On yesterday's show there was a debate on whether bells should be banned/moved, one women who has secondary cancer called them "cruel and divisive" - would be interested to hear what other cancer patients think.
I watched this morning and can see both opinions, I rang the bell when I finished my radiotherapy, it seems strange but it does make a difference, it's something to aim for and a celebration when you have finished your treatment, maybe put it somewhere else.
I didn't ring the bell but took great delight in watching others ring it. If it was moved then others couldn't join in the celebrations and how practical is it to move the bell? I have to say I agreed with the mum whose little boy rang the bell, I can see how this bell would motivate and give hope to his family and other cancer patients - without hope - what have we got?
Unintended consequences ... having people with life-threatening incurable cancer within earshot of those bells is like the 1970’s horror of putting women who had just had a devastating miscarriage on the same ward as women with crying healthy babies. For many that sound emphasises their own loss of hope.
Thank you for your thoughts on the matter. However I don't like the maternity comparison, having lost a child myself. I think there's a difference in that one is dead and the other is living and continue to live due to treatment - so there is still hope for the latter.
A bit off topic, but I sat in a waiting room full of pregnant ladies just before being told that I needed a hysterectomy. Not fun, especially as someone in their early forties without any kids.
My cancer is treatable but not curable. I have just finished 6 Cyles of Doxorubicin and feel like I have completed a marathon. I was dissappointed that there was no bell to ring to mark the fact that I had completed this particular treatment. The treament will not cure me but it will hopefully buy me time. I would love to celebrate someone else's hope for a cure with them, and be happy for them. Soon I will have to start another treatment, again, I would love to ring that bell if only to mark a stage in my battle against this disease. While I can still ring that bell, I am still alive! Surely that is something to celebrate?
Hi I have been given the all clear a week ago, thank god. I didn't have a bell to ring, but, if I was still fighting cancer, I wouldn't begrudge that person their moment. But that's my view. X
That is a very brave and honest assessment. For me, you have hit the nail on the head. The only thing that keeps people going is hope. If you take that away it is a big step backwards. And you are so right, each stage you complete is a victory, a victory to be celebrated.
l have often thought that this must seem bittersweet to those present who will never have the opportunity.Those who say it brings hope to others, have a point but l have always held the view hat hope belongs at the beginning of the fight not at the finish..In my mind itt always felt that the margin between cure and remission is never that clear cut that you can jump to a definitive conclusion.Six years on l would not have rung the bell then,neither would l today. Having said all of this,l would not stop others that held the opposite belief,
