Lightning isn't supposed to strike twice, but it feels at times that our family is a lightning rod when it comes to Cancer.
I've been fighting it since 2009. Six months after I got married I developed a lot of back pain (my colleagues delighted in telling me why a newly wed would have such pain!). The GP completely ignored my constant appearance at his surgery. At 28 he'd decided I was too young for it to be serious. Eventually when I got to a CT Scan they found a rare Adrenal Cancer that had metastatised in numerous bones, including some vertebrae. I'll be fighting it until the day I depart this world, which led to an attitude to enjoy life far more than previously- 1st stop was buying a sports car!
Unfortunately in 2011, my wife found a lump in her mouth. On investigation it turned out the vile disease had got her too, thank God only a small tumour that was easy to remove from her mouth. We couldn't believe it had happened to her too.
Last month was the big shock though. My Mum had breast cancer 8 years ago and had been clear of it since. About a year ago it reappeared and 18th June it took her away from us. The pain from that is going to linger for a long time.
People say they don't know how I can handle the regular treatments, scans and rollercoaster of good & bad news. As anyone who has experienced it will say, somehow you just manage to - you have no choice but to.
When you receive the help - medical, physical or emotional - that you get from the Doctors, nurses, staff and Macmillan type specialists it really humbles you about how much we give back to the world and to communities around us.