Mum's Cancer Returns

Last Friday we got the bad news that mum's cancer has returned. Once again she has a cancerous nodule on her left lung which is a secondary cancer from her bowel. It's early days as far as a treatment path goes, but the hope is that they will be able to operate to remove it. This will be the 4th time she has had to endure this procedure. She will have a PET scan in the next couple of weeks and then an appointment with the lung consultant who has operated on her three times previously. 

When I started the new book at the beginning of 2014 mum was in remission from bowel cancer, and we had all kind of put it in the past. Unfortunately this is now the second time that the cancer has come back in the last year, and it means mum now faces her 5th major operation in the last three and a half years. On each previous occasion the speed of her recovery has been quite remarkable, and as devastating as the news is she is already steeling herself for what lies ahead. I don't know where she gets this strength from.. She has just turned 79 so it wasn't the kind of news she wanted going into a year which will see her celebrate her 80th birthday next August. At least by then we shall be raising a glass to celebrate that with all this behind us.

I took the photo a few weeks ago when we went to see mum's granddaughter Anna on her 9th birthday.

The fundraising continues and I shall hopefully have book publication details very soon. In the meantime check out my fundraising website here.

A Holiday For Mum

My mum was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2012, and to read about this fundraising project click here.

Mum is currently enjoying a two week holiday on the Greek Islands with her great friend Anne. This is mum's first trip away since she her operation at the beginning of the year to remove a secondary bowel cancer nodule from her lung. The cancer coming back after mum being 18 months in remission was a big shock, but as ever she took it on board and faced up to her 4th major cancer operation with steely determination. She has once again bounced back amazingly well, and is back to full fitness and as bonkers as ever :)

The forthcoming Lives & Times book has taken me on a remarkable journey, but I never lose sight of the reason why I am doing this. Mum has been very fortunate in that the cancer was diagnosed early, and she has received fantastic treatment from the NHS. There are many others less fortunate who tragically haven't been able to beat this awful illness. For those people out there still literally fighting for their lives, please don't give up. You have family and friends supporting you all the way as well as the bowel cancer community out there at large, of which I am one tiny part. There is much still to do to raise awareness about bowel cancer, which if caught in the early stages can be treated successfully in many cases. I hope that the book will raise some funds for the Beating Bowel Cancer charity, but I also hope that in its own way it can help publicise and raise awareness about bowel cancer.

It's an exciting week as on Wednesday I am travelling up to the ITV Studios to meet and photograph Lorraine Kelly.

Can't Do A New Book Without A Chapter on Mum

The latest person to be added to the book is my mum! I was always going to do a chapter on her, and it was just a case of waiting for the right time as we had agreed that a photo with her horse Shimara was what we wanted to do. This of course kills two birds with one stone as mum had asked me last year if we could do some nice photos of her with Shimara. Think we have this years' birthday present sorted.

With the book now approaching 40,000 words and not far off 50 chapters I've had to find a way of finishing it, and a few people suggested that a chapter on mum would make for the perfect ending. The actual photo both me and mum agree on is a cracker, although this one here is pretty good too.

Mum has made excellent progress since her operation in February to remove a cancerous tumour from her left lung, which was a secondary cancer from the original bowel cancer. She has her next appointment and blood tests in a couple of weeks...