Supporting Charities...

I have done a number of charity trials and events over the past few years. In particular, I've supported the Meningitis Trust and MacMillan.

The former is due to my brother contracting bacterial meningitis a few years ago. Luckily, he survived a very close call and it opened my eyes to the dangers of this illness - he was 36 at the time, and if could happen to him, it could happen to anyone. I won't go into anymore details about that, because it's his experience, not mine.

Later that same year, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. You can read my story in full below:

I was diagnosed with testicular cancer in September 2005, after discovering a small lump. I had an operation to remove the affected testicle, and it seemed all was well. However, a follow up blood test the month after revealed that the cancer had spread elsewhere in my body. CT scans showed tumours in my abdomen and attached to my right lung. That was it, I started chemotherapy less than 72hrs later.

I had BEP chemotherapy, a relatively new combination of three different chemotherapy drugs. Whilst it is a highly successful form of treatment that has drastically improved survival rates, it is also a very aggressive and debilitating treatment. Over the course of the four months I was undergoing chemotherapy, I lost nearly 3 stone in weight, lost all my hair, and lost all my energy.

I got a tentative all clear two days after my 28th birthday. To me, it signalled a new start and I couldn’t wait to get on with life again. The lack of energy held me back, though, and I had lost a great deal of muscle tissue. This was hard for me to take; I’d always been very active in the gym, and swimming, playing football, tennis, and squash. I didn’t accept what I had been told my doctors, that it would be months before I should be expecting to get back to my old activity levels. I wanted to be normal again NOW, not in six months time.

So, I started by simply walking around Edinburgh and pretending to be a tourist again. Each day I would get home after four or five hours, feeling like I had run a marathon, and every muscle in my body protesting about the effort. I kept it up, though, and made some real progress. Less than six weeks after finishing chemo, I half-ran, half-crawled up Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh – a fantastic mini-mountain that is a landmark on the edge of the city. That signalled to me that I could get back to normal, and I could achieve things again. I spent the next couple of days recovering, but to me, it was worth it. Soon after that, I started back in the gym and really began to take training and nutrition seriously. In the last three years, I have managed to build myself back up to 14.5 stone through weight training, and surpassed the levels I had reached before my illness.

Whilst I was undergoing chemotherapy, my appetite took a real nose-dive. I drove my girlfriend mad. Some days I couldn’t bear the taste of a particular food, and the next day I would crave it. Sometimes, cooking smells from the kitchen would make me nauseous and I’d have to leave the house and stand outside. One thing that remained constant was a never-ending appetite for Wine Gums and ready-salted Hula-Hoops. I’ve never managed to work out why! To this day, though, there are still some foods that trigger a powerful nausea in me. I’m sure it is simply a memory quirk, but it can be frustrating, especially if I’m out with people who don’t know I have been ill in the past.

My diet had never been great before I was ill. It wasn’t awful either, but I was a real vegetable-phobe, and to an extent I still am. Nowadays though, I make myself eat more natural foods. I cook everything from scratch, and I never have processed foods in the house. I try to eat the things I know are good for me, regardless of whether I like them. I’ve discovered that a good blender and a slow-cooker are great allies in making foods I don’t like, more bearable. 

Emotional support is important, but some things you can only do yourself. You can’t rely on other people to make you feel like yourself again; it has to be something you achieve yourself. I was lucky enough to have a very supportive and understanding girlfriend, and family and friends who, in the main, weren’t afraid to talk to me about my experiences. Nothing stops you feeling a little alone – because at the end of the day, it is YOU going through it – but support network that is there if you need it is a comforting safety net.

I took my driving test in that March, something I had always put off. I went back to work, and started my own internet retail business in my spare time. Somehow, having been so ill gave me a kickstart to do some things I should have done years before. I now run a successful small retail business, and am qualified as a Personal Trainer. I’ve now started a second company (www.realworldfitness.co.uk) to take this real passion, health and fitness, forward. Basically, if I can get fit and strong again after cancer and chemo, anyone can – and I want to help other people to improve themselves, whether they’ve battled illness or not. I believe that what holds most people back is their mental attitude and determination, or lack of it. You can achieve whatever you want. You just have to work hard at it.

I have no lasting effects from my illness other than a mild tinnitus caused by damage done by chemotherapy to the nerves. There is a constant back-of-my-mind anxiety about the blood test results that I now have done every six months. My prognosis is very good, having been clear for three years, but I will continue to be monitored for another seven years.

Whilst the worst part is hopefully over, it’s never a million miles away from my thoughts. I still count myself lucky that, most days, all I have to remind myself of my cancer is a ringing in my ears and occasional trips to the hospital for check-ups.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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