Hello,
I am Laura, I’m 34
Single mum to two small people; Marine ecologist; Ecowarrior; Gentle parent; Breast-feeder; Tie dyer; Wild swimmer; Rainbow enthusiast; Superfood eater.
I am all of these things and could blog about any one of
them, yet the part of me I’m going to write about is ‘Fighter’ because I’ve
just been diagnosed with colorectal cancer and that is unbelievably shit. ‘It’s probably IBS’ and ‘young people don’t
get bowel cancer’ were the two most repeated phrases regarding my bowels over the
past 18 months. Turns out it’s not, and
they do.
As a young woman I worried about breast and cervical cancer and
dutifully went for regular smears and learnt how to check my breasts for signs. I don’t drink too much (most of the time); I eat
healthily (most of the time), exercise regularly (you get the idea) so when I
first noticed blood in my poo, it didn’t even cross my mind that it would be
cancer.
I went to the GP though, because that is what all those
posters (you’ve seen them, right?) on bus shelters tell you to do, and was told
it was most likely Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I was referred
to a gastroenterologist anyway who did blood tests. The bloods didn’t show up any cause for alarm
but a colonoscopy was needed to rule out ulcerative colitis or crohn’s disease. 18 months, a pregnancy, emergency caesarean,
colonoscopy, multiple biopsies and a CT scan later and my gastroenterologist
says, ‘I’m sorry you have bowel cancer. We
are as shocked as you are; people your age very rarely get this type of cancer’.
Yeah no shit, this wasn’t part of the plan.
I didn’t really follow the rest of the conversation… there’s a tumour,
yep; everything is treatable; we are hopeful.
It was pretty hard to process, as all I wanted to know was if I was
going to die or not and that, they couldn’t really answer. Walking from the hospital, I thought I have
two choices here; I can let this drag us down or I can join the fight. I’m
definitely more a fighter!
So, this is just one part of me; my cancer journey, mainly
written in order
to stop myself from going crazy on long waits in hospital but
also hopeful it might make interesting reading for some along the way.
L x
A note on the title; after many suggestions from friends,
‘all you need is a sense of tumour’, ‘C U Next Treatment’, ‘Perfect shitstorm’ to name a few, I decided
‘Cancer, milk & rainbows’ is more suited to me. It may be a little obscure, but milk
represents motherhood and the personal impact this journey will have on my
children. Rainbows, well rainbows because who doesn’t love a rainbow; a symbol
of positivity and a reminder that in order to fully appreciate the good in
life, we need to weather the storm.
your two beatifuls boys will give all the strength that you need to fight this cancer shit! I wish you all the best and after the storm the calm arrives be sure, you will get out stronger through it! I hope you have only rainbows in this journey. Big big hug...xxx🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈😘
ReplyDeleteDear Laura, I wish you the best of luck during this process!, positive thinking is one of the best way to fight any unexpected thing that comes in our way!. A big hug!
ReplyDeleteI had a friend diagnosed with the same cancer and she is a young mum too. They caught it early and several years later, she's still going strong. Best wishes to you on your recovery.
ReplyDeleteHi Laura its Louise (Hudson) from school,gutted to hear of your diagnosis but loving the positivity you are attacking it with.Laura,if you end up needing to have any bowel surgery and there are discussions of a stoma bag then feel free to message me via FB (Cog has my details) I have had an ostomy bag since I was 9 so I am happy to talk literally - shit - with you! Fingers crossed it doesnt come to that and your treatment erradicates this beastly disease from your body.Good luck-I will keep up to date via your blog.Keep up the positivity and strength-you can do this! XXXX
ReplyDeleteHello there! Randomly came across you on instagram i mean this is compelelty random but i coulnt help but feel a type of way about you an ur illness and having 2 kids. Im cancer free but i have kids and i am fully ware of the cancer situation having had 2 family members die from it and this has lead me to my constant researching of the currption an poising in our foods that we eat are sold daily that have so much chemicals in them ina build up it can cause cancer etc. I have 0 idea why cannabis oil isnt backed with money because that right there is the cure! If you are unfimilar with it please check it out ( its what they dont want you to really see) but enough of that my aim here was just to say i cant believe how strong you are and i salute you! I would be in bits im so sure with all that posativity you have you will pull through this, you deserve to! :) take care and honestly look up about cannabis oil cure if you dont know already
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