World Cancer Day - 4 February 2016

World Cancer Day is something that I'm very glad exists. Of course it helps to raise money to fund research and provide specialist care. However, it also starts a conversation.
Many people feel uncomfortable talking about Cancer. Think about for one second how many other names are given to Cancer to avoid saying the word. "The C-Word", "The dreaded C" and many others. Cancer as a word strikes fear into the heart of many, quite understandably, but what if we just named it "Weird cell disease". Suddenly it's not as frightening. We need to change how we talk about a disease that will affect around half of us over a lifetime.
We should also acknowledge the improvements which have been made, particularly over the last 50 years. Today, 1 in 2 people will survive their Cancer for at least 10 years. In 1970, only 1 in 4 did. However, the fact that anybody dies of this dreadful disease shows that our work is not yet complete.
Cancer Research UK are running a campaign to raise money around World Cancer Day by selling Unity Bands, so pick one up from your local Cancer Research UK shop, or you can buy one here.
You can also donate £3 by texting WECAN to 70200
We stand united.

Lush: My favourites

For Christmas I got 4 Lush gift boxes, further fuelling my obsession with the brand! Lush is a handmade cosmetics company who's products are mostly vegan. Ranging from bath ballistics to shampoo and conditioner and moisturisers.
I've always enjoyed the occasional bath product from there, but with my treatment making me unable to do many things I enjoyed such as horse riding, my attention shifted towards the things that I could still do.
Usually I am a 'shower person'; I find it easier and faster, especially when I had long hair. However, it got to the point that I couldn't stand up long enough to have a shower, and I found it so much more of a chore than I did previously. So my Mum suggested I take a bath, and it was honestly the strangest thing.
For the time I was in the bath, I felt ok. During my worst treatment it was a blessing to just feel ok. I don't know whether that was because the water took the weight off my joints or that it regulated my temperature, but it did more to help me feel better than any of the tablets I was taking. This was when I got back into Lush. I had more time to care for my slowly returning hair so I explored different products I hadn't before.
These are some of my favourite products:

Twilight shower gel - Perfect for relaxing in the bath in the evening as the strong scent of lavender helps you drift off. Sad thing is that this shower gel is only available in the 'Relax' gift set or whenever the Lush Kitchen makes it available. They make it in small batches and sells out very quick.

Daddy-O shampoo - A dark purple shampoo containing violets designed to remove brassy tones from blonde hair, but is still a great shampoo for brunettes too. To me it smells like those parma violet sweets, and contains things good for your hair like organic lemon and lime juice and extra virgin coconut oil.

Roots hair treatment - This hair mask contains lots of mint to stimulate the hair follicle increasing the speed of hair growth. It smells amazing and is very conditioning. I think it's helped my hair grow faster too.

H'suan wen Hua hair treatment - No, I can't pronounce it either. My hair has grown back drier and wavier than before, so this conditioning treatment helps keep it under control using organic extra virgin olive oil amongst other things. The smell is quite strong but when you get past it you can tell the product really is brilliant.

Happy Hippy shower gel - This citrusy shower gel really helps to wake me up, and as I struggle a bit with tiredness it's very useful.

Lord of Misrule bath ballistic - I think this was part of the Christmas range of products and it may still be available in the Oxford Street store. It has a deep musky scent that turns the bath an amazing green colour.

Golden wonder bath ballistic - A Christmas exclusive covered in gold glitter that rattles when shaken just like a present. It turns the water a bright blue that smells really fresh. What more could you want of a product?

Yog nog bath ballistic - Imagine the smell of a stereotypical Christmas. That is what this smells like. It contains pieces of solid oil that melt and nourish your skin as it dissolves. There's a bath ballistic sold all year round that also contains this oil called the Butterball. I love this so much that I have the matching soap, I just hope they bring it back next Christmas!
I hope I've inspired you to invest in some bath and shower products as it can really improve your mood. Happy new year and see you in the next blog post!

A Cancer Free Christmas

As everybody will be unwrapping their gifts on Christmas Day, I will be too, already knowing I have received my biggest gift. That is being cancer free.
I am lucky that I will be able to celebrate Christmas in the comforts of my own home, surrounded by my family, instead of being in a sterile hospital surrounded by nurses and machines that will just not stop bleeping!
However, there are people who will not be able to do that this year, whether that be because they have cancer themselves or someone they love does. Maybe for the second or third year running, they may not be able to do that next year either. Perhaps this will be their, or their loved one's last Christmas.
So, as you unwrap your gifts and eat a truly horrendous amount of food, please give a thought to those in hospital for any reason this holiday season, I know I will.
Thank you all for your support over this last year, and I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. I'll be back in the new year!

An award?!

Last Sunday I attended a Christmas ball with my parents and the rest of the team from the chip shop my parents run, Burton Road Chippy. There's an industry magazine that we are involved in and are readers of which is called Chippy Chat, and this ball was organised by the editor of the magazine Austen (hello Austen if you're reading this!)
My Mum has often shared things on Facebook from when we were raising money for the Race for Life etc. so other chip shops were aware of my cancer diagnosis and had very kindly donated too. Many of these had also been following my blog, and I had many people on the night say how pleased they were to hear my good news.
For the last couple of years Austen has started the event with 'The Golden Chip Awards' which included categories such as 'Best Scraps' which our shop had won the previous year and 'Beyond the Call of Duty'. He came to the last award of the evening and said that he had followed my journey and I'd beaten the big C, and presented me with a 'Remission Accomplished' award!
I was given a standing ovation as I collected the award from the front, and honestly I haven't been that happy in such a long long time.
So to Austen and anybody else who was there reading this now, thank you all so much for your kindness and support that evening. It's made such a huge difference and given me a confidence boost.

When did I think I had cancer??

I'm going to take it back to the beginning when this all started, and ask myself a question; when did I think I had cancer?
When I started to feel unwell I never thought I had cancer, that would be pessimistic. Even though I had lumps in my neck I could feel and see, I assumed it was infection. I can pinpoint the moment when I thought it was serious.
I had an ultrasound scan to see the position and size of the masses. They showed up on the scan screen as massive black circles. One on my left, and another two on my right. That was the point. Right there. I got that feeling of panic rising from my stomach. The doctor then said he needed to go and 'think' about what to do next. I thought I would be having an FNA (five needle aspiration) which would suck out a few cells from the tumour. When I was told I would now be having a biopsy instead, I knew.
Moral of the story? You know yourself, if you feel unwell for no obvious reason for an extended length of time, please seek medical advice. Although it was unlikely that my symptoms presented cancer, it still was.

Now what?

My cancer has gone. It has been my life pretty much for the last 7 months. So now what?
I still want to go to university, so I have plans to restart my A-levels in September. Going back to school for me means returning to normality.
I put on a lot of weight because of the steroids combined with not moving or doing exercise because of the pain. I haven't made any changes to the sort of food that I eat but the weight is beginning to come off as I become more mobile. Fitting back into the clothes I wore before I was ill means returning to normality.
I have a part-time job in my parents fish and chip restaurant, and I haven't worked since March, meaning I didn't work on the busiest day of the year which is Good Friday. Going back to work means returning to normality.
There's one other thing. I don't want to be known as a 'cancer kid' or names of the like. I don't want anything that I accomplish in the future to be tarred with the brush that I was ill. I want any achievements I make to be taken on their own merit. I am no different than I was before.
It's time to get my life back.

REMISSION ACCOMPLISHED

The day I've been waiting for for a very long 7 months finally arrived yesterday, as my consultant confirmed that I am in remission. Tomorrow I am having my port-a-cath removed (at 7.30am!!) and I will be changed to 3 monthly appointments with my consultant at QMC. At some point after I turn 18 I will be transferred to the adult services at City Hospital.
What I didn't know beforehand was the difference between remission and cure. Remission, which is sometimes known as NEC, means there is no evidence of the disease that is detectable using PET scans, X-rays, blood tests etc. You are not classed as cured until after 5 years, as this is the time you are statistically most likely to relapse, although my consultant said some people affected by Hodgkin Lymphoma especially relapse outside of this period, so it's about being aware without becoming a hypochondriac.
I am just so relieved, and very very happy. Thank you all for all your kind words and support, it really means a lot, and thank you for reading my blog.