I am 60 years old and I now live in North Essex
In march 2017 I was diagnosed with bowel cancer and on the 20th April 2017 I had an op to remove the tumour from my sigmoid colon. I didn’t have a stoma as my surgeon managed to resect my bowel. This was followed by 30 weeks of weekly iv chemo called 5FU delivered via a Hickman line which I completed in February 2018. Chemo was hard work.
I live an active, wonderful life! My hobbies and interests include photography, art, beachcombing and collecting sea glass, walking, visiting interesting places, crafts, especially printing and botanical dyeing, social history and posting on social media, especially Facebook and Twitter. I love to be active and "doing" things, I love life and new experiences! However cancer is one of the new experiences I really could have done without!
I’ve always tried to balance a positive and hopeful attitude with a realistic and pragmatic approach to my unexpected situation My diagnosis set me on a new journey and I took early retirement from my job as an Occupational Therapist in the NHS. My partner and I moved from the West Midlands to Essex. We are 10 minutes drive from some fabulous beaches.
My last CT scan in April 2019 came back as “ no active evidence of disease” so NO SIGN OF ANY CANCER! The best news ever!
