I had in invite in the post a while back to attend a meeting regarding a prospective colorectal support group at Lewisham Hospital.
I arrived late..as usual and on arrival was presented with a hall of about 50 or so people sitting around tables and for all the world i thought i had stepped into a bingo hall....everyone seemed so much older than me and i am 49!
I guess it was a reminder that it does generally affect older people but i really was surprised to feel so out of place.
There was one guy i reckon in his 60's who was sat apart from everyone else at the tables, thought i would join him as no one had looked up to welcome me into their midst.
This guy was a maverick he proudly explained that he had been asked to join the group but he said no he didn't like ice breakers he just wanted to get to the point of why we were there please and thankyou very much.
It interests me when you come across people who have already set their agenda he wasn't going to participate he didn't want to set the rules he wanted them given to him. He had beaten bowel cancer and said that to him it was just about having something wrong and cutting it out and carrying on. What was all this retisence to use the word cancer you just got rid of it and continued on with your life.
It's a good approach to have if you do indeed sut it all away but as we talked and he learnt of my diagnosis he did seem to soften, i wonder whether he had considered when cancer is scary and doesn't just mean getting rid of.
We all have our soap boxes and those beliefs that we have see us through i am sure he continues to espouse the idea that cancer isn't a scary word but i also think for a while he considered it could be.
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