Georgie Week 2012: My Public Tribute

I had a big blog post written and ready to publish yesterday on what was my birthday and the first anniversary on Georgie’s death. However I changed my mind when I woke up. I went to the cemetery and paid my respects to my wonderful cousin in private.

I did want to make a public tribute to him though.  My cousin was an incredible person. He was kind, clever, brave and loving. For seventeen years he was the life and soul of our family and this year has been a struggle without him. I miss him every single day but I try to incorporate him into my everyday life with my charity work. He is my inspiration and the driving force behind all the work I do to help beat this horrific disease. I struggle to find the right words to do Georgie justice; he was just so amazing that I find it difficult to convey that to people who didn’t get to know him during his lifetime.

All I can say is I love my cousin so so much and I will miss him for the rest of my life. I live in hope that one day we will be reunited with him.

Rest in peace Georgie, always missed and never ever forgotten

28.07.93 – 25.04.11

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Georgie Week 2012: Teenage Cancer Trust

Today is the eve of the first anniversary of Georgie’s death (and my birthday!). As I explained yesterday, all my posts this week will be related to Georgie and his cancer battle in some way. Today I will be focusing on The Teenage Cancer Trust which is an amazing organisation that really helped Georgie during his three year battle. I want to shine a light on this fantastic organisation and all that they do for teenagers and young people with cancer.

Being a teenager is hard. You have all these hormones running riot in your body, which is going through major changes anyway, you have to get through school and try to start figuring out what kind of person you are and what you want to do with your life. You want to fit in with your peers, try new things, and enjoy your freedom. Imagine coping with all of that AND being diagnosed with cancer?

The Teenage Cancer Trust was formed in 1990 after a group of women stumbled across a teenager suffering from cancer and realised how hard it was for young people suffering from the disease. They were fundraising for a children’s unit at Guy’s Hospital and met a women whose son was battling cancer aged just thirteen. He was being looked after on either the children’s ward or alongside elderly people and it was having an effect on him and his reaction to his treatment. The ladies met with his consultant who explained that teenagers often suffer from rare cancers and require specialist help and support. This inspired the ladies to raise money to help provide specialist support for teenagers and the first TCT unit was built at the Middlesex Hospital.

The Teenage Cancer Trust realises teenagers need specialist care when dealing with cancer. They need to be treated by specialists in an environment that is created especially for them and their needs.  Before the TCT, teens were treated in a children’s ward and then moved onto an adult ward where they would often be surrounded by elderly people reaching the end of their lives. TCT have built several specialist units across the UK which bring teenagers suffering from cancer together and hopefully they can feel less lonely and isolated. The units are run by specialist doctors and nurses who are specially trained in dealing with teenage cancer sufferers so they can provide excellent care, support and high standards for these brave young people.

Georgie stayed at the specialist TCT unit at UCLH several times. I visited him there quite often after work and I have to say, the unit is amazing. The nurses are really friendly to the patient and their families. It’s a clean, colourful and supportive environment with quite large rooms for the patients to stay in. Georgie was having Photo Dynamic Therapy whilst at the unit, which meant he needed to be in complete darkness for a few days. The nurses were fabulous, they made sure his room was completely dark and was fiercely protective over him. I went to walk into his room at one point and a nurse swooped down on me to check who I was and to inform me that Georgie was to remain in darkness. I didn’t feel insulted at all; I felt glad that these nurses cared enough to make sure he was going to be ok. That’s what you want from people in charge of your sick relatives care.

Aside from the units, TCT also provide:

* Specialist research into teenage cancer and why young people get cancer. They also research the best treatments and how to improve diagnosis, treatments and survival rates for teenagers suffering from cancer.

* TCT have an amazing education programme, set up with the aim of educating young people in the UK about cancer and how to try and prevent it. It’s all about empowering young people and encouraging them to take control of their own health.

* TCT understands that cancer affects the whole family so they try to provide support for parents, siblings, cousins etc... Throughout the battle their loved one is facing.

* TCT hold an annual conference called “Find Your Sense of Tumour” which sees over four hundred teenage cancer sufferers join together to share their experiences and offer each other support and advice whilst learning more about cancer. TCT also have an international conference which is only one in the world dedicated to teenagers and cancer. Specialists from all over the world come together to help teenagers with cancer by sharing their research and their information.

Teenage Cancer Statistics:

* Six young people aged between thirteen and twenty four are diagnosed with cancer everyday in the UK. That is around two thousand, one hundred young people every year.

* 1/312 males and 1/361 females will be diagnosed with cancer before their 20^th birthday and cancer is the number one cause of non-accidental death of young adults in the UK.

* Teenage cancer is now more common then childhood cancer but survival rates have not improved much over the years

* Young people develop some of the most aggressive cancers but they are often initially misdiagnosed because only about 0.6% of all cancers occur in young people. This decreases their chance of survival and can lead to them being excluded from clinical trials.

* Leukaemia, lymphoma and brain tumours are the most common cancers for 13-18 year olds

* Lymphoma, carcinomas (soft tissue cancers) and germ cell tumours (for example testicular) are the most common cancers in 19-24 year olds

* 61% of teenager cancer sufferers feel they could have been diagnosed quicker

* 21% of teenage cancer sufferers were not referred to a specialist by their GP AT ALL even though 59% were suffering from the most common cancer symptoms ( pain, lumps or swelling, tiredness, headaches or dramatic weight loss)

How You Can Help:

I speak from experience when I say Teenage Cancer Trust provide invaluable help and support for young cancer sufferers. They are a hugely important charity and one that helps so many people every year. Their work is vital and they need fund to help them provide that service.

In July 2012 I will be taking part in a bucket collection for TCT. Aptly mine will be taking place in the week of what should have been Georgie’s 19^th birthday. You can take a look on their website to find out how you can take part in this collection or many other fundraising challenges the charity needs volunteers for.

No teenager should have to face their own mortality and battle cancer. I’ve had two loved ones fight the disease as teenagers: Stuart won his battle but Georgie sadly lost his. Funds need to be raised to help TCT make sure more teenagers survive like Stuart did.

Thank you TCT for providing Georgie and our family with so much help and support during his cancer battle. I will never forget how much you helped him and I will do my best to help you to help others like him across the UK.

My very best wishes to any teenager or young person battling cancer; I really hope you beat this horrific disease.

For more information on Teenage Cancer Trust, please visit their website www.teenagecancertrust.org

For Georgie 28.07.93 - 25.04.11

xxx

Georgie Week 2012: Cancer Types - Bone

We are two days away from my twenty third birthday. This means we are also two days away from the first anniversary of Georgie’s death. I think about my cousin every single day and I miss him terribly. With this horrific anniversary looming he is on my mind even more than usual and memories of his horrific cancer battle are constantly on my mind. Every single blog post is dedicated to Georgie. All the charity work I do is for Georgie.

All the blog posts I do this week will be Georgie related. The first of these is about the type of cancer that eventually led to his death at the age of seventeen.

Bones:

The human body is made up of over two hundred bones, all of which support and protect the body whilst also allowing us to move. A bone is a frame made up of supporting tissue (connective tissue) and minerals (calcium for example). This frame gives the bone strength. Throughout the frame are bone cells.

There are three main types of bone cells:

Osteoblasts – build up the bone frame

Osteoclasts – break down bone

Osteocytes – osteoclasts that have become part of the bone frame

These cells work together to keep bones healthy and to maintain their shape.

Bone Cancer:

Primary Bone Cancer - When cancer develops in the bone cells first

Secondary Bone Cancer – When cancer has spread to the bone from other parts of the body

Osteosarcoma – This is the most common type of bone cancer. It is the type Georgie suffered from. It is commonly diagnosed in children or teenagers but it can develop at any age. Osteosarcoma’s are usually found around the knee or upper arm. 

Georgie’s osteosarcoma developed in his jaw (the mandible) which is unusual.

Ewing’s Sarcoma – This type of bone cancer if mostly seen in teenagers, usually starting in their pelvis or leg bones but it can also develop in the soft tissues.

Chondrosarcoma – This is mostly found in middle aged people and is usually a slow growing form of bone cancer. It can start developing in the pelvis, thigh, upper arm, shoulder blade or ribs

Risks and Causes of Bone Cancer:

Primary bone cancer is actually very rare.  It is mostly found in teenagers and young adults which is very unusual for cancer. There are around six hundred cases of primary bone cancer every year in the UK. We don’t actually know exactly what causes bone cancer but there are several known risk factors for this type of cancer: exposure to radiation, previous treatment involving certain chemo drugs, certain bone diseases and some rare inherited genetic conditions (as was the case with Georgie) If you are known to be at high risk for bone cancer, you will be given regular x-rays to screen for the disease.

Symptoms of Bone Cancer:

The symptoms are not exact and will depend on the size of the cancer and its position in your body. Common symptoms include pain, swelling, and problems with your movement or tenderness in a certain body part.  Other symptoms can include tiredness, fever and sweats, weight loss and sometimes a break or fracture in the weakened bone.

Georgie’s bone cancer was in his jaw. The first symptom was a tingling feeling on the right side of his upper lip. This soon developed into numbness.

Treating Bone Cancer:

As with all cancers the stage and the grading of the cancer is hugely important and will help determine which course of treatment is best for you.

Chemotherapy – you may have chemo to shrink the tumour and make it easier to remove or you may have it after surgery to try and get any cells that may have been left behind.

Radiotherapy – Radiotherapy is used in the same way as chemo – especially for some types of Sarcoma

Surgery – Limb Salvage Surgery involves removing the part of the bone with the tumour and replacing it with a bone graft or prosthesis. Limb Amputation may be necessary the cancer has spread into the tissues or if your specialist feels you are at high risk of having the cancer come back.

As with most osteosarcomas, Georgie has limb salvage surgery and his jaw was replaced with a graft using bone from his hip. He also had lots of chemo. Unfortunately the cancer was not completely taken away and he had yet another replacement a few months later. Some cancer cells were left behind and were able to spread to other parts of his body quite quickly. He managed to cope extremely well with the surgeries and was always out of intensive care and able to walk and talk much quicker than anyone expected. He was incredibly brave and fought his cancer really hard; unfortunately it was just too aggressive for him to cope with in the end.

If you are worried about bone cancer or think you might be at risk of developing it, please visit the CRUK website www.cancerresearchuk.org or contact your GP and discuss your concerns with them.

For more information on bone cancer and Georgie’s story, please visit www.anticancer.org.uk

The George Pantziarka TP53 Trust – An Information Leaflet

As you will all know by now; my cousin Georgie died of cancer aged seventeen. He had cancer three times during his life and after his third diagnosis; tests showed he had Li Fraumeni Syndrome. Not enough is known about this condition and my uncle has worked hard to set up The George Pantziarka TP53 Trust to help educate people on the condition and to provide support to other sufferers.

My uncle has created a leaflet briefly explaining what TP53 and Li Fraumeni Syndrome are as well as how people are affected by the condition. It’s not a full, detailed medical paper; instead it is supposed to be used as a quick introduction to the condition. It covers all the core points people need to know but it light on details.

This leaflet is aimed at people who should and need to know about LFS but for some reason they have little or no knowledge on the condition, i.e. GP’s, social workers, health visitors, nurses and other non-specialist medical staff. It can also be shown to school teachers.

Please follow the link and take a look at the leaflet. Let us know what you think about it and if you know anyone that should take a look at it, please send them the link! This time next week will be my birthday, which also means it will be the first anniversary of Georgie’s death and it’s about time people started to learn more about the condition that led to his death. This leaflet is only the start, we will be working hard to bring LFS and other TP53 condition to the forefront of people’s minds to educate them and save some lives. For Georgie.

http://www.tp53.co.uk/index.php/lfs-leaflet

xxx

Charlotte Jennings - A Real Trooper

April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month and having lost relatives to this type of cancer, I am keen to raise some awareness. Through the magic of Twitter, I have come across a very brave lady named Charlotte and would like to share her story and her blog with you.

Charlotte is thirty two years old and is mummy to a beautiful little girl names Alexa. Alexa was born in January 2011 and Charlotte began suffering from very severe symptoms following her birth. These symptoms included constant exhaustion, extreme weight loss, terrible diarrhoea and severe abdominal pain. Charlotte went to her doctor time and time again over a period of six months but was constantly told the symptoms were caused by childbirth.

Charlotte eventually went back to work and managed to get a doctor to refer her for some investigations when she just couldn’t cope with the symptoms anymore. She had several blood tests, an ultrasound scan and a MRI scan, all of which showed a big area of inflammation in her colon and small bowel. This led to a diagnosis of Chrohn’s disease. 

Unfortunately Charlotte ended up being rushed to A+E in early November 2011 as she had a blockage in her bowels. Charlotte remained in hospital for three days and was given steroids which seemed to reduce the inflammation. She decided to push for a colonoscopy to get a proper diagnosis.

On November 21^st 2011 Charlotte went for her results alone. Her consultant gave her the life altering news that she wasn’t suffering from Crohn’s disease: she had cancer. The cancer was in her colon and a small part of her small bowel. She was booked in for surgery ASAP and had to have numerous ultrasounds and CT scans to determine the stage of her cancer and if it had spread to other parts of her body. Luckily the cancer hadn’t spread yet.

Brave Charlotte had keyhole surgery on December 12^th 2011. It lasted for two hours with two more hours being spent in recovery.  Amazingly Charlotte was well enough to be discharged that Friday and enjoyed Christmas at home with her family and little Alexa.

In early 2012 charlotte was told that the tumour was localised to the tumour and it hadn’t spread to her lymph nodes. The bowel surrounding the tumour was quite healthy but her specialist suggested a course of chemo to make sure the cancer was beaten.

Charlotte is now currently undergoing her fourth round of chemo at the Berkshire Cancer Centre. She seems to be handling it like a trooper although she is suffering from emotional and physical side effects. She is halfway through her chemo and hopefully soon she’ll be cancer free.

Charlotte amazes me and I look forward to her blog posts and tweets. 2011 should have been defined as the year she had her beautiful baby girl and instead cancer made sure she spent most of the year in pain. She hasn’t let that get her down and seems to be completely besotted with beautiful baby Alexa. I’m constantly astounded by her strength, her dignity and her positivity. I really wish her all the best and hope cancer leaves her alone to enjoy her life with her daughter very soon.

I think people should learn from Charlotte’s story – she knew her body well enough to know something was wrong and was brave enough to trust her intuition and push for tests and investigations. She saved her own life by doing this as I dread to think what would have happened if she had trusted the doctors who thought her symptoms were caused by childbirth. Doctors are amazing people but they are human and they do make mistakes – if you think something is wrong with you please don’t take no for an answer, push for tests! That pushiness could save your life!

Follow charlottes blog at http://charandhercancer.blogspot.co.uk/ or follow her on twitter @char_08. To learn more about bowel cancer please visit www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk

New Cancer Research UK Campaign - The Answer's Plain

So the time has come to officially announce our latest Cancer Research UK Campaign.  I will be working hard alongside my fellow ambassadors to support CRUK. We will be campaigning for the government to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes in all four nations of the UK

The Campaign is explained on our website www.theanswerisplain.org . If you are on Twitter please follow the campaign and tweet use the hashtag #packetracket

Before we begin unveiling details of this potentially historic campaign, we would like to make a very important point: I, and everyone else at CRUK, fight for EVERYONE suffering from cancer and EVERYONE who will suffer from cancer at some point in the future. No one deserves cancer; it is a horrific disease that changes the lives of sufferers and their loved ones. It is cruel and aggressive. It doesn’t discriminate. This campaign is not aimed at making smokers feel like pariahs. It is not aimed at taking away your rights as a smoker. It is not aimed at making smokers lives more difficult. It’s not aimed at making smokers feel embarrassed, ashamed, guilty or pressurised to quit. This campaign is aimed at children and trying to get them to not take up smoking in the first place.

We are very passionate cancer campaigners but we try not to judge those who choose to smoke so please do not think this blog post or this campaign is judging you as a smoker. I have family members that do smoke and I don’t waste time preaching to them about their habit. In my opinion, you will smoke until you decide to quit. In this day and age nobody can claim ignorance about the damage smoking has on your health and if you are happy to smoke despite these facts then I wish you good luck and I sincerely hope your habit does not lead to cancer. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

Facts about Smoking:

There are clear, scientifically proven links between cancer and smoking. One in every four UK cancer deaths are directly caused by smoking and a fifth of all cases of cancer in the UK are directly caused by smoking. Smoking is the largest PREVENTABLE cause of cancer in the world. Half of all smokers will eventually die from cancer or other smoking related illnesses.

There are over eighty cancer causing substances in tobacco smoke. As you inhale this smoke, these chemicals are released into your lungs and spread around your body. These chemicals can actually damage your DNA and mutate important genes in your body, making your cells grow and multiply until they are out of control. “Social” smoking is just as bad for you as it is proven that smoking and drinking alcohol together is very harmful as the alcohol allows tobacco smoke to absorb into your tongue quicker.

The Campaign:

Cancer Research UK receives no government funding but has become the world’s leading charity dedicated to fighting cancer and saving lives through research. The charity is committed to reducing the harm caused by tobacco and has played a significant role in securing a ban on tobacco advertising, creating smoke free workplaces, removing cigarette vending machines and most recently changing the laws surrounding tobacco displays in retailers (See A Successful Campaign) We are now working hard to secure plain packaging and if the campaign is successful then the UK will become the first nation in Europe to introduce plain packaging.

Research has shown that eight out of ten smokers have started smoking by the age of nineteen. Most of these smokers will develop an addiction that will stay with them long into adulthood. Half of these long term smokers will die of a smoking related illness such as cancer. That is a huge amount of people suffering from an illness that could be prevented by not smoking in the first place.

Hundreds of thousands of teenagers start smoking every year. This is for many reasons: peer pressure, teenage rebellion, teenage curiosity, morbid fascination etc... But the fact is tobacco branding and marketing plays a huge role in persuading teenagers to take up smoking. They do this in three ways:

·         Packets are designed to be attractive and communicate the “personality” of a brand. They can act as a “badge product” and an extension of a person’s identity

·         Lighter packaging is often misleading as people assume these brands are healthier than others

·         Packets with branding reduce the prominence of the health warnings.

CRUK are asking the government to introduce plain packaging ASAP. Today is the first day of a 90 day consultation, during which the government will look into introducing it permanently. The plain packaging will go hand in hand with the removal of cigarette displays in larger retailers. The two will work together to dissuade young people from taking up smoking in the first place. Removing displays will lead to smoking becoming less accessible for teenagers and less socially acceptable whilst plain packaging will make packets less attractive and health warnings more prominent. The plain packets will make all cigarettes look the same. They will be the same shape and will still have a health warning and the name of the brand but they won’t have any branding, design or logo.

Fact or Fiction?

CRUK is expecting a fight from tobacco companies who are very much against plain packaging for obvious reasons. The campaigns team at CRUK have been very thorough in their research and have providing their ambassadors with all the information needed. I have a list of arguments and rebuttals against plain packaging and I will write them here for you all to see:

“Plain Packaging will make packs easier to forge and will increase smuggling”

Tobacco products are already really easy to forge so covert markings are used to detect smuggled packs. These markings will remain on the plain packs.

“Plain Packaging will affect local shops”

Plain packaging is aimed at stopping young people from starting smoking so sales will decline slowly over time giving shops a chance to adjust. Plain packets will not have any detrimental effect on shopkeepers’ ability to find the requested pack’ peer-reviewed research has suggested that plain packs will actually speed up that process

“Cigarette prices will fall”

If there is any reduction in the price of cigarettes then taxes on cigarettes can be raised to compensate

“We can’t afford to lose tax from smokers”

Taxing of cigarettes contributes £10 billion to the treasury every year. HOWEVER the cost of smoking has been estimated to be £13.74 billion meaning the strain of smoking related illnesses cost more than the tax is brings in.

No figure can be put on the cost of human suffering caused by cancer

“Plain packaging is illegal as it infringes on trade mark rights”

Nobody is taking trademarks away by including plain packaging. International treaties have opt outs where public health in concerned so this is not an illegal move at all.

So that’s the outline of our latest campaign. Please support us and don’t think it is an attack on smokers because it really isn’t! This campaign is about children and saving them from a habit that increases the chances of encountering worrying, life threatening illnesses later on in life. Even if you are a smoker, I am sure you wouldn’t want your children to take up the habit.  If you have any questions, please do let us know. You can always visit CRUK’s website to find out more about the campaign. The next 90 days will see lots of talk of plain packaging in the UK. Please follow the campaign and sign our petition if you support it. Pass it onto your friends and family and help us lower the number of deaths caused by smoking in the UK.   We have high hopes for this campaign and will be working hard to make it happen.   Cancer should be prevented in as many cases as possible and this campaign will allow us to make a huge step towards making that possible in the UK.

The answer is plain.

http://www.cancercampaigns.org.uk/ourcampaigns/theanswerisplain/moreinformation/

http://action.cancerresearchuk.org/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=149&ea.campaign.id=13114&ea.tracking.id=f88032e8

Dawn, David and Neil - Award Winners

By now you all will know how much I love being part of the Cancer Research UK Ambassadors team. My fellow ambassadors are a fabulous group of people (I may have mentioned that once or twice!!) and I really enjoy getting to know them all slowly.

CRUK have a special awards ceremony every year to celebrate their amazing volunteers. The “Flame of Hope” Awards are voted for by CRUK staff members and recognise the hard work volunteers put in.

I’m really proud and excited to let you all know that some of my fellow ambassadors have won awards or been given special mentions! I’m especially excited because they are ambassadors that I have got to know and now consider to be good friends.

David Collins was given a special mention for his tireless and passionate work for CRUK. As I’ve mentioned previously, I see David as the unofficial group leader. He is organised, kind and incredibly intelligent. He supports and inspires me hugely and I’m so happy to see others notice how hard he works for our group. He is a social media wiz and he is working hard to get our tobacco control campaigns out there for people to hear about and support. David, like me, sees cancer as a political issue and works tirelessly to drive it up the political agenda. He is a fantastic ambassador and an incredible person; I’m absolutely thrilled to hear about him being commended for his work.

Dawn Green is a miracle. She was diagnosed with a very rare cancer and given just months to live well over 5 years ago. Instead of letting the disease beat her, Dawn has fought it with every ounce of her being. Not only has she fought her own cancer battles, she has also set her up own charity to help other people diagnosed with PMP. She also campaigns with us and shares her story at various events such as Race for Life. She has also been given a special mention by CRUK and she could not be more deserving. I am in awe of Dawn and I love her feisty, fun personality. She is a wonderful friend and an amazing woman.

Our Ambassador of the Year winner is the lovely Neil Ranasinghe and his stunning young daughter Anne. Anne was diagnosed with Leukaemia and thankfully survived. This amazing father and daughter duo work really hard to help others suffering from then disease by fundraising, media work and doing various presentations. They also work really hard on the “Little Stars” Awards to recognise children bravely battling cancer. Neil is a fantastic dad and a very funny, friendly man. Anne is an absolutely beautiful young girl and obviously very compassionate too. I’m so so glad they’ve won the award because I know how hard it is to watch a child suffer from cancer and I commend anyone who can get through that horrific experience and still have energy to want to help others. Congratulations Neil and Anne!!!

I am constantly humbled and inspired by my fellow ambassadors. They are incredible people and I have so much respect for them all. They push me to work hard every single day and I am often left gobsmacked by the incredible work they do and the amazing results they achieve. Congratulations to my three lovely friends on their fantastic recognition, they really do deserve it!

Lots of love

Pen xx

More Exciting Campaign News!

Hi everyone,

Hope you all had an amazing Easter weekend :) 

I’ve literally just been told some brilliant news regarding the Voice for Radiotherapy campaign, which was our biggest ambassador campaign of 2011.

On Thursday, the department of Health announced plans to boost radiotherapy services in England. This will help people gain access to the world class radiotherapy treatments which has previously been a big problem in this country.

Andrew Lansley MP (The Secretary of State for Health) has also announced plans for significant government funding for new centres specialising in proton beam therapy. One in Manchester (The Christie) and one in London (University College London Hospital). Up to £250 million will be invested in these centres which should be fully available by 2017.

According to my bosses at CRUK, around 1,500 cancer sufferers will benefit from this every year.

Just to inform you, proton beam therapy is a special form of radiotherapy which uses beams of protons instead of x-rays. This enables a higher dose of radiation to be sent straight to the cancer and hopefully causing less damage to surrounding healthy tissue. This means patients should have fewer side effects. This treatment is really useful when treating cancers surrounding vital organs and tissues such as the spine or brain. It can also be used to treat complex childhood cancers. America, France and Switzerland already use proton beam therapy and introducing it on the NHS in England will mean patients no longer have to travel abroad to receive such important treatment.

I am so so excited by this news. Many of you will have signed our Radiotherapy petition and I sincerely thank you for that because without your signatures we may not have had such good results with the campaign. Pat yourselves on the back – you’re helping to change the face of cancer treatment in the UK and save people’s lives! I really want to thank all the family and friends that helped me get signatures, I know I bugged you all and I really do appreciate the support!

Again, I pay tribute to my fellow ambassadors – hard working and amazing! We’ve done it again! Its days like today that really make me proud of the work we do!

Have a great day everyone!

xxx

The Buggs - A Tribute

Most of you will know how amazingly brave I think the Bugg sisters are. I have written about Rochelle, Hannah and Olivia several times on this blog. They lost their dad to a brain tumour and by some horrific coincidence their mum was very sadly diagnosed with a brain tumour last year too. The girls found the strength to nurse their mum through her illness. Sadly Mrs Shirley Bugg lost her battle during the early hours of yesterday morning. Her three girls were by her side as she drifted off to be reunited with her husband.

I adore Rochelle and I hope to get to know Hannah and Olivia too one day soon. I can't imagine what they are going through but I do know they will stick together, look after each other and help each other through this immense pain.

I sincerely hope Shirley is now free from pain and can watch over her daughters with her husband by her side. They must be so proud of the three girls their marriage produced: they are beautiful, brave, strong and amazing.

If the girls need anything then I hope they will let me know but I want to dedicate this blog post to the Bugg family. Truly inspirational and always in my thoughts.
xxx

A Successful Campaign :)

Today I’m sitting at my desk with a huge feeling of accomplishment. This is because today is the last day larger retailers can have cigarettes on display. One of my very first ambassador campaigns was “Out of Sight, Out of Mind” and this means it was a success.

I've done a post about smoking before and I took a lot of time to make sure the post wasn’t judgmental at all. Some of my closest friends and relatives are smokers and I do not judge them for it. I think you are allowed to make choices for yourself and if you choose to smoke then that’s fine by me. I did that post to let you know of the facts, not to encourage you to quit or to make you feel bad. I didn’t write it to scare you or to convince you that you will get cancer.

The “Out of Sight, Out of Mind” campaign wasn’t aimed at smokers. We don’t want to take away your rights, we don’t want to force you to quit. We want to make it harder for children to take up smoking and develop addictions that could potentially harm their health. Any smoker I talk to says they actively discourage their children from taking up smoking so I’m sure most of you can understand the reasoning behind the removal of public displays.

Over 300,000 children take up smoking every year. Plenty of those children will develop an addiction. Lots will go on to develop cancer. Smoking is a huge cause of cancer and it is preventable. We need to be tackling the problem to stop children taking up smoking in the first place. This is just one CRUK campaign hoping to do that.

I am immensely proud to be a Cancer Research UK Ambassador, I bore people silly with my cancer stories and campaign notes. But it is something I am hugely passionate about. My charity work has helped me cope with losing my cousin; I don’t think I would have got through the last year without having it to focus on. I got ridiculously excited when I went to Sainsbury’s in Romford and saw the blank space where the cigarette display used to be. Literally jumping up and down whilst shouting at Leo:  We did that! We are helping to save lives!

So this post is a tribute to my fellow ambassadors. We all work hard on our campaigns, we throw ourselves into them and we work hard to get good results.  Lots of my fellow ambassadors are actually fighting cancer themselves at the moment. Some are recovering from their battle, some are thankful to have survived or to have had a loved one survive and some are like me, trying to honour those they have lost. Time will tell if this campaign works and if it helps stop children from smoking but either way it is a huge accomplishment for a group of people to get a law changed and see such a major thing happen across the country. I am so proud of us all.

So whenever you go to a big shop and see the blank space that use to house cigarettes, please think of the “normal” members of the public who have formed a group of ambassadors and worked incredibly hard to make it happen. Anyone can make a difference in the world; you just need sheer force of will, clear ideas, research and a good heart.

Happy Easter Everyone :)

Cancer Types: Womb

Another post for the ladies here! I promise to do more unisex ones as this series progresses!

The Womb:

The womb is part of the female reproductive system. It is a muscular bag shaped like a pear and its job is to protect a baby as it grows during pregnancy. It is also known as the uterus.

Please note that although the cervix forms part of the womb – womb cancer and cervical cancer are two different things.

Cancer of the Womb:

Womb cancer is the fourth most common cancer for women in the UK, especially those that are between the ages of sixty and seventy nine. Womb cancer has several different names: womb cancer, uterine cancer or endometrial cancer. This is because the womb is also known as the uterus and because the lining of the womb is called the endometrium. Cancer of the endometrium is the most common type of womb cancer.

Risk Factors for Womb Cancer:

Exact causes for womb cancer are not yet known. However, something’s do increase your risk of developing this kind of cancer:

* Overweight or obese women are more likely to develop womb cancer then women of a “normal” weight

* Your menstrual history can also increase your risk – for example if your menarche (first period) arrived at an     early age or you had a late menopause.

However, it’s not all bad news... research shows having a baby will lower your risk of womb cancer and having more than one child will decrease your risk even more.

Screening for Womb Cancer:

At the moment there isn’t a reliable way to test seemingly healthy people for womb cancer but research and clinical trials are ongoing.

If you have a family history of certain cancers then you will be encouraged to have regular checks for womb cancer.  If this applies to you then you may be familiar with the phrase HNPCC or Lynch Syndrome families. You may be offered vaginal ultrasound scans from your mid twenties onwards if your risk of womb cancer is considered high by your doctors.

Symptoms of Womb Cancer:

About nine out of ten womb cancer cases are diagnosed because the woman is suffering from post menopausal or irregular vaginal bleeding. Womb cancer symptoms to look out for include:

* Vaginal bleeding after the menopause

* Unusually heavy bleeding

* Bleeding between periods

* Pink and watery vaginal discharge

* Dark and foul smelling vaginal discharge

Less common symptoms include:

Abdominal pain or discomfort

Painful sex

An enlarged or swollen womb (your doctor will be the one to find this symptom)

Diagnosing Womb Cancer:

Firstly, you will need to visit your GP and let them know about your symptoms. They will ask you about your general health and they will examine you. They may also ask you about any family history of cancer. They may ask you for blood and urine samples. A pelvic examination may also be needed as well as a cervical smear. If your GP suspects womb cancer, they will refer you to a specialist ASAP.

The specialist will need to take a sample of your womb tissue and lining. This is called an endometrial biopsy. This will be tested for abnormal and cancerous cells.  Other tests may also be needed, for example an aspiration biopsy, hysteroscopy or D and C.

If womb cancer is detected then further tests will be needed to discover what stage the cancer is and if it has spread. This will mean your doctor has a clearer view of what is going on and can come up with the very best treatment plan for you. These could include blood tests, X-rays, scans or internal examinations. Biopsies may also be needed as well as CT and MRI scans.

Treating Womb Cancer:

Womb cancer can be broken down into four stages:

Stage One – The cancer is only found in the womb

Stage Two – The cancer has spread to the cervix

Stage Three – The cancer is more advanced but is still in the pelvis or nearby lymph nodes

Stage Four – The cancer has spread to one of more organs

The cancer will also be graded. Generally speaking, the lower the grade, the slower the cancer is growing and the less likely it is to spread.

Treatment options available include:

Surgery – this is usually the first and most important type of treatment. The amount of surgery needed will depend on the stage and grading of the cancer. Usually a total hysterectomy is advised as well as having both ovaries removed.

Radiotherapy - this may be an option if your doctor has worries about your general health and fitness. If they feel you are not well enough for an operation then radiotherapy may be used instead. If you decide against surgery then radiotherapy may be offered. Radiotherapy may also be offered after surgery if your doctor thinks you need it.

Hormone Therapy – this may be used to try and stop advanced cancer from growing so fast.

Chemotherapy – this may be used to control advanced womb cancer. It may also be used before and/or after surgery

I hope you have found this blog post useful ladies. If you do have any worries about womb cancer, please speak to your GP as soon as you can. You can read more about womb cancer at www.cancerresearchuk.org

xxx

Cancer Types – Cervical

In keeping with the first two posts, this post will feature part of the reproductive system. Before I begin I would like to mention Eastenders. Not sure if you watch the show, but Leo is a big fan and we usually watch it whilst eating our dinner. They recently did a cervical cancer storyline and I do not feel they portrayed the illness very well at all. The character ignored hospital appointments and seemed more concerned with losing her sex drive then she did about being seriously ill. She was given the all clear within a few months and nothing was made of the fact that she had ignored her appointments and delayed treatment. Now I’m not silly enough to think soaps are real life. However Eastenders is watched by millions of people, some very impressionable and they have a responsibility to these viewers and in my opinion they fell short with their portrayal of cervical cancer. Ignoring treatment will put your life at serious risk. As we all saw with Jade Goody, cervical cancer can be aggressive and it does kill lots of women each year.

Anyway, rant over! Hope you find this post interesting and informative.

The Cervix:

The cervix is basically the neck of the womb (uterus). It is the opening to the womb from the vagina. The cervix is a very strong muscle which is usually tightly shut but it does open during labour so the baby can come out. The outer surface of the cervix has a layer of cells which are almost skin-like. When these cells become cancerous it is known as squamous cell cervical cancer. There are glandular cells lining the inside of the cervix producing mucus. Cancer of these cells is called adenocarcinoma of the cervix. There is an area of the cervix known as the transformation zone. This is around the opening of the cervix leading onto a narrow passageway that runs into the womb. This zone is where cells are most likely to become cancerous.

Risks and Causes of Cervical Cancer:

* Human Pampilloma Virus (HPV) is the most common and biggest cause of cervical cancer. HPV is passed on from person to person via sexual contact. There are many different types of HPV and not all of them cause cervical cancer. One type causes genital warts but not cervical cancer. However other types are considered high risk. These types can lead to cells in the cervix changing and becoming cancerous. Most women who have HPV and develop cervical cancer will have had other infections caused by HPV in the past. However, not every woman with HPV will develop cervical cancer.

* Smoking can lead to cervical cancer; women who smoke are more likely to develop this type of cancer then women that do not smoke.

* Taking the pill can also increase your risk but the reason for this is not yet known

* Women that have bore a large number of children also have a slightly higher risk as are women with a weakened immune system.

Smear Tests:

It is hugely important to have cervical screening as preventing cervical cancer from developing is vital. Cervical cancer is actually one of the only cancers that is preventable because if pre cancerous cells are detected through screening then they can be treated before they have a chance to become cancerous.

Women between the ages of twenty five and sixty are encouraged to have smear tests every three to five years to detect any changing cells in their cervix. During a smear test, a doctor or nurse will insert a speculum into your vagina and scrape anyway a sample of cells from your cervix. These cells are then placed into a small pot of liquid and send to be analysed. You will then be contacted with your results and any abnormal smears will require further investigation.

You don’t have to be over the age of twenty five to develop cervical cancer; some younger women do develop it as well. However, in the UK, smear tests are not encouraged until twenty five because your cervix is still developing in your teens and early twenties. This means the likelihood of you getting an abnormal result is more common but usually nothing to worry about. After Jade Goody’s horrifically young death, a campaign was launched to lower the smear test age limit but medical professionals do not agree with this. If you are under twenty five and are concerned about your cervical cancer risk – please do speak to your GP and get some advice. A private gynaecologist may allow you to have a smear test but it would depend on your individual circumstances.

PLEASE DO NOT BE SCARED TO HAVE A SMEAR TEST – THEY ARE UNCOMFORTABLE AND UNLADYLIKE BUT THEY DO SAVE LIVES! A FEW MINUTES OF DISCOMFORT IS BETTER THEN A BATTLE WITH CERVICAL CANCER!!!

It is also important to note that an abnormal smear result does not mean you have cervical cancer. If you are contacted and told your test was abnormal then please do not ignore it, go and see what your doctors have to say.

I’m approaching my twenty third birthday so I am not entitled to smear tests yet. I’ve heard horror stories about them and I am slightly worried about them. However, I will be forcing myself to attend my smear tests appointment when they are available to me. If I do develop pre cancerous cells – I will be finding them and I will be stopping them from developing.

Symptoms:

Before I start listing the symptoms, please note that pre cancerous cells do not produce symptoms. This means having a smear test is hugely important – you can catch the cancer before it even develops. It is also important to know that the following symptoms do not instantly mean you have cervical cancer but it is important to go to your doctor if you have any of these symptoms:

* Bleeding between periods

* Bleeding during or after sex

* Bleeding at any time after the menopause

* Discomfort or pain during sex

I’ve actually learnt a lot whilst writing this post – cervical cancer and smear tests used to terrify me. But knowing cervical cancer is preventable with regular screening is a massive comfort to me and I hope it is to you too. If you are worried about HPV or cervical cancer then please contact your GP or visit www.cancerresearchuk.org for more information. If you are reading this and you are above twenty five but haven’t had a smear test for a few years, please book one ASAP. Too many women die from cervical cancer and knowing it is preventable makes their deaths even more tragic. Please don’t put your health at risk.

xxx

Cancer Types: Prostate

OK so the last post was very lady centric so I’ve decided to accompany it with a post for the boys. This post is dedicated to my maternal grandfather George who survived a battle with prostate cancer. It is also dedicated to a close friend of Leo and I and he will know why.

The Prostate:

The prostate is a gland found only in males. It surrounds the urethra, the tube that carries urine from the bladder to the penis. It also carries semen. The prostate is responsible for creating the fluid part of semen. The prostate needs testosterone (the male sex hormone) to grow and function.

Symptoms of Prostate Cancer:

Having to rush to the toilet to pass urine

Difficulty in passing urine

Passing more urine than normal, especially at night

Pain when passing urine

Blood in urine or semen (very rare)

These symptoms are the same for prostate cancer and an enlarged prostate so it is important to go to the GP as soon as they appear. The symptoms are usually caused because the growth is pressing on the urethra and is blocking the flow of urine. It is important to remember that early prostate cancer does not usually cause any symptoms because the growth is too small to affect the flow of urine.  Prostate cancer usually grows quite slowly, especially in older gentleman. They may only suffer mild symptoms and they may occur over a number of years.

Causes and Risks:

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer for UK men (not counting non melanoma). There are some risk factors:

* Age is the most significant of these risk factors. Prostate cancer is quite rare in men younger than fifty – in fact more than half of all prostate cancer cases are found in men aged seventy plus.

* Having a family history of breast cancer or prostate cancer will also heighten your risk of developing this type of cancer

* If you are of African ancestry then your risk is also higher as this type of cancer is more common in men of black or mixed race descent then white or Asian men

Screening:

The aim of screening for prostate cancer is to diagnose the disease in the early stages when it is usually easier to treat and most likely to be curable. At the moment a national screening test is not available but research is being carried out and trials are taking place all the time.

Diagnosing Prostate Cancer

If your GP suspects prostate cancer then they will:

* Examine your prostate by placing a gloved finger into your back passage

* Get you to have a blood test to check your PSA levels (PSA = Prostate Specific Antigen)

This is not as painful or as embarrassing as it sounds. GP’s do this all the time and although having a finger inserted into your bottom may sound horrific, I am told by reliable sources that is really isn’t as bad as it sounds. Please don’t let the fear or embarrassment stop you getting this test if you feel you have a problem with your prostate – it could save your life.

With PSA levels, it is usually the higher the level, the more likely you are to have cancer. However, don’t be too alarmed by this fact – there could be another reason, for example an enlarged prostate or an infection. In fact, two out of three men with a raised PSA level do not have prostate cancer. It is possible for a man to have prostate cancer but not a high PSA level – this is where the gloved finger comes in handy.

Treating Prostate Cancer:

This is where my post will get complicated so I will try and keep it as clear and concise as possible!

Prostate cancer is divided up into stages. These stages will inform the doctor of how developed the cancer is and this information will help them decide on the best treatment plan for the patient in question. The stages are numbered 1-4 and your doctor will talk to you about your “TNM” which stands for Tumour, Nodes and Metastases. Basically this means they will discuss the size of the tumour, whether is has spread to any nearby lymph nodes and whether it has spread (metastasised) to anywhere else in your body.

Prostate cancer tends to spread to your bones rather than other organs. It is possible for it to metastasise even when the original prostate tumour is very small. This means early diagnosis is key to treating it and controlling it.

There are several factors doctors consider before deciding a treatment plan. These factors are:

* The stage of the cancer

* The grade of the cells (how they look under a microscope)

* Your Gleason score

* Your PSA levels

* Your age

* Your general health

Once these factors have been considered, your treatment options will become clearer and your doctor will discuss them with you. Please ask questions and make sure you feel comfortable with the treatment plan you are offered. Don’t be afraid to get a second opinion.

If the cancer is low risk and is localised to the prostate area only, then active monitoring is likely to be your treatment option. This means the cancer will be monitored and the doctors will wait to see if it develops. If it does start to develop then surgery may be an option and the prostate gland could be removed. Radiotherapy is also an option at this stage.

If the cancer is classed as an intermediate risk but is localised to the prostate area then surgery to remove the prostate gland may be an option. Radiotherapy may also be considered.

A high risk, localised tumour will usually be treated with surgery and external radiotherapy.

If the cancer has broken through the capsule that surround the prostate gland then this is known as locally advanced prostate cancer. This will usually involve surgery or radiotherapy which will be combined with hormone treatments.

There are many types of surgery for prostate cancer; it is worth taking a look at www.cancerresearchuk.org to read about them.

Sorry for the incredibly long blog post! I hope you have found it informative!

xxx