Geiger - The cancer survivors club: a collection of inspirational and uplifting survival stories

CHRIS GEIGER won the EDF Energy Columnist of the Year Award in 2011 for his light-hearted newspaper columns raising awareness of cancer and publicising cancer charities. Chris Geiger himself had to endure two years of cancer treatment, which included a number of operations, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant before he was finally in remission. The Cancer Survivors Club is his latest literary project to inspire and encourage everyone touched by cancer.

www.thecancersurvivorsclub.com

A Oneworld Book

This edition first published by Oneworld Publications, 2015
This ebook edition published by Oneworld Publications, 2015

Copyright Chris Geiger 2013, 2015

The moral right of Chris Geiger to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988

All rights reserved
Copyright under Berne Convention
A CIP record for this title is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-1-78074-726-2
ISBN 978-1-78074-727-9 (eBook)

Typesetting and eBook by Tetragon, London

Oneworld Publications
10 Bloomsbury Street
London WC1B 3SR
England

Welcome to the Revised Edition of The Cancer Survivors Club book. This astonishing, crazy and sometimes frustrating journey started as nothing more than a self-published project, as a result of my being diagnosed with cancer many years ago. It soon became one of the best-selling cancer survival books. Id always been convinced that, if I could get this book in the hands of anyone touched by cancer, it would offer them great support, hope and comfort. My only problem was proving that to a publisher. Within just a few months both the response from readers and book sales had exceeded my wildest dreams. Soon I was receiving an almost daily stream of messages from cancer patients saying how it had encouraged them to continue and even start their treatment again, and also from other survivors sending me their courageous and inspiring stories. I soon started travelling the country, meeting patients, giving talks and appearing on regional radio stations. I was also invited to be the keynote speaker at a large European pharmaceutical conference, to talk about my survival from cancer and how data analysis provided by statistical programmers is a vital and overlooked aspect of the fight against serious diseases.

Now, thanks to the incredible generosity and power of Oneworld, who instantly recognized how beneficial this book could be to anyone touched by cancer, it is now available to a much broader audience than I would ever have been able to reach through self-publishing.

My recovery from cancer and the creation of this book are both very similar; I would not have achieved either without help.

Without the medical brilliance of surgeons, doctors and nurses, or the love and support of my parents, Anne and Roger, and my sister Julie, I would not be here now. I will also always be exceptionally grateful to my numerous friends who made me laugh when I wanted to cry and kept me going when I wanted to quit.

I feel equally indebted to the loyal readers of my newspaper columns, who submitted their inspiring survival stories. The task of selecting which stories I included in this first of hopefully many editions was a time-consuming and challenging undertaking. Those who have been selected have won the storytellers equivalent of Willy Wonkas golden ticket. Thats how I think of it, like Willy Wonka inviting people to his chocolate factory; Im privileged to welcome these people to the cancer survivors club. My job of editing and polishing the stories was made more pleasurable with the knowledge that these poignant personal accounts cannot fail to move and encourage all those who read them.

A monumentally big thanks to Diane Mowlam, Paul Anderson and all the staff at Gravity London for their marketing expertise and designing a brilliant book cover for the first edition; Ive no idea how they tolerated my endless barrage of crazy suggestions.

My thanks must also go to Christopher Streets, for taking time out of his busy schedule to write a very nice foreword at such short notice; this means a lot to me.

I owe an extremely special and massive thanks to my terrific and beautiful wife, Catherine. She somehow demonstrated amazing patience, listening to me talk about nothing but this book for months and communicating with the contributors on my behalf. She kept me fed and watered and thankfully discouraged me from calling this book Bums, Boobs and Spicy Noodles. Id have still been writing this now

Obviously, I must thank my two fluffy friends Dempsey and Sweetie, who kept me company in the middle of the night and insisted on sitting on any discarded pages that fell under my desk. Sadly, since the first edition was published, we have had to say goodbye to Sweetie, who is sorely missed.

It also goes without saying that I appreciate the opportunity Oneworld Publications has given me, in propelling this book to the next level.

Lastly, thank you to every survivor who submitted their amazing stories of courage. Im so sorry I was unable to include them all. Thank you to my readers for their incredible support and loyalty. Please keep those tweets and emails coming!

To everyone else reading this book, its not too late to help. If you enjoy or are inspired by these reassuring and sometimes heart-breaking experiences, please do me a small favour and recommend this book.

When I was a medical student, oh so many years ago now, I remember one of my lecturers telling us an amazing fact. During an average lifetime, the bodys immune system will fight and overpower at least one hundred cancers. These abnormal cells are produced as part of our natural cellular repair cycles, yet they are efficiently controlled without our awareness or recourse to medical help. In this respect, we humans are programmed to and indeed are capable of beating cancer. While this mopping-up of cancer cells occurs continuously and subconsciously, unfortunately, all too often, an individual may experience one cancer too many. It is at this point that the conscious survival instinct needs to kick in and, thus, in my mind, all patients with the diagnosis of cancer are survivors.

From the time that I investigate my patients symptoms, relay the diagnosis to them and then plan a potentially gruelling treatment regimen, which may involve chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, they are all fighting for survival. Many will meet this challenge head on, drawing upon both their physical and psychological strengths. I never cease to be impressed by the fortitude and positive attitude of cancer patients towards their diagnosis and treatment. I have a saying that You are only as ill as you feel, and many of my patients eventually enjoy telling me about their recovery. Thankfully, most participate in walking, swimming, running and other physical exercise that places them back among their peers. This activity generates a real sense of purpose and a return to normality.