Regular features

Letter from the Chair

Despite pledging in the summer newsletter that you would not be hearing from me again until Bernard and I were happily trekking our way around the world, Caroline is extremely busy with arrangements for the Ovacome party and so I've taken the opportunity to make this my last 'Letter from the Chair'! I would like to thank both Caroline and Debbie Howells for all the hard work that has gone into organising such a special event to celebrate our first anniversary and Sarah's life and achievements. To mark this occasion a library of information about ovarian cancer has been established at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London and I would like to thank Madeleine Gold for all she has done to make it possible.

Our National Fund-raising Day on 13 September saw events happening all over the country. Do write in and tell us how your day went so that we can review it in the next newsletter. Thank you to everyone who organised or took part in the day. With the production of green ribbons to raise awareness of ovarian cancer, September was a very significant month for Ovacome and all those affected by ovarian cancer. The ribbons are very striking and they are an effective way of bringing public attention to the disease. I would urge you all to buy one and also to sell them amongst your family and friends. To purchase your ribbon, please contact your local Fone Friends co-ordinator. If you can help out by putting a box in a local shop, school, hospital etc please do so. Thank you very much to Robert White, of Envelopes Direct, who has very kindly printed up boxes and posters to promote the ribbons.

The committee has all been working hard over the summer months to put task forces into action and a great deal has been achieved already. Adrian Dickinson has put much time and energy into creating the Ovacome website so those of you who have access to the Internet, do please use it. Finally, I cannot sign off without mentioning how much time and energy Diane Chapman has put into producing her booklet With Complements. I have already had the privilege of proof-reading it and it really is extremely inspiring and I'm sure contains ideas for everyone.

Meanwhile, I hope you all enjoy a restive mellow autumn and I look forward to seeing you in the summer months...

Alexandra Dargie

Letter from the Editor

A bumper issue! We have squeezed as much as is feasible into this newsletter, but we have many articles, letters, and personal accounts that we have had to hold back for future issues. Thank you so much to all those who have contributed this time around. Hopefully we have gone some way to delivering on the suggestions that came out of the membership survey, and we will certainly be focusing our attention on those we have not yet managed to address later on in the year.

We would still like to hear from potential contributors, especially healthcare professionals, people who can offer tips and helpful advice, and people who are willing to undertake book reviews for us (we have a comprehensive list of suggested reading and we would love to hear about other books).

Also enclosed is a Membership Details form. If you haven't already done so, please complete this and return them to me at the Ovacome address (on the back page of the newsletter).

I know that many of you are interested to hear about press articles in which we have featured. Unfortunately, to date we have not been able to keep track of articles appearing across the UK. However, we will in the future be using a press clippings service to provide us with a history of the press coverage received by Ovacome. We will provide you with the dates and titles of publications in each newsletter.

Finally, I would like to thank all those people who have made donations to Ovacome. I have been moved this quarter by the very generous donations we have received and would especially like to mention Lilian Brampton's family and friends, who have given much at a time of great sadness. Our thoughts are with the Brampton family. We appreciate your contributions and hope that we will be putting them to good use over the coming year. Best wishes,

Kerry Ingleton

From our postbag

I have received a very large number of letters, personal stories and poems in the last quarter. I am aware that for some people, putting pen to paper can be a way of dealing with the impact of the disease. Each contribution is merits a place in the newsletter, but unfortunately space is limited, and I therefore apologise to those people who have written, but who do not appear in this issue. As we cover different topics, it may be that those letters are included in the future. However, please do not stop writing in to us, we find your letters a continuing source of inspiration and they help in directing the content of the newsletter towards those issues that will prove most useful and interesting to you.

"I was diagnosed as having ovarian cancer in mid-Spetember 1995. The first prognosis gave me between a fortnight and six months to live. You can imagine that I was delighted to hear that after my first course of six pulses of chemotherapy I might have as long as a year! Since then I have joined the British Biotech Trial for their new drug Marimastat. Added to this I have benefited from the prayers of loyal friends, daily vitamins and the support of Sir Michael Sobell House, the local Hospice in Oxford. During this past two years I have experienced love, peace and joy - so much so that some days, it's hard to 'keep the lid on'!"
Valerie Harris, Oxford

"Congratulations on putting some of the more difficult balls primarily in the membership's court for discussion. I very much agree with Sue Hadley that Ovacome was founded to help people cope with all aspects of ovarian cancer; I also agree that it would be wrong to pressure those who are not ready, or who do not need, to deal with the late stages of the disease, although other people's ways of doing so can be inspiring. We are a very young organisation, and surely could be flexible for a time, until we see what the present and future membership feel is best."
Kim Noble, Somerset

"I am the 'someone' who took issue with the term 'sufferers' (at the AGM). I would like to suggest 'survivors' instead - I feel that's what we do when the odds are stacked against us by the medical profession."
E. Fullick, Sussex

"May I share a few thoughts on the terms cancer 'sufferer' and 'fighter'? I must say, though trying to be very positive about my ovarian cancer, and listening to my body to see what this illness may teach me, I would not have chosen to learn about myself and have my whole life altered by such severe means. So, this illness does cause me to suffer quite a bit. Is there anything wrong in suffering in one's life though? Isn't that part of being a living being? We just need to make sure we can find joy and many other things in our lives too.

I really dislike the term 'fighter' though, as the last thing I want to do is be aggressive to my own body. After all, it's just making mistakes in not recognising cancer cells and eliminating them by its own means. Everyone has cancer cells in them, it seems, and they are only harmful when they get out of control. 'Fighting' them just magnifies their power. Finding a way to balance them out keeps them in their place.

Finally, I think that first and foremost I'm a person, albeit a person with cancer. In my work as a psychotherapist I'm supposed to refer to the people who come to see me as 'patients'. But though they think of themselves as people who do suffer (pati = suffer), I prefer to call them 'people who see me for therapy'. So maybe we could be 'people/women with cancer'?"
Christina Campbell-Thomson, London

Diane - more complements!

In western civilisations, the twentieth century has seen the incidence of all types of cancer rise year by year until the disease now affects an estimated and shocking one in three of the population. We all know someone with cancer yet, despite the hard facts, we instinctively believe it cannot happen to us. When it does, it takes time to marshall one's reserves for the battle to survive. Initially, we are pleased to accept all that modern medicine can offer, particularly when diagnosed in the later stages of the disease, as so often happens with ovarian cancer.

Surgery can and does save lives by removing tumours, or at least de-bulking them, and chemo-therapy and/or radiotherapy can kill off any remaining nodules so that hopefully we can find ourselves in blessed remission. It is at this point that we are thrown back on our own resources.

Sadly, few hospitals have the time or finance to offer advice on how we can best take care of ourselves to maintain the remission granted to us by their medical skills. Being told to go home, enjoy life and keep ourselves fit is a bit like being told to jump back into the pool and swim, only minutes after having been dragged out drowning!

So what can we do to improve our general health, enhance quality of life and gain more than a fighting chance of maintaining remission? The answer is a great deal, and I firmly believe that a complete review of lifestyle and values must be the starting point. The human condition in disease and health is an intricate relationship of mind, body and spirit, and we need to learn to nurture ourselves on all levels of being for optimum health. If you can find a good holistic doctor, he or she will offer invaluable guidance.

However, one thing that I learned very early is that whilst holistic healthcare is concerned with the whole person, most holistic practitioners insist on a review of diet and nutritional supplements as a starting point following surgery and chemotherapy.

Food, glorious food !
Such a view accepts the old maxim 'we are what we eat' and happily it is something we can deal with immediately. On returning home from hospital, we have to feed ourselves so we may as well eat what is best for us. Food has particular significance for cancer patients, for we rely on its quality to enhance and repair the immune system which has been depleted by treatments. In particular, a 'good' diet can cleanse the body by eliminating years of toxic build-up as well as toxins generated by chemo-therapy. Good quality fresh food of the right kind can also stimulate the production of T-lymphocytes which are important in seeking out and destroying rogue cells which remain after treatment. So, it makes sense to take a fresh look at diet as the first step on the road to healing.

All of us, even the apparently 'healthy', are in danger from pesticides and hormones we absorb, the result of intensive food production and the pollution of the very air we breathe. Add to this the dangers of the convenience and fast food culture, with its heavy reliance on refined flour, sugar, additives, salt and saturated fats, and it seems we have a recipe for disaster.

There is a general concensus in holistic care that fresh, whole and unprocessed food is the key to good health: this means spending more time in the kitchen, although cooking need not be elaborate. Changing eating habits is a challenge but should not be stressful. Make whatever changes you need with conviction and try to eat in an atmosphere of relaxation, if possible surrounded by loving friends and family.

The following are the general broad principles we need to adopt to help the body detoxify and rebuild and to stimulate the healing process:

• Eat at least five portions (cupfuls) of fresh fruit and vegetables each day. These ideally should be organic and whenever possible raw, as cooking destroys the living energy of food. Include plenty of salads and lightly steamed greens, e.g. broccoli, sprouts and cabbage.
• Eat unprocessed wholefoods such as brown rice, beans, pulses, wholemeal bread, nuts and seeds. Avoid all preservatives and additives, sugar and white flour, tinned foods and anything smoked, pickled or barbecued.
• People with cancer have difficulty digesting animal protein and the digestive process also robs the body of vital enzymes needed for healing. If becoming a vegan seems too radical a step at first, at least reduce animal protein to around 50 grams (2 oz) a day. The main protein source should be vegetarian, so begin by cutting out red meat and dairy produce. Whilst conventional medicine does not know what causes ovarian cancer, it has been linked to a high fat diet with a reliance on dairy food. It is highest in countries with a high consumption of dairy produce and lowest where other foods are the staple. As a habit, build main meals around vegetables, salads, pulses and sprouted seeds. Substitute soya products for dairy produce. Allow some goat's cheese if you hanker after that wedge of after-dinner cheese.
•  Eat organic, free range eggs sparingly (two per week) and include organic, free-range chicken and fish only two or three times a week as part of a main meal. Remember the 50 grams (2 oz) rule, particularly in the active stages of disease.
• Use only cold pressed olive oil for cooking. Avoid butter, cream and margarine. Try putting flaxseed oil on a jacket potato - it tastes really buttery.
• Avoid black tea, coffee, cocoa and colas, squashes, fizzy drinks and alcohol, as these all contain substances which add stimulants and toxins to the body. Instead, drink plenty of filtered water (at least a litre a day). Try herb teas and home-pressed fruit/vegetable juices which are brim-full of healing enzymes. If possible, fit a reverse osmosis water purifier to your kitchen water system. Although more expensive, distilled systems are even better. Even the 'purest' tap water is not pure enough for the cancer patient whose body is already overloaded with toxins.
• Throw away the salt cellar (cancer patients have an imbalance of potassium and sodium in their bodies and should never use salt), and enhance the flavour of foods with garlic (a wonderful blood purifier), herbs and Japanese miso.

You won't go hungry on this diet and, of course, it is very important to maintain a healthy weight, so eat plenty in the knowledge that every mouthful does you good.

Jane Sen's book Healing Foods is an excellent source of delicious ideas using these principles. Another useful book with good dietary advice for the cancer patient is Ian Gawler's You Can Conquer Cancer (both published by Thorsons).

Anti-cancer foods
As well as following the seven points for a healthy diet, keep an eye on the press for foods which may have anti-cancer properties. These could become standard ingredients in your larder.

Soy, in recent years, has had an excellent press coverage. As well as being a good source of vegetable protein and excellent dairy substitute, it contains the isoflavones genistein and daidzein, which have anti-cancer properties, are antioxidant and support the body against the effects of chemotherapy. However, on the downside, we should not overdose on protein, and soy does contain aluminium which is not so good either. We need to be aware of the possible effects of the present trend to genetic engineering. Moderation, perhaps, as in all things, needs to be our watchword.

Another 'good news' food, without any obvious downside, is flaxseed oil: a rich source of the fatty acids omega 3 and omega 6 which protect the body against cancer activity and also appear to be anti-inflammatory. This is the only fat allowed on the Gerson diet (more about this in a later issue) and the Dutch doctor Johanna Budwig recommended a diet based on flaxseed oil and cottage cheese, and presented cancer cures achieved with this approach. You can find details of this in The Cancer Solution by Dr. R Willner, published by Peltec. It is possible to buy packets of organically grown flax seeds. Ground or whole, these can be sprinkled on cereal. Alternately, flaxseed oil can be bought from good health food shops (make sure it has been stored in a refrigerator). Take one or two tablespoons a day or, as recommended earlier, it is delicious on jacket potatoes. It is not suitable for cooking.

Don't forget to include plenty of garlic in your diet. This is a good source of selenium. It is also an excellent antiseptic when taken internally and generally has powerful healing properties and is claimed to be strongly anti-tumour. It improves the circulation, moves oxygen around the body and is associated with treatment and prevention of high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes. It is best eaten raw, as cooking removes some of its vital properties. Aim to eat at least three, plump, organic garlic cloves a day, added to carrot juice or squeezed over salad and soup. The smell of garlic can be off-putting to those around us and if this is troublesome, chew on a clove or drink peppermint tea - organic of course!

Try also using ginger and tumeric for flavouring foods. Fresh ginger is an excellent treatment for indigestion and nausea. Tumeric, a yellow spice often used in the kitchen as poor man's saffron, is widely used in Ayurvedic medicine for its anti-tumour activity. In cooking, it adds flavour and is a good addition to rice at the cooking stage.

Cider vinegar should also be in your cupboard. It is good when used in a salad dressing and it, too, tones up the immune system and also supports the kidneys.

In Japan reish, maitake and shitake mushroms are officially recognised for the treatment of cancer. They stimulate the immune system and are a tonic for increasing energy levels. Try cooking lightly in extra virgin olive oil with garlic, onions and fresh, grated root ginger. Pile this mixture on top of tumeric- flavoured brown rice and serve with a crisp salad for a delicious and health-giving main meal.

The value of grains and grasses in the diet should not be under-estimated. Sprouting seeds and juicing grasses have long been recognised by vegetarians as excellent ways of boosting our intake of vital nutrients. Alfalfa and barley, in particular, are quickly gaining in popular appeal, although it is interesting to note that neither are new discoveries. The Romans, 6000 years ago, recognised the body-building and stamina-enhancing ability of barley grass, and to the ancient Arabs, alfalfa was known as the 'father of all foods'. Sprouting alfalfa is something we can all do and it costs only coppers. Sprinkle a thin layer of organic alfalfa seeds at the bottom of a sterilised jamjar and fill with water. Leave for about an hour to soften the seeds. Carefully strain off the water leaving the wet seeds in the bottom. Cover the jar with a piece of muslin and secure with an elastic band. Twice a day, thoroughly rinse the seeds with filtered water and re-cover. Within four days you will have a jar full of green shoots bursting with nutrients - vitamins A , B1, B12, B6, B17, D, E and K and minerals, including calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium and zinc, together with chlorophyll, niacin (B3) and folic acid. Use the green sprouts in salads and barley bread sandwiches for a simple food which oxygenates the blood and inhibits the growth of cancer cells. Try sprouting other seeds and pulses as well. Sprouts contain several times the nutritional value of the original food. However, do make sure to thoroughly rinse and drain all seeds, especially the small ones, otherwise they will rot.

Barley grass is almost as easy to sprout at home. Simply soak the seeds in water for 12 hours, rinsing two or three times. Then plant thickly in shallow trays of organic compost. Cover with black polythene and keep in a dark, warm place until the seeds have sprouted. After three or four days, uncover and place the seeds on a bright window sill and keep watered. The grass will be ready to harvest in about a week when it is 4-6 inches high. The juice is very rich so you don't need very much and don't worry if you don't have a juicer. Instead, chew the grass to extract the juice and then discard the stringy fibre which remains. You can do the same with wheat grass, which is an excellent blood purifier.

Healthy drinks
For most of us, having spent a lifetime drinking tea, coffee and chocolate, it is at first difficult to imagine finding substitutes but a good herbalist will be able to open your eyes to many possibilites.

For example, the humble nettle is a much underrated plant. It is both an excellent blood purifier and liver tonic. It also acts as a stimulant for the production of fresh blood cells and is particularly good for correcting iron deficiencies. Drink two to four cups in the course of the day, taking care to sip it slowly. To make it, use one heaped teaspoonful of finely chopped stinging nettles for each cup of tea. Pour on hot water and let the herbs steep for thirty seconds before straining off. Alternately, dried nettles can be purchased from a herbalist or healthfood shop.

Green tea was mentioned in the last issue but in case you missed it, the details are worth repeating. In a recent study, American scientists confirmed it contained chemicals called cathechins. One of these, epigallocathechin-3 gallate (EGCG) is thought both to reduce tumour size and inhibit metastasis by limiting the cancer cells' production of urokinase. This is a key enzyme often produced in high levels by cancer cells. Recent research (Lancet 1997) indicates that green tea is also a very effective antioxidant. However, all tea contains fluoride so again, do be moderate in the amount you drink. Green tea is good either hot or cold.

Yet another herbal tea waiting to be discovered is a blend of detoxification herbs based on burdock root, licorice root, juniper berries, hawthorn berries, pau d'arco, inner bark, cinnamon bark, cardamon pods, cloves, yarrow flowers, elderflowers, orange peel, black peppercorns, fennel seed, prickly ash bark, ginger rhizome, red clover blossoms, rosehips, daisy flowers, hibiscus flowers, nettles and roasted dandelion root - quite a mixture - and two teaspoonsful steeped in water tastes delicious as well as helping to clear toxins out of the body. A good herbalist will be able to prepare this mixture for you.

Another tea to be tried is pau d'arco, also called lapacho. This has a long history as a cancer treatment. Again, consult a qualified hearbalist.

Curative diets
Having assessed your situation, you may decide that this basic dietary lifestyle change isn't radical enough! In which case you should investigate some of the specialist diets designed to cure degenerative diseases. I intend to feature some of these in future issues as there is well documented evidence of the benefits of a radical approach to nutrition.

However, whatever we decide to do, the important thing is that we do it with conviction and stick with it. Don't expect miracles overnight. We do have a choice and we should explore all possibilities before deciding what is right for us in our situation and then we must follow it through.

Bon appetit!

Next issue I will be taking a look at nutritional supplements which will help your body to heal.

Diane

FoneFriends

As summer draws to a close I find it is time for the Autumn newsletter and I wonder where the last three months have gone . . .

NEW ENQUIRIES!
I have been working with Joan Hadden (our Northern Ireland contact) to introduce Ovacome via a mailing to all hospitals, oncology centres and hospices. Anyone new to Ovacome in Northern Ireland, can contact Joan on 01247 852735. Maggy Sams (Area 11) has completed a similar project in the Wolverhampton area and we hope to receive new enquiries through these endeavours. I look forward to expanding this idea across other Fone-Friend areas in the next few months.

MEN ONLY!!
Several members have suggested it would be a great idea to have a telephone network especially for men. We fully agree and we aim to introduce this next quarter.

GOING DUTCH!
On an international note, we have a European contact who would very much like to speak to Ovacome members in the UK. This could spark interesting conversation on types of treatments available in her country. Janet Ahler lives in Holland and can be contacted on 00 31 23 564 3282.

FUNDS!
Mary Bailey (Area 1) came up with a wonderful idea to raise funds and awareness. She holds coffee mornings each Wednesday and afternoon teas each Thursday throughout September and has printed her own publicity material including Ovacome's details to advertise locally. Sue Hadley (Area 8), through the tremendous efforts of her friend Jane Tress, raised an amazing £1,000 by organising sponsored aerobics supported by participants all over Northamptonshire.

AWARENESS!
Marjorie Halewood (Area 14) has an article due to be published in the October issue of Best magazine. Reserve your copy now! The Evening Standard recently interviewed three Fone-Friends for an article on ovarian cancer published during September.

So alongside the telephone calls the summer and start of Autumn have been busy times within the network. If any other Fone-Friends have their own snippets of information that we can include in the next update, please send them for my attention to our address.
Sharon Eastwood

Karen's Column

A Secret Affair

As a Specialist Nurse supporting women of all ages living with a diagnosis of ovarian cancer, I am faced by wider issues which potentially affect them. The issue I cover in this newsletter is the complex area of sexuality. Although this is important to us all, it may be called into question suddenly and sometimes quite dramatically when a woman is living with the effects of ovarian cancer. It is an important area for discussion, but sadly, in my experience, it is often ignored.

Women are not always given time or space to address how their sexuality is affected; they are often too embarrassed to talk about it or bring it to the attention of healthcare professionals, and consequently may suffer in silence. Healthcare professionals, may lack the confidence to initiate this type of conversation. The emphasis is often on cancer and treatments to fight it rather than the overall impact of the disease. Hence the title of this article, which aims to explore some issues surrounding sexuality and encourage reflection on personal experiences. By acknowledging our needs and desires, feeling comfortable and confident in talking about what is important to us, we can hope to promote a more open sexual discussion.

Sexuality is very personal and individual, and every woman is unique in the way she sees herself, how others relate to her, and how she communicates with others. It is tied closely to the concept of body image, self-esteem and self-concept. It reflects an individual's personality and lifestyle, and goes beyond ability to engage in sexual intercourse. What may be important to one woman may not be a priority to another, but in one way or another, our sexuality is important to us alls, it is fundamental to our being and therefore should not be ignored.

Sexual function and body image concerns vary throughout a woman's life and cannot be assumed for any age group. This is the same with a cancer diagnosis: no matter what age or stage of disease, a woman may have anxieties and perceptions that affect her sexuality and how she feels about it, and acknowledgement of this is an important first step towards dealing with it.

It may be affected by changes in appearance, mental state, personal and social factors. The often sudden onset of physical changes such as abdominal swelling, in addition to the unexpected diagnosis of ovarian cancer, the disease process, treatments such as chemotherapy and surgery, and consequently time spent in hospital, mean that the total impact of living with the long-term effects of this disease can cause unexpected changes to a woman's sexuality. Along with the fears associated with a diagnosis of cancer, women often experience the trauma of confronting threats to fertility, a premature menopause, hair loss, weight loss, abdominal surgical scar or Hickman line insertion. Any of these can potentially alter how women perceive their bodies or feel about themselves. For some this can be as much of a shock, and as painful as the cancer diagnosis itself, and can impact on their individual sexual needs and desires. A person does not cease to be sexual or to have fundamental needs because of illness, even when that illness is cancer! Sometimes these needs and desires are enhanced, and even if they can't be fulfilled, acknowledgement of this may be important. The need for touch, closeness, intimacy and reassurance may be more important than the need or desire for sexual intercourse. Sexuality is much more than a physical act. Partner, friends or family support can be invaluable, and we cannot underestimate the impact their reactions can have. Although this is often very positive, unfortunately lack of understanding or support from those close to us can only add to any negative feelings around sexuality and body image. Women may fear rejection, and isolation.

There are often misconceptions caused by inaccurate information and myths surrounding cancer, and the fact that sexuality is sometimes ignored may add to this anxiety, fear and sometimes an unnecessary sense of guilt. It is important that women with ovarian cancer have access to both support and accurate factual information from the onset to enable them to confront their sexuality and body image before the treatment starts. For example, the issue of total body hair loss, caused by some types of chemotherapy, should be discussed, and ongoing support and practical help in arranging wigs, advice on hats, scarves and turbans, as well as general reassurance may help the woman feel more in control. Massage, touch, relaxation techniques, make-overs and counselling all have a role to play enhancing sexual awareness, and their value should not be underestimated. They may raise self-esteem, put the woman back in touch with her body, and improve general well-being.

I hope this article has enabled all of us to reflect on our sexual needs and desires, and the importance that they have, raising awareness of the need to address actual or potential changes, if possible before they occur.
Karen Summerville

Poems

Around the corner

Around the corner I have a friend, in this great city that has no end,
Yet days go by and weeks rush on, and before I know it, a year is gone.
And I never see my old friend's face, for life is swift and a terrible race.
He knows I like him just as well
As in the days when I rang his bell, and he rang mine.
If, we were younger then, and now we are busy tired men,
Tired of playing a foolish game, tired of trying to make a name.
"Tomorrow," I say "I will call on Jim
Just to show that I'm thinking of him."
But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,
And distance between us grows and grows.
Around the corner, yet miles away.
"Here's a telegram, sir, Jim died today."
And that's what we get and deserve in the end.
Around the corner a vanished friend.
Henson Towne

Precious thoughts

I may never see tomorrow, there is no written guarantee.
The things that happened yesterday, belong to history.
I can't predict the future, I cannot change the past,
I have just this present moment, I must treat it as my last.
I will use this moment wisely, for it soon will pass away:
It will be lost to me for ever as part of yesterday.
I will exercise compassion, help the fallen to their feet,
Be a friend unto the friendless, make an empty life complete.
The unkind thing I do today may never be undone
And friendships that I fail to win could never more be won.
I may not have another chance on bended knee to pray,
To thank you God with humble heart for giving me this day.
Sent in by Mary Bailey, Blackpool. Written by her daughter Linda

On learning about cancer

The knell has sounded.
What is there left for me but to lay down and die?
But stop a while, who is it says it is my time now?
It is not me, and I am not ready to lie down.
Let my hopes not rest only in cures yet unrefined.
Let my cure lie within me, here inside my mind.
I'll be the one that says when I am done!
Though a silent killer may stalk me,
Each day from now is my entitlement to be fulfilled.
And, should my body finally fail my spirit,
Let my bequest not be sorrow, but joy for my life.
Nigel Birket