subject better, I have and am still having a great deal of positive feed back from it…and I haven’t even begun to push it yet.

I must say, as I have said before, getting cancer was the best think that happened to me.  Weird or strange I hear you say, but listen.  Like I said earlier cancer is not always about the negatives, it also has its positives too, It can bring people and family members closer together and make people realise that it’s not all about rush, rush, rush or money, money, money.  It’s about enjoying what we have and making the most of it.

I also found my love for sport again from when I was younger and started competing in triathlons and duathlons, I started short events but am now competing in ultra-distance running events of distances up to 100 miles.   I’m planning some crazy ones for the future too. I love running these long distances as I have a completely clear head when I’m running and In the busy world we live in that is a great thing to be able have.

I also work a lot less hours than I used too, Even if It means earning less money than I used to,  when you get hit by the cancer you realise that time is so much more important than money.

It pains me to say this but until something like this happens to you or to someone close to you, you won’t realise it.

I send my strong positive love to all who are and have been affected by cancer and a big THANK YOU to all that have helped me get to where I am today since my diagnosis .

Remember, don’t worry about the clothes you wear every day, just remember to wear a smile