Stand up to Cancer

I saw recently that channel 4 are doing a campaign called 'Stand up to cancer' and I think it's great that cancer and the people who suffer and survive Cancer, are getting more exposure.

Statistics show, that 1 in 3 people suffer from Cancer. If you think about it, that means that if your married with 1 child, eventually 1 out of 3 of you are at risk of Cancer.

Sorry if that was a bit shocking to hear but it's potentially true. It's for that reason everyone should do something to help, even a walk in the park at midnight to help a little hospice in Leeds is Something!

By those not affected by it, Cancer is sometimes looked at in a similar fashion to Aids. You think it wont happen to you, but the difference is, you have to catch Aids, Cancer just grows within you.

I hope most people who read this have never suffered from Cancer and don't know anybody who has, but I will be surprised if that is the case. It's possible of course. The Mrs has gone 30+ years of her life and only recently experienced a friend suffering from Cancer. Luckily, that friend has now finished her treatment and will go on to live a very happy life with her fiance and her beautiful baby boy for whom she delayed treatment because she was pregnant when diagnosed.

I unfortunately am not so lucky. I have a family history of Cancer.
My mum suffered and eventually passed away, caused in part by Cancer. But the first experience I had of Cancer was as a very young child. A grandparent who I loved dearly, was diagnosed with lung cancer, which spread to his brain and throat. I remember thinking how cool it seemed that he had a tube sticking out of his throat, but I was young and didn't truly realise the severity of his condition.

I remember crying at his funeral, but soon realised that he was in a better place (Wherever that might be) and pain free.
My mums first battle with The Big C, was soon after I was born and I believe she was diagnosed with Cancer 3 times in her life. I often saw her scars from her Mastectomy and trying to imagine what it felt like to have to have something like that taken away from you. As with most things, my mum simply pushed the pain and hurt aside and got on with life.

There is hundreds of people in this world that suffer everyday and have to be strong and get through the pain and hurt and hopefully most of them will receive treatment and will beat it and live long lives as healthy human beings.

I'm not really sure the point of this post, so apologies if you feel I have wasted your time, but if one person reads this and it educates them on the impact Cancer could have on themselves or a loved one, then it was worth putting my experiences down in words.

I know how painful Cancer can be and I know there is a pretty good chance that at some point in my life, it will affect me directly and if that happens, so be it. I will deal with it as my mum did, realise there are still people worse off than me and get on with it the best I can and hopefully if it does happen, I will come out the other end and live the rest of my life as intended.

So if you've been affected by cancer, be strong, use the support available and my thoughts go out to you and your family.
If you haven't been affected at all then I envy you and I hope you never do.

No matter what, we should all Stand up to Cancer

To find out more about Su2c (Stand up to cancer) check out the website http://su2c.channel4.com/ or follow the campaign on twitter @StandUp2C

There you can donate, or simply learn more about Cancer.

As always, thanks for reading
FTD