Celebrate Your Cancerversary! Tom's Story Artwork

Cancer Twins

Welcome to the Cancer Twins channel where we discuss all things about living with and beating cancer from our own personal perspectives. This is about taking the good with the bad and discussing what it’s really like to both live with - and also have a close family living with - cancer treatment. We talk about what it’s like, both from a physical and emotion point of view. We hope talking about our own experiences is as helpful for others to hear as it is for us to discuss. Sharing is caring! We are siblings that find ourselves in the unusual situation of both having developed cancer at a young age. Gregory is a young adult that has beaten cancer. He was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma when he was a teenager, a rare and aggressive variety that usually effects young boys. Charlotte, now in her mid-thirties, had just got married when she recently discovered she has breast cancer - very unusual for a woman of her age. She now faces the tough journey that she had to live through with her brother. Now with their roles reversed, they discuss their journeys with a frank but positive outlook in the hope that talking about these tough subjects will make it easier for others to discuss, understand and accept. *Content warning. This channel deals with difficult and adult subject matters related to the reality of living with cancer and is not suitable for all audiences. It also includes the occasional swear word, so is not suitable for younger children or those that are offended by bad language. Although the subject matter can be upsetting, the outlooks of the participants remain entirely positive!

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Cancer Twins

Celebrate Your Cancerversary! Tom's Story

December 07, 2022 • Charlotte & Greg • Season 2 • Episode 10

In this episode Charlotte & Greg talk to Tom, who had just started University when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system.

Thankfully, his prognosis was good and after chemotherapy and radiotherapy he went into remission.

However, being diagnosed with cancer at a young age had such a profound influence on his life, it lead him to a career in medicine.

At first, he thought he would become an oncologist, but later realised that psychiatry was the right path for him.

This is very apt because Tom certainly felt that the cancer had a far more major impact on his mental welfare than his physical one.

Something Tom wishes that he knew when he was going through it was that he was not alone. He did not discover there was so much great charity support for cancer sufferers, especially younger patients, until much later.

He would encourage others to get involved with the Teenage Caner Trust. In particular, Macmillan Cancer Support has been of major assistance in helping him deal with the late and phycological affects of surviving cancer.

Tom also attended cognitive behavioural therapy through his local GP and would encourage anyone who is struggling with their mental health to seek help as soon as possible. 1 in 4 of us suffer from some form of mental illness in our lives but it is very treatable.

Many years on, Tom now likes to celebrate every year he is cancer free and calls this his cancerversary. He’d encourage others to do the same!

If you or someone you know is suffering from mental health issues caused by cancer please contact:
https://www.macmillan.org.uk

https://www.teenagecancertrust.org

https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/talking-therapies-medicine-treatments/talking-therapies-and-counselling/cognitive-behavioural-therapy-cbt/overview

People on this episode

Charlotte

Host

Greg

Co-host