Recently, someone asked me about my choice to do chemotherapy, knowing all the brutal side effects that go along with it. I didn’t know how to respond – my overwhelming feeling was that it wasn’t a choice. Not one made after hours of careful contemplation and research and weighing up the options anyway. My diagnosis … More Choices?
I’m celebrating my 31st birthday today, but in the world of cancer, I just turned 1. Give or take a month or two, it’s been a year since I entered remission. When I turned 30 last year, I assumed I could just throw myself back into life as normal – after all, I had just … More It’s life Laura, but not as you know it
They say I am the lucky oneNow that cancer’s come and goneAlthough that’s how it is depictedTruthfully, I feel conflictedMy hopes were swallowed with my dreamsAnd even now my body screamsIt took more than I could giveBut left me with the chance to live I must be the lucky oneFor others cancer came – they’re … More The Lucky One
September is Blood Cancer Awareness month. So, just in the nick of time, here are a selection of facts about Lymphoma, a condition I’ve become all too familiar with over the past couple of years… What is Lymphoma?Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system is part of the immune system, forming … More What is Lymphoma?
Here are five more tips for helping someone with cancer. To read the first five, click here for Part 1. Gifts will brighten their day Thoughtful gifts are always a great way to brighten someone’s day and remind them that they’re not alone. Here are some ideas: Personalised gifts: Gifts that focus on healing and resting: … More How to Help Someone with Cancer (Part 2)
I know what it’s like to be a cancer patient, but I don’t know what it’s like to help someone through treatment. It must be awful to watch a loved one suffer, and not be able to do the one thing you want to do most – take the cancer away from them. The only … More How to Help Someone with Cancer (Part 1)
Thoughts on Confronting Cancer in your Twenties A decade of transition and uncertainty If you had to pinpoint one word to define your twenties, it would probably be transition. I have friends who are in full-time education, full-time work, full-time work and part-time education, living alone, living with friends, living with family, renting, meeting with … More On Young Adults & Cancer
Reflections on Six Months in Remission Welcome to Remission Station When you were plucked from your life and dumped onto the cancer train all those months ago, you were mad. Your life was ticking along just nicely, thank you very much, and to return to that life you’d have to undertake a gruelling journey to … More Advocacy, Overwhelm and Balancing Worlds
Apart from having cancer in the first place, the cancer experience felt like my worst nightmare. In fact, it was my worst nightmare. Shortly after my diagnosis, I quickly realised that cancer is LOUD. It felt like the cruellest diagnosis for a highly sensitive, overthinking, introvert like me. As a society, we’ve collectively decided that cancer is … More Cancer for introverts
If you’re aged between, say, 16 and 30, and you’re engaged in small talk at a social event, here’s what happens: questions. A lot of questions. Questions like: What GCSEs are you taking?What A-Levels are you taking?What extra-curriculars are you doing?Have you started to learn to drive?Who are you taking to prom?What do you want … More On living in the moment when nobody else is
Laura writes... 