Happy Third Cancerversary!

It's three years to the day that I was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma! Hooray for being alive and to (at least) another three years! It's been an interesting journey to say the least and while there have been many low points there have also been many high points along the way.

Being ill has changed me as a person and it made me grow up a lot and realise I wouldn't get anywhere in life unless I worked hard and went out and did it for myself. I've also realised how vital family and friends are and I doubt I would be where I am today without them, so a massive thank you to any of you that still bother to read this!

While I have lost a number of friends, none of them are forgotten and there are so many people that I'm glad I've met, who I would never have known if I hadn't been ill. It's been a real eye opener to how hard doctors, nurses (and all those who work in the health service) work. I have many people to thank for the care they have given me, and while I still have three more years before I'm given the official all clear I know I'm in capable hands.

I've done a ton of stuff in the past three years, as having cancer has really inspired me to take every opportunity in life! (A bit like the Jim Carrey film 'Yes Man' but sadly lacking Zoey Deschanel). It's also led to me realising that I need to actually put effort into things, which has paid off, resulting in me getting straight As in my A-levels. Instead of going to university this year I've decided to take a year out and go travelling in January, starting with Australia for three months!  Until then I'm attempting to start my own business, as a business consultant for small local businesses in my area (warning- shameless plug ahead!) so if anyone runs a small local business and is in need of business advice on what to do next or how to expand their business please contact me via my website! http://www.nurtureconsulting.co.uk

My main aim has been to not let having cancer hold me back in life, so I think I've done alright with that so far, in the past three years I've-

- Gone back to sixth form after a year out and got straight As
- Met some of the best people who are now great friends
- Helped raise over £40000 for charity
- Done a speech at the Royal Albert Hall
- Had an interview at Oxford University
- Flown a helicopter on my own
- Visited Athens and Rome
- Driven two supercars at over 150mph (on a track....) (Onwards to 200mph now though!)
- Been to Leeds Festival twice, and Glastonbury (I will cry like a child if I don't get a ticket for next year though!)
- Had an interview and worked for a few weeks at a top professional services firm in London
- Made it three years since my initial diagnosis
- And last but not least set up my own business!

Here's to three more years!

End of treatment!

As radiotherapy carried on my side effects became worse, meaning I was absolutely knackered all the time. Not fun at all when you have to be up fairly early to get up to drive three hours a day!

Going back and forth each day was really starting to take its toll, along with the fact I'd been unable to see my friends much. My bloods had started to go back up slightly too, meaning that although I was still very tired I was able to go shopping for the first time since February. It was a strange experience being back among so many people and almost frightening at first because I'd been kept isolated for so long. It was nice to be allowed out though!

Leeds! Fantastic for shopping!
June 2011.

The area which was being hit with radiotherapy also became very sore and the skin started to peel off. It was incredibly painful so along with pain killers I had to apply cream to it everyday to stop the skin bleeding at all or developing sores. It was painful to touch so applying the cream wasn't very fun either!
I don't have a good picture of what the area of skin looked like so I've grabbed one from google which resembled what mine looked like best.

As you can imagine, it was painful as heck.

My radiotherapy continued for the next four weeks, with me becoming progressively more tired and more bored of doing the exact same thing every day. Leeds doesn't seem that far away but when you go every single day no matter what it seemed to take forever, more so because I was only going for ten minutes worth of treatment. This is one of the reasons that it is important that more is done to establish units that can treat young people requiring radiotherapy in as many places as possible. The nearest radiotherapy centre to me is Castle Hill Hospital, which is roughly 15 minutes away from where I live. It would've saved me 60 hours travelling time and it would have also benefitted the many young adults and children in East Yorkshire who have to travel to Leeds for radiotherapy treatment. As I said earlier on it doesn't seem too far, but when travelling everyday while also feeling absolutely awful it seems a lot further. Having radiotherapy closer to home would've also enabled me to go with friends, enabling them to see what having radiotherapy is like.

On the 21st of July 2011 I had my last radiotherapy session. In many ways it was strange to not have to go back everyday and I know I carried on waking up thinking I had to go for the next few weeks! I was sad to not be seeing the nurses in the radiotherapy department anymore (that's how nice they were!) I could've done cartwheels out the door of the hospital and would've done except for the fact I was knackered! 

I had finished all my treatment for cancer. My tumours were still there though but they hoped they were dead and not growing. I would have to wait a few months for scans to check that they hadn't grown because the radiation from radiotherapy meant that any scan wouldn't show up properly. But I had finished, and now all I had to do was wait for scans and attempt to get my life back to normal. I'd always thought this would be easy but it was to prove harder than I imagined.