I do not have cancer myself nor do I currently have a loved one undergoing treatment for cancer, but I do have a wonderful friend who has just joined this forum and who I would like to introduce to you all.

We met several years ago when I joined a quit smoking forum for support (the part of the country I live in didn't have any groups available locally or indeed much support of any kind to offer) and I was so blessed to be a part of the most wonderful online community of people, many of whom I am still in touch with today.  My dear Jamangie is one of my forum family and gave me the most amazing support during my quit journey.  I think she will say I'm a cheeky so and so for saying it, but she is some years older than me with a wealth of life experience and wisdom to draw on and I am utterly convinced that I was successful purely because of the support of folk such as her and the other members of our group.

As you can tell, we are still in touch several years later and I am sorry to say that she is having a very difficult time.  She and her husband celebrated 50 years of marriage last year but sadly he has Stage 4 bowel cancer which has spread and is suffering badly.  Palliative chemo seems to have stemmed the tide but his quality of life is very poor now and she has dealt with all of this, since his initial diagnosis almost two years ago, pretty much totally on her own.  Just the logistics of getting him to and from the hospital for treatment was a nightmare and without family living nearby she is shouldering the burden practically single handed and, as you might imagine, is really struggling herself.

So I simply wanted to introduce this lovely woman to you all and to ask for your support for her.  Her username is Jamangie and she may need a little assistance navigating the forum as it is a different type of set up to ours but once she's got it sussed she'll be fine - she's much better at these technical things than she gives herself credit for!

I shall probably be in terrible trouble for this, but she's a really lovely lady who just needs an ear and encouragement from people who understand what they're going through and I'm pretty sure that's all of you here.