Family and Friends

I want to start off today by saying a huge thank you to everyone who's bothered to read and share so far. I'm very grateful to all of you. I'd also like to give a huge apology to everyone who I've made cry!

Cancer is one of them things which everyone says isn't going to happen to them. It's always something which is going to happen to someone else. This is particularly true at a young age and I have to say I find it awful that they don't teach anything about awareness of cancer in young people in schools. I think delays in diagnosis could be reduced if young people knew what symptoms to look out for. I didn't even know you could get bone cancer until I got told I had it! One of the main reasons I started this blog was to raise awareness of not only bone cancer, but of teenage cancers and how people can help by donating blood and highlighting the work of charities such as the Teenage Cancer Trust.

I'm going to be taking a bit of a sidetrack today by talking(or should that be typing?) about the impact that cancer can have on family and friends. Only one person actually has the cancer but the amount of people it affects is huge, and I personally think it upset my family and friends more than it upset me, particularly my parents and grandparents.

My parents both felt useless after I'd been diagnosed. They could support me all the way but they still had to watch me get ill. They saw the effect chemotherapy had on me and wished it could be them instead. My grandparents all thought it should've been them with cancer rather than me because of how young I was. All my relatives did their best to see me before I had lost my hair. It was hard to explain to my two cousins under ten why my hair had fallen out and why I looked so ill. We just told them that I was having some medicine which would make me ill before it made me better. Seeing all my family made me realise what I was fighting for and that everyone was there to support me. Family really are the best.

A load of my friends and me! (The bald one at the back)

I'm not sure where I'd be without the above lot of people, along with a load others who I simply can't get a picture of all together! There's been many times when they've not known what to say and I doubt anyone would in those situations. There's nothing to say when you tell someone that you might be dying. They've all been the most supportive friends I can imagine and although it's been hard for them to keep in contact with me when I've been away from Sixth Form for long periods they've all done their best. I've always tried to joke about my cancer because it stops it being something I fear, and although the jokes have at times been horrendously distasteful it's my cancer and I'll joke about it as much as I damn well please! I'm not afraid of it and I'll quite happily talk to anyone about it (if you have a question about anything to do with it feel free to ask!) However, I must admit I haven't always told them everything because I've been worried about upsetting them but I honestly don't think I would be here without you guys.

All in all, although only one person has the cancer it affects so many people around them. There were times when I was fine but my friends and family were not. When I was confident in getting better, but my friends would worry about me. Cancer is a horrible disease. Although it was the doctors that gave me the treatment, it was my family and friends that helped me through everything. You were all with me every step of the way.

 I love you all.