Hi, my name's Will, I'm 63 years old and I have two brain tumours. Here's me on the 10th June 2020, I have just had my hair cut in preparation for my operation next Monday 15th to remove the larger of my two tumours. After three months of Lockdown it seriously needed cutting anyway.
Probably not my favourite photo and no idea why on earth I look so happy. It is almost a month since I was diagnosed with two brain tumours. I will shorty find out that this is in fact secondary stage 4 Melanoma. (Metastatic Malignant Melanoma in the Brain, to be precise!)
I have been on Steroids since then which seem to bloat me so I guess it's not too bad then. Don't feel great and the bad heads are back but I'm still smiling.
The month has been strange mainly as I struggle to sleep. A good night is four hours if I'm lucky, I am very tired.
On the night when I was diagnosed I made a decision to start a blog, to be fair I made a whole bundle of decisions that night.. In reality I want to track the progress of the treatment, my feelings and interactions with friends and family. I read that I should carefully plan my blog and structure it. To be fair planning and structure are difficult concepts at the moment so I'll just ramble and see how it goes.
This will be an honest reflection of my progress and may not always be a comfortable read but I need it to be accurate without any embellishments.
Being told you have cancer with brain tumours is life changing, things that were important last week do not even register on my radar today. You suddenly have one point of focus and drive, really nothing else matters.
And it really does mess with your head!
So here goes then, My Melanoma Journey
I completed the Macmillan Jurassic Coast Mighty Hike on Sunday 5th September 2021 walking 13 miles along the wonderful Dorset Coast
With the help of my amazing family we have raised £1,232 for Macmillan Cancer and (so far) £2,230 for my friends at Melanoma UK. Thank you to everyone who contributed.
Please feel free to leave comments below or alternatively email me at will@long-shadow.co.uk
Be nice, positive Vibes only please!
Focus on the positives
There are too many negatives in life
Negatives drag you under
Positives raise you up
*Most of the images I have included have been found on various websites. I could not find any copyright details on them
so hopefully I am not in conflict but if there are any issues please contact me and I will remove. Thanks*
Special thanks
Diane Cannon and Gillian Nuttall at Melanoma UK for allowing me to use their graphics and being awesome as well.
My wonderful family, Annette, Siobhan, Aislinn and Mairead, I could not have done this without you.
My Brother Mick for the endless phone calls and just being there when needed
All my cousins and relatives in Ireland, America and the UK, love you all and see you soon!
Friends and work colleagues who have kept in touch with me throughout this and offered endless support, you know who you are. Thanks!
All Melanomamates wherever you are, you wonderful people
Sue, Roger, Michelle and Craig in Folkwits for their unending support and friendship over the past year, you have no idea how much this has meant to me.Thank you
Alison, Brenda, Graham and Nick in Devils Courthouse for your patience and support, I'll be back, promise!
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Amazed at your strength and positivity throughout this rollercoaster of a journey. I can do nothing but admire your toughness - and also what seems to be decent taste in music! Forgive me if it’s somewhere in the text, but what stage was your original melanoma in 2008?
I've gotta say the way you are both handling the cancer and all the crap that you're getting from the 'cures' is literally awesome.
I have so much respect and admiration for you Will, especially as you are still managing to mostly keep your spirits up and push on AND still manage to support Chelsea!! Amazing.
I'm glad I know you Geez. 😁
A note to say thanks for giving me something to connect to, a personal journey, and a view I know. I'm aiming to take a dip in that there water as and when. I had my own short melanoma story which for now is all clear but had 2.5 months of melanoma until surgery caught it all. Thinking of you and sending love and power to support you ahead. Helen XXX
Very proud and impressed with you, as always xxx