Tag: cancer

Blog, Humour In Hospital

My Huge Clock. Humour in Hospital #4

  Before you get all worked up, re-read the title.  As it is Christmas today, I thought I’d share the best gift I’d ever gotten.    You see, in hospital, while getting my treatment (i.e. chemotherapy and radiation), I’d often wake up with intense pain or nausea, often finding myself drenched in sweat. And every time that happened, I got scared.     But the worst thing about that was that I’d wake up in the middle of night and not know whether I’d had 5 hours or 5 minutes of sleep… not know whether the doctors or blood collectors […]

Blog

Is the Flu Vaccine Killing Tumor Cells Real, or just Hype? How Excited Should We Be? Tumor Vaccine Researcher Weighs In.

So you guys may have seen this in your news feed recently, and I thought I’d give my $0.02 on it as a tumor vaccine researcher. It’s pretty exciting stuff, always, to see innovations occurring but this kind of thing is something we’ve known and been doing or decades. There are several ways in which tumor vaccines work. The difference between them and traditional, preventative vaccines are that tumor vaccines are usually THERAPEUTIC. They basically try and create specifically targeted immune cells that target your cancers through using proteins, or bits of DNA or even just killing off whole tumor […]

Inspiration/Motivation/Help

It’s been a while… But I’ve been working hard.

So it’s been a while since I posted something here. A LONG while. Sorry to all of you! So where have I been? What have I been up to? Well, I’ve been working hard. Promise. I’ve nearly finished my research degree – the one I decided to complete while I waited for my immune system to strengthen, so I could do medicine again. Hopefully I’ll get some publications and formally contribute to science and human development!    But I’ve also been busy on this startup. One I think could make a huge difference, and hopefully, save many lives.  So, what […]

Inspiration/Motivation/Help

Cancer For A THIRD Time. When Will It Learn, IT CAN’T MESS WITH ME!

So… what’s been going on you ask? What’s with that chemo drug you were talking about on Facebook? I thought you said it wasn’t for cancer… and now you posted this? Well, let me explain. Recently I started a “chemotherapy” drug, but not for cancer. It’s called rituximab  – and it’s not only in brackets because it’s technically, in my case, not a chemotherapy, as it’s not “A chemical agent used in the treatment of cancers” (it was given for another condition I have – a side effect of my bone marrow transplant; chronic graft versus host disease. I’ll explain […]

Inspiration/Motivation/Help

How to build self confidence and become the happiest version of yourself!

I was diagnosed with leukemia at 17 and given a 10, maybe 20 percent, chance of living. And I was devastated… as any human being would be. But after a while I started to dislike that feeling. The constant depression. The tears. The gut-clenching dread. I wanted this to all be over. I wanted a way out of the hole that I’d found myself in. But with chemotherapy, uncertainty, and probable death in my future, there wasn’t much to really look forward to. In the end, what ended up helping me most wasn’t this spark of inspiration or willpower or bravery after watching some […]

Blog, Humour In Hospital

You won’t believe what my friends got me before chemo… Boys will be Boys. Humour in Hospital #7

 Last post:                                     My Story:                                         Next One Last #HIH:  Next #HIH: Chemo was about to start.    At this stage I was ready. I’d taken a step back from the depression and shock of diagnosis. I’d questioned all my doubts and fears and was now focusing on being as healthy and as happy as possible. The only things I could control.   I’d locked myself up in my […]

Blog, Inspiration/Motivation/Help

Stereotyping Cancer Survivors. I’m not brave, strong or blessed for beating cancer. It’s unfair to expect us to act like we’re brave blessed or strong for beating cancer.

Last post:                                     My Story:                                         Next One https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vufl4rfmPgo&list=UUAKTrVV6OAUq1O1odxC1Bfw < A talk I gave recently on this topic: Recently on Facebook, a few pages dedicated to cancer awareness asked patients to describe themselves and how they feel in one word.  Here’s an example.        I liked how positive people’s responses were. I like how these pages are getting groups of people in tough times together. I loved […]

Blog, Inspiration/Motivation/Help

My Story.

Next Post: “The good news is you’re 17 and you have leukemia, but the bad news is… you’re 17 and you have leukemia.” I’d sorta known it was coming. It had been months since I’d felt right. I’d come home from school and sleep ’til eight. I was off my food. I’d been getting weaker and weaker, losing my strength and speed week by week despite training almost 2 hours a day. I’d put it down to exams and stress. But damn… it was far from that. Now what? All my – and my parents’ – last hopes had extinguished […]