[Closed] Cancer strikes again.. a plea

Good post- I give loads to local hospice's to support the care they provide.

Will donate the price of a couple coffees

I am with you.
My mum passed away 11 years ago in a few days, after a vigorous life and fight with cancer.

+1 lost my aunt just before Xmas and am planning to ride the Southern Upland Way with 2 mates in May to raise money for Macmillan. Awful awful disease

always donate to McMillan and to cancer research. Horrible set of diseases. I know it's heading my way so really it helps others and is an investment for me.

Just donated and thought I would post this info from the Macmillan site.

We couldn't provide our vital services without you. Donate now and help us to make a real difference to people living with cancer.

Simply text the words: MOBL11 10 to 70070 to make a £10 donation to Macmillan Cancer Support.

Note: You can substitute the '10' with any amount up to '10' to make a donation of that amount instead.

It's really simple. The donation will be added to your next phone bill, plus your standard network text charge will be waived. And afterwards, if you go on to complete the Gift Aid form we can claim an additional 25% on your donation.

Everyone must have lost at least one family member or friend to cancer at some time. It's very easy to set up a standing order to donate every month and you won't miss that money.

Going to my mates funeral on Thursday. Made his 52 birthday on New Years Eve, passed away the next day. Macmillan were great

Good post Phil.

My last remaining Auntie has cancer and she found out last week that it has now spread throughout her body. 😥 I've spoken to her several times, she's being so brave and I'm going to visit her next week.

Cancer has been rife in my family unfortunately.

+1 Good Post

Lost my dad to cancer 26 years ago in April... he was 54 phone donation done

my dad is fighting it at the moment, the "cure" almost killed him last week, his last radiotherapy, finding it so difficult to eat and drink he's lost a lot of weight and become dehydrated, he pass out, so they had him on a drip and thought he was OK to leave. He could hardly stand when he got out of bed so Mother insisted they kept him in overnight. Lucky or insightful who can say, but later that evening he haemorrhaged from the neck (internal ulceration of a vein possibly caused by the radiotherapy or a by product of the 11 hour surgery he had before christmas) 4 doctors and 6 pint of blood later he's stabilized, Anyway home again now feels like shit can't eat or drink much from the discomfort. It is a nasty illness with some blood nasty treatments.

terribly sorry to hear that Phil.
You're right about macmillan, they really helped my dad during his last few months. The good guys.

Good post, we did the same at our wedding last week and asked people to give donations to the local hospice rather than give us presents. It's raised over £2k so far, we've been genuinely humbled by people's generosity.

Good call Phil.

Went to my best mate's funeral on my 18th birthday after he fought as brain tumour for 14 months. Poor sod.

i lost one of my best mates a year ago last week.

lucy was one of the most amazing people i have ever met and the world feels tarnished without her, she shone so bright.

she rode like a daemon and would always keep up with anyone. she kept up with me round whytes despite not having been on her bike for months, and coughing every 10 mins and three months later she was dead.

she was proud and beautiful and went out of her way to look after anyone who needed it. but most of all she was my friend

31 years is not enough for someone as bright as you lucy, i miss you everyday

people from here gave to the roy castle charity in lucy's name when we organised a sponsored ride.
i will never forget that- strangers giving so generously totally floored me

I was diagnosed with testicular cancer about a month ago and have now had one of my balls removed. Still recovering but i have been in touch with macmillan and they have been a great support. I have now set up a monthly donation for them as i can appreciate first hand the great work that they do.

Good call Phil. Donation made.

My younger brother has been fighting it for 6 years, (he's 35 now) started in his bowel, is now in his liver and lungs.
Hes battling through his 5th course of Chemo at the moment - the tumours in his Liver are inoperable so its all down to the drugs now.

He cycled London to Paris in October - I can't quite believe this is happening..

We have had a DD to macmillans every month, not a lot but every penny counts and to be honest its not enough for us to notice missing either. Lost my dad to cancer over 20 years ago. He would have been retiring this year. Hateful disease.

Always sobering when you read threads like this.

My own story is, I feel, positive. I had cancer when I was three, a wilms tumour the size of an orange. It was removed along with a kidney and I was in hospital for a year. My parents suffered a lot of heartache in this time clearly, I was lucky, a lot of it I dont remember. This was in 1972 when cancer treatment was in very early stages and most people didnt survive. I then spent 10+ years revisiting hospitals. I was blessed.

I'm now 43 and did the 2011 TP race for Cancer Research. I guess what I am saying is that I hope my survival proves that there is hope, clearly some treatments are improving the odds of survival but like the OP said more funding of research continues to be needed to help sufferers and their family and friends.

I'll make a donation to Macmillan, my family went through hell.

Good post Phil,

The Macmillan nurses were a great support to my mum and her sister through their last days. They do an amazing job. I donate regularly to this cause as a result. I will make another today just for you though Phil.
I trust married life is treating you well.

My dear grandad has only got a matter of days left. Lung cancer has finally defeated him. Recently he's had Macmillan nurses visiting him at home. Out of everyone that has treated him in and out of hospital they are the only ones who have treated him with real dignity.

I can only echo all of the good things said about them. They deserve every penny they get.

A group of 15-20 of us are doing the C2C this year to raise funds for St Theresa's hospice.

Organising it with a mate who's wife is in the latter stages of Breast cancer and who may well need to call on their services soon. They've already been excellent with their daughter counselling her and preparing her for when it eventually takes her mum.

I keep typing posts and then deleting them.

I'm surrounded by cancer. I have cancer. Incurable cancer, as it happens. I'm the longest living cardiac and skeletal angiosarcoma patient on Earth, and in history. I am nearly three years past the point at which they confirmed I would die. I'm off to two funerals in the next week; one for a lady who helped me as a 'spirited youth', and one for a woman of such epic qualities, who was so inspirational and who died of Saturday.

The money that goes to research and support for those suffering from cancer will help to manage this disease at some point in the near future. But I think that we sometimes forget that, behind the donations, are people like yourselves who care enough to try and make a difference. For example, had it not been for the folk on STW - their support, their love, kindness and friendship, then this would not have been possible:

[img] [/img]

I am unable to express how grateful I am that those of you that supported me, including Phil, allowed me to experience the wonder of being a parent. The money is important but the belief that, as a team, we can win in the fight against cancer helps keep people like me alive.

Thanks folks x

Like many on here I have lost Parents to cancer, Father @ 61 & my mother is in remission at the moment. Both had masses of support from the Macmillan nurses.
Last year I set up a DD every month for the amount I got in a pay rise (and before anyone says it I know I'm lucky to get a rise).

PS I'm finding it very dusty here today 🙁

Good thread guys. Cancer really does suck, and I can testify that Macmillan and the hospice in York really were shining lights throughout the experience of losing my Mum 3 years ago at only 42 years of age.

My friend Ross is growing a beard for a year, and is looking sponsorship to go towards Macmillan. It's good to see those who have been donating already, but here's another way. [url= http://www.justgiving.com/ross-potter1 ]http://www.justgiving.com/ross-potter1[/url]

All the best with everyone's treatment and recovery.

Just ridden Lands End - John o'Groats in support of Macmillan, an excellent charity doing some fantastic work.

Keep up the good fight guys! 🙂

Good call, will donate something. Lost my dad to cancer 2 years ago unexpectedly. He had serious heart problems since he was 42 yrs old including angina, heart attacks, stroke etc ending with a triple bypass plus some vein graft in the neck (not sure what).In his early 60's he went downhill health wise, doctors focussing on the heart issues only, ended up having a funny turn one day cue a bed in ICU then off to Lister Hospital as its a liver/kidney place. After a fair few tests etc turns out he had Pancreatic Cancer and Lung Cancer both beyond help , he died alone in the early hours in a hospital ward being held by a fellow patient just 9 days after diagnosis . None of us realised he had so little time, he never let on or complained much, i regret not being with him every day. It is a devestating disease that if i was able to have one wish i would erradicate it from this world.

Yep, good call. Always good to put it in terms of a few coffees / pints - no brainer.

Good post. It always amazes me just how many people are affected by cancer, be it family or close friends.

It's a hateful disease. I lost my mum to it was I was 13. She was only 30 and had always been a very string, fit and healthy lady. Watching her fade away whilst the disease spread was awful. The support offered by the Macmillan nurses towards the end was fantastic. It must be an incredibly hard job for someone to do.

Since losing my mum, I have also lost my gran and an uncle who was more like a big brother (and also young) to cancer. I always makea point of donating to Macmillan or Cancer Research. I'm also running the Silverstoe half marathon on behalf on Cancer Research.

Good thread to start - thanks.

Mum had cancer recently, thankfully over it now - was diagnosed very early. Friend just getting over leukaemia, again diagnosed in good time.

Please, please go see the doc if you see/find/feel anything unusual. This probably saved two lives recently.

Will donate tomorrow.

My wife is currently battling this awful disease for the 3rd time, this time it has been diagnosed as non curative, words can never express how and what I feel, all we try to do is remain positive and take whatever sh1t is thrown at us.

Direct debit set up - We lost two giants last year, wonderful men the likes of which I doubt I'll ever see again.

That's all.

I lost my Grandad to cancer last night. He battled it for seven years but I'm grateful that the decline was very short and sharp in the end and that he passed at home.

A Macmillan nurse stayed with my Grandmother last night during his last moments and I'll be forever grateful for that.

Emotional reading STW
So many brave people
Donation made

Don't take this the wrong way, it's just my personal experience.
Macmillan were awful with my Dad and my Auntie when they were had terminal cancer. We/they and her immediate family had no support from them. We asked numrous times and received nothing. I am glad others have had success with them, as I am sure they do good work. Unfortuantely for me they have left a bitter taste in my mouth and don't get a penny.
My money and charity work goes to the local hospice (Wigan & Leigh) and Marie Curie as they are brilliant.

Slightly agree with Monkeychild at the moment - the nurse looking after my mother is getting mixed reviews from my dad at present. His comment a few weeks ago was that she seemed to be more used to looking after little old dears and a feisty old lady was a bit harder for them to deal with. Now that my mother has deteriorated a bit, the nurse is finding it easier to deal with her and the advice is better...

On the other hand, a friend my own age who had leukaemia can't say enough about how good they were - he was in London, though, which may have made a difference.

I'm a long-term supporter of Cancer Research - I strongly suspect that the experimental treatment my godfather had before he died 10 years ago has contributed to the fact that my mother is still alive today.

I would also echo the comments about [u]please[/u] getting anything doubtful checked out ASAP. If my mother had, we probably wouldn't be looking at months to go now.

+1stealthcat had a mole on my leg checked all ok 6months later still not happy with mole went back this time it was skin cancer but in time had mole removed plus 1.25cm of surrounding flesh 5year on have a very intresting scar/divot in my left leg and no feeling in shin area of same leg but you know what still here and all clear so

GO GET CHECKED

Watched my beloved mother-in-law lose her fight a few years ago. She just missed her first grandchild. Terrible. Donate to the hospice that looked after her so well, but will also donate to Macmillan.

For those that haven't seen it, this is worth a read.

http://alicepyne.blogspot.co.uk/

Website of a teenage girl with cancer who posted on her website a bucketlist of things to do before she died. It went viral and as a result amazing things happened to her and she made amazing things happen! She lost her battle on Saturday gone, but her story is amazing and inspirational and certainly puts life's trials and tribulations into some perspective.

One of her wishes was that people register as potential bone marrow donors. Link is here:

http://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/bonemarrow/

My best wishes to everyone effected by this most pernicious of diseases.

Right, not everyone can set up a direct debit or salary sacrifice, and even if you can you can do this as well, costs you nothing, but the charity still gets the cash when you shop online.

[url= http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/ ]http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/[/url]

Register with these guys, nominate your chosen charity, Macmillan are in there, most of the hospices too. Then jump from their page to the online shopping page of your choice, CRC, Evans, Merlin and others are in. Charity will get up to 2% of your bill in a quidco type deal. No cost to you. Even easier than logging in with them is to install their browser widget which pops down when you are on one of their signed up retailer websites to remind you, you just tick the box and it's done.

A simple idea, most Hopsices have a lottery running ,payable by direct debit every month, why not donate a few quid every month and if you win, perhaps either buy more tickets, or donate a percentage back to the Hospice as a gift.

[quote=project]A simple idea, most Hopsices have a lottery running ,payable by direct debit every month, why not donate a few quid every month and if you win, perhaps either buy more tickets, or donate a percentage back to the Hospice as a gift.

This is very true and also a very good idea!! Hospices are one of those things that a lot of people don't know about. Support your local one, as you will be lost if it went!!

Great post Phil... for some reason its a bit dusty in our living room right now...

Macmillan and the charity run hospice were epic in looking after my dads last three days...

I feel a yard sale and donation coming on.

+1
Mother died at young age (50's) of bladder cancer.
Do what you can and what you feel comfortable with.

I'm a doc and try to go the extra mile for cancer patients to ensure they get all they need/want/deserve, that's my bit and i guess my responsibility.

...and probably the reason i don't post on singletrackworld much these days, cos i got sick of the "NHS/gp's are shit" brigade on here.

Anyway, thoughts to the people affected by cancer.

We can't fault the help and support for Mrs C, NHS and Macmillan going above and beyond.

For my own experience my Mum's decline was terrifyingle fast, too fast for Macmillan to be able to do much for us really, we were chasing to keep up with her cancer until she died. Marie Curie nurses were though a godsend. They basically sit with the patient over night. Doesn't sound much, but it allows you to get some sleep, they tell you a little bit about what's going on - reassure you if you're worried about something, they were great with fitting into the house/routine, didn't mind the dog coming in and out of the room, were great with my dad. One nurse who was with us also gave me the confidence and info to more to help my mum. That they have to be funded by charity is frankly insane.

That said an uncle of mine fought blood cancer for years and I know they found Macmillan to be of great value.

Re the NHS comment from from the doc above, Our district nurses and care workers were also absolutely bloody outstanding, might not be as good in an urban area, but out in the dales they're great (not sure why i think that but i do). The whole thing together meant we were never more than 2 hrs from a nurse being with us. The NHS isn't perfect, it can be better, but we are very lucky to have it. I also get very annoyed with general anti NHS statements.

I personally suspect Mum waited to go until there were nurses present. Just a gut feeling but the timing seemed more than coincidence, and she would have wanted us not to be scared and to have people there who knew what was going on.

Just to add a slightly different perspective, I am involved with an advice charity and Macmillan provide some funding to us to provide welfare benefits and money advice to cancer patients and their families. As well as the obvious health and emotional impacts, cancer can have significant financial implications for families, for example loss of wages, which can add to the stress of fighting the illness. Accessing appropriate welfare benefits can make life a lot easier for the patient and their family and help them focus their physical and emotional resources on fighting this terrible disease.

I think this far-sighted approach clearly demonstrates the value of Macmillan to cancer patients, their families and their friends!

What a Great post, just reading this waiting to hear how my wife's mastectomy went today. Good work fella! For what it's worth I can't recommend the service offered by Macmillan enough. They are an awesome source of clear and simple information at what can be a pretty overwhelming time.

My sister had thyroid cancer. Followed by eight weeks in the ICU after complications of the surgery. Four months later she is diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic melanoma. She's 44 with four children under 10.

She won the braf lottery and is taking a drug costing £250 per day for a target that wasn't known about 10 years ago. Part of my research involves looking at survival curves for cancer 😥 . There are some true successes, but for other cancers, I'm afraid it's still very early days.

My donations go to the local hospice, but I can't understand why they aren't funded properly. Macmillan have helped her, but local support from knowledgeable friends and family are the mainstay.

Historically, lost a great uncle to cancer and my grandmother to leukaemia 10 years ago this year. My great aunt has had cancer return for the fourth time and my mum and is in remission currently.

Finding people's stories here terrifically moving. Macmillan were great in our experience with my grandmother as was the local hospice.

Thinking of all of you who have gone through this or are going through this now.

Take care,

J

not looking too good for my Dad now, matter of weeks.

My Mum was a macmillan nurse for a large part of her career. I could never really understand how she managed to do it, incredible job to do.

Now she's just recovering from surgery to remove a cancer herself - prognosis is good thankfully/hopefully but it is scary stuff.

Written and rewritten this I don't know how many times, can't really find the right words...

Suffice to say, Macmillan is a great resource but don't forget your local hospices because they do a fine job too. I guess any money any of us gives helps make things just that little bit less awful, somehow.