Survivor Profile: Bernie's Story

Why she's proud to wear purple and be a member of the organising committee!

“I felt good getting involved in our first Relay as I had done a lot of charity work in the past. I didn't realize though how big it really was until I got involved with the committee and experienced my first Relay last year as joint Survivor Chair. It really blew me away. Here was I getting involved to give something back and send gratitude to my family, friends, doctors, and medical staff but what I got in return was - wow - a real emotional, feel good feeling. It was fantastic to see so many survivors there - around 480 and this year we had 458 registered.

Relay is mainly all about survivors and spreading hope for others going through similar experience. They definitely spread hope - so much so that when I contacted them this year to participate they had no hesitation to join. Those who attended last year but had got a diagnosis since had a positive attitude as they remembered last year’s event. Two ladies who were survivors last year came up to me at the end of the event and said they did not want to go home as they knew they would be so lonely. They had such a good time and made so many friends. This for me was what made me realise that it was a success. The money part takes second place to me and the people take first. I was delighted to hear that those who had gone through such worry and treatment could begin to enjoy themselves again.

The Relay track turns into a field of stories for survivors. They can release all their emotions during the 24 hours. They cry, laugh, enjoy life, think of sad times etc. and this is all part of the healing process. They can tell their stories to others whom they never met before and feel good afterwards.

Seeing people do this and feel good about themselves again, gave me so much satisfaction. As a survivor, I see this is what people need to keep them motivated. They forget their own worries once they step onto the track as they are doing this for others. After all, isn't this what life should be about - helping others?

I am really glad I got involved and it always makes me feel good when I see others feeling good."

Survivor Profile: Gavin's Story

Why he proudly wears purple! 

“In July 1998, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 (of 5) Wilms Tumour. It had spread to my lungs, my stomach and was near my hepatic portal vein. The way I was diagnosed was I broke a tooth eating a bowl of cereal. I somehow managed to bite the spoon instead of the cereal, genius, I know. I went to the local dentist, but was too afraid of him to allow him to remove the tooth. Because of this I was sent to the Bons Hospital in Cork to have it removed. The day ward was full so I was admitted, the plan being that I would be in for a few hours then gone again. The doctor admitting me happened to be an intern, so he asked if he could have the practice of doing a routine check. For those of you who don’t know, my mother is a nurse so she told him work away. During the routine admissions check he found a lump on my left kidney. So they put me under and removed my tooth, with plans to take a look at the kidney after I woke up. I woke up once the general anaesthetic wore off, they did a few tests and then the doctors asked to see my mom

I should say at this stage that I was totally asymptomatic; apart from I used to sweat a bit at night.

I was admitted to St. John’s Ward of Crumlin Hospital along with 5 other kids (ill discuss this later), under DR.O’ Meara, and pretty much straight away I started on chemotherapy for a 9 week stint. I was put on Vincristine, Actinomycin D and Doxorubicin. For those of you who haven’t been on chemo, I think the best way of describing it is like being hit by a truck, while losing weight, vomiting, losing all of your hair, having no energy and at the same time your bones feel like they are on fire. You get sores in your mouth. Constantly trying to stay positive all the while it is destroying your body and this was just the first 9 weeks! To help with the delivery of the chemo a Hickman line, affectionately called “Freddie” was inserted into my chest. Chemo takes hours to deliver into the body, which is fine if you are an adult but children get bored very easily. I can’t remember how many times I read Harry Potter! Chemotherapy has thankfully come a long way since the days of nitrogen mustard and now they can tailor treatment to suit the patient.

My hair started to fall out pretty much straight away, despite all the old tricks that everyone tried like getting me to sleep on a silk pillow etc. I personally liked having no hair, as I had ridiculously crazy curly hair but the nausea is indescribable, and the weight loss was ridiculous. I weighed in at two and a half stone the day of the operation, that’s roughly 38lbs! It was very hard being a kid and watching all my school friends playing rugby, soccer etc. and not being able to join in. I remember clearly the hours and hours that I spent in the hospital, I could probably navigate the ward with my eyes closed at that stage. Thankfully there was a playground and, more importantly as far as I was concerned, a TV in the room.

After 9 weeks of chemo came what is called a nephrectomy, which is when they remove the kidney, in my case the left one. The removal of a major organ like a kidney is not a simple undertaking, but thankfully my operation went quite smoothly but I am left with the long term implications of living with one kidney to this day.  In 2011, I finally got the all clear, and that is when I found out about Relay.  As a cancer survivor it can be quite difficult to come to terms with what happened to me, Relay for Life, I found, was this amazing way of coming to terms with what happened. At Relay you get a chance to celebrate being a survivor, you get a safe quiet place to grieve for those lost and a place to help others reduce their risk of cancer.

Wearing the purple survivors t-shirt is one of the most powerful things I have ever done, and it never gets any less powerful no matter how many times I do it. At Relay you can be a beacon of hope for those who have just been diagnosed, for those who are on a longer journey, and to their family and friends. By wearing the purple t-shirt, and identifying yourself as a survivor, you might help someone to open up about their experiences, maybe for the first time. At Relay, a survivor is anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer, whether 5 minutes or 50 years ago, just as long as they define themselves as a survivor.”

This is just another reason why I Relay. Why will YOU Relay on 20-21 July?

To register as a survivor to join us and walk the first lap of the first ever Survivors' Lap at Relay for Life Kilkenny, contact Joanne Brennan, Survivors' Chair at joanne@homephysio.ie 

TEAM LINE UP!

Relay for Life Kilkenny is pleased to announce that our team line up is getting longer by the day! We've still a whole bunch waiting to be officially registered but WHAT AN INCREDIBLE START TO OUR FIRST RELAY!

Our teams now include:

1. Bridgid's Angels: Team Captain Mary Pierce
2. Bridgid's Angels 2: Team Co-Captain Kate Doyle
3. BBunch: Team Captain Sinead Bradley
4. Walking Warriors: Team Captain Ann O'Connell Kelly
5. Cool Runnings: Team Captain Andrea Byrne
6. Another Bad Idea: Team Captain Eoin Ryan
7. Misfits (Mill FRC): Team Captain Grainne Ryan
8. Loreto Secondary 1: Team Captain Amy Mc Gourty
9. Loreto Secondary 2 Team Captain Aoife Prendregast
10. Loreto Secondary The TY Champs: Team Captain Jenna Sherwin
11. Loreto Secondary The Wibbly Wobbly Wonders: Team Captain Shannon Rowe
12. Team FBD: Team Captain Paula Stapleton
13. Team State Street: Team Captain Mags Whitely
14. Team Ballyraggat: Team Captain Anne O'Shea
15. The Hairy Doctors: Team Captain Nicola Shortall
16. Team Fit4Life Kilkenny - Team Captain Irene Henebry
17. Kilkenny Cheetahs - Team Captain Pat Millay
18. Curves 1: Team Captain Enya Kennedy
19. Curves 2: Team Captain Andrea Ryan

Why I Relay... Joanne Brennan

Our Survivor Chair, Joanne Brennan recently put pen to paper, or rather fingers to keyboard, to tell us why she joined Relay for Life Kilkenny. 

A very touching story about her time at The Christie, ending with: 

"Why do I Relay? Well I Relay to say ‘Thank You’.  Thank You to each and every single person that I have had the privilege to work with and help along their cancer journey for allowing me to join them on their journey and learn so much, experience so much and become not just a better physio, but a better person too!"

Check out the full blog post at Cancer Physio: Thinking and Linking