Hello everyone,

My name is Keith I am 67 years old and a cancer survivor.  I thought I might write a little about my own experience and how I dealt with it in the hope that it may benefit others.  In 2016 I had some routine bloods taken and the results suggested I had a bleed somewhere. Further tests diagnosed me with early stage stomach Cancer.  It came as a shock initially but as I was a nurse and a Mental Health Councellor in the NHS before retiring this was something I was familiar with. I tend to be a realist and researched everything I could from the Chemotherapy used to details of the surgery and survival rates.  My mindset was that this was survivable and found it helpful by not referring to it as cancer, but as my little squatter.  This was a little trick I picked up in my counselling days. I remember treating a lady with a spider phobia.  We gave it the name of Freddie and in a short time her fear subsided.  My squatter was also evicted and he left no relatives. It is now two years since my surgery and with lifestyle changes made due to the operation recovery continues, and life is good.

If you have any questions about my experiencewhich you think may be beneficial to anyone I would be more than happy to help.

Best wishes

Keith