There's a Panda in my Bellybutton

  4 Years in Remission In May 2017 Ryan finished his 6 gruelling cycles of Chemotherapy and was in remission for 3 months before his cancer returned in September 2017. I wrote about our first 3 month cancer free milestone in our blog post here . In August 2020 Ryan once again finished treatment. This time he completed 3 years of Immunotherapy treatment and in November 2020 Ryan had tests done to confirm he is once again in remission. This is, of course, outstanding news but we were muted in any celebrations as it was such early days and we had been here once before. Ryan has been having regular check-ups every 3 months and in May 2021 we were able to confirm he has reached the 9-month milestone which was phenomenal news. Massive Scare - Relapse #3, ALMOST. Tuesday 4 October 2022. Ryan mentioned to me about an Ulcer on the roof of his mouth. I took photos and monitored for a couple of weeks before we start to panic too much.😳 Thursday 27 October 2022. Sadly Ryan has had to have y...

Experimental Treatment Pembrolizumab is one of a number of immunotherapy treatments that are revolutionising the fight against cancer around the world. The future of medicine may eventually see these treatments used as the first line of defence against Cancer, which does not affect neutrophil counts or cause hair loss which are two of the biggest disadvantages of chemotherapy treatment. Immunotherapy targets only certain cells, meaning you don’t kill all the good cells off as happens with chemotherapy, making it more tolerable.  It has been found to be effective in treating some types of cancer where other treatments have failed to work.  Immune System Your immune system is how your body protects itself against infections and diseases. It recognises if you pick up a virus or bacteria germs that shouldn't be there. Your immune system also helps to destroy any old cells or damaged or broken cells, cancer is clever and it can trick your immune system into thinking that the ...

World Cancer Day To coincide with World Cancer Day JTV Cancer Support invited Ryan and I to take part in a very special filming project! World Cancer Day is a truly global event that takes place every year on 4 February. World Cancer Day unites the world’s population in the fight against cancer. It aims to save millions of preventable deaths each year by raising awareness and education about the disease, pressing governments and individuals across the world to take action. Their tagline is #ActOfUnity and people were encouraged to buy Unity Bands as a show of support and to raise vital funds for cancer charities. JTV Cancer Support JTV Cancer Support wanted patients to film bits every day for a week to show everyone what one week living with cancer is like for them. ...maybe they're back in education/work or have a week full of hospital appointments, JTV wanted us to share a snapshot of life with/after cancer. I thought hey, Ry might be up for this. Another way to raise...

Cancer Sucks I have shared with you Ryan's lymphoma journey where we have talked about the ups, the downs, the protocols for drugs, the side effects, but I realised recently I have never shared the questions. This post is all about what to ask when you receive a diagnosis of cancer. Receiving a cancer diagnosis is never ever going to be seen as good news. It can never be dressed up or made pretty. It is devastating, it is gut-wrenching, it is life-changing. There is so much information to process you will not think of the questions you need to ask or you will have hundreds of questions you want to ask all at once. These are just some of the questions you can ask once you have processed the news, in order to gain a better understanding of your fight ahead. General Information What type of cancer do I have? Where is it located? What are the risk factors for this disease? Is this type of cancer caused by genetic factors? Are other members of my family at risk? What lifestyle c...