Singing through cancer

Hello, my name is Anne Dyer, and uh I've been asked to recount my uh treatment for cancer, which now happened seven years ago, 2018. Um, What was my world like before I was diagnosed? Well, I was busy at work. Uh, I worked in a college, a tertiary college for theological students. Uh, I was a lecturer, a librarian, archivist, um

I was busy getting on with all sorts of things from from BA through to PhDs. Uh, my sudden, uh, diagnosis in a sense was sudden, but it was due to a mammogram. Uh, that I went to regularly as normally called every 3 years

And so I went along to the adjustment centre, I think it was, uh, at Doncaster Royal Infirmary. Uh, and that appointment in July 2018 suddenly led to me being called back. It's puzzled, bewildered a little, um

I went back, I think I was on my own. I waited around seeing others in worse circumstances from what I could perceive mine was. But, uh, having had yet another, uh, mammogram, I thought, well, maybe it just didn't work the first time

Um, I was pulled into a diagnostic room suddenly with no explanation, laid down and given a dose of, um, local anaesthetic and then given a biopsy, just like that, without any explanation. I guess what it was, and didn't tell me. Uh, that was a bit

Odd and shocking. Um, could have been done better. In preparation for whatever it was

But uh my initial thoughts for the next question. Uh, our emotions of what the results brought was, yeah, I was startled, um. Shots going to the 2nd appointment, as I said, it was bewildering, nervous

Uh, anybody's going to be like that. Um, another meeting, uh, happened with my daughter and to as well. Um, she came down from Durham and um, She was reassured that it wasn't a genetic inheritable thing

It was a separate sort of breast cancer. I've forgotten offhand what salt, but it was a simple one and in a sense, I had a very light um case of breast cancer. It was all a bit of a rush and I was quite amazed really that NHS managed to rush it into uh within 3 weeks I was in hospital and out again

Uh, the events, well, um, what happened on the journey. A friend took me in that morning, um, 7 o'clock we had to be there. In the morning, uh, I didn't get seen till 6 p

m. later that day. That was the boring part, waiting, waiting, waiting, not eating, not having anything really, um

Without any explanations of really why things were delayed, and then anaesthetist came in to explain that would happen and uh eventually I went into that pre-op room, got the anaesthetic. Unfortunately there was a nurse with me to to sort of keep chatting and keep me occupied. Um, The an anaesthetist wasn't exactly sympathetic, he just got on with his job and got me in

Another conveyor belt effort. So, um, I came out of that, uh, experience, uh, woke up rather weird, uh, feeling as though I was switched off on my right side, my left side, sorry, the operation I was on my right side. Now I'd had a history of hemiplegic migraine, and this, this event had triggered one

So they kept me in overnight and that was the worst night of, I think, almost my life, um, because it was so, so hot and difficult to get through that night, not being able to lie down one way or the other one. Anyway, by morning I could move again, making myself move and um. Got through to the bathroom, got through to a a breakfast, sort of, and my son came and got me

So, um, A while later, they called me back in and said no, they hadn't got everything out because the initial um biopsy had indicated there was about um 1 centimetre 13 millimetres long bit of tumour. Um, What they had got out didn't prove to be cancerous as far as that measurement was concerned, so they presumed they'd left them in. Which wasn't a good start, so we had a separate operation in October, 6th of August, 1st of October, and this was now in work time because, well, it was work time anyway, but at least the first one was within the holidays

And now I was interrupting term time right at the beginning of an academic year, which wasn't helpful. Anyway, um, I got through that one, And again got home and Went back to work um within a week or so anyway. Um, radiotherapy started in November

At at least very late November, I think, through to the 21st of December. And that meant time out of work again during those three weeks because it was very awkward to get into Sheffield and back out to work within the same day. I managed it depending on when the appointments were, but they were haphazard

That wasn't a good thing. Uh, but what was a good thing was Firefly. The charity Firefly was wonderful answer for travelling to and fro Sheffield

Yes, I got a tour of Doncaster at the same time. Um, taking people home because I was one of the last to get off each trip. Uh, what kept me going? Well, I had, um, Christian music in my ears most of the time

That's what kept me focused away from myself, uh, and, and looking to God really as my Christian faith of all my life has proved faithful. God has proved faithful. And indeed the second operation was maybe not necessary as friends had said, because they'd been praying that there wouldn't be anything left to get out and indeed the doctors couldn't find anything much to get out

So, uh, answer to prayer there. And in the event of the radiotherapy, it was Christmas time. So, uh, the music going in my ears uh in my uh from my phone was uh carols of different nature, modern as well as old

So in the actual firefly, um, trips, we would, we'd have carols sometimes, um, keeping people's peer as it were, keeping them positive. Even on the radiotherapy table, they let me have the music going, um, everybody could hear it then because it wasn't available in my ears, had to be out loud, which was fun. Um, But on the 4th day before I finished my um radiotherapy series, uh, my husband had a major stroke

And I hope I was responsible for that because he was worried about me, but um. They moved him into DRI and Firefly again were brilliant. They came and met me at the A&E department so that I could go from there and leave Colin was another friend, um, to cope with A&E and then I went back there

And from the start, the uh the nurses were very good. The nurses treated us uh with sympathy and understanding. Um, They also trained us to do exercises on our arms and shoulders and and um I still sort of do that

It's habit forming. Um if you do something 40 times apparently it makes a habit. So where are we now? Well, uh, it's now 7 years later

But in the meantime, about a year later, I think they had a sort of group therapy invitation to us at the Captain Catherine's base on Tickhill Road. That was good. Um, meeting others in similar or worse conditions, uh, because I was still aching

I was still hurting around my right breast and arm, and apparently that's lymph gland problems. Um. There was not much you could do about it, take a paracetamol, apparently

I think there must be more uh investigations into that and how to cope with that better. Some had it worse than I did, swollen arms, uh, all sorts of things. So, uh, on the whole, the care was good from the Jasmine centre, and they invited us back anytime we were worried and I did go back once or twice, um, to, to

See to something that had got inspected or whatever it was. So, um, I think my whole journey was one that was kept positive by my faith. And uh singing, and listening to songs of praise uh kept me away from pity parties

If I were getting into that sort of a misery zone, I would soon have to remonstrate with myself and get back onto that positive angle. Keeping positive is a big weapon in cancer treatment. Um, did we get any other support? Yes, my, uh, church was a major, uh, friends there as family as well

But, uh, other charities then Firefly have mentioned, they're brilliant, um. The breast cancer uh app was useful occasionally too. We could find out things, better diet, better, um

Understanding of what was going on, I phoned them once or so. Um, so that was useful. I know I'd advocate that for anybody

There's group therapy sessions could have been more often, I think post radiotherapy in the immediate time, not just several months later. Um, how do you make it easy for people to respond to calls for checks like mammograms? Well, I think you have to preempt fear. And cancer has got this, this reputation for a big C, and it's terrifying to some people to think of it

And yet 1 in 2 people apparently now get some form of cancer in their life. And that means that every family in this country, if not the world, are being affected by cancer. Uh, there are different stages and different um levels of intensity of it, uh, different organs, etc

react differently. And understanding of that needs to be made known. Now I'm a researcher by profession, so I had researched it and asked questions

A lot of people don't ask questions. They don't even want to face up to the possibility, and that's the difficulty. So if they're listening to things like my story

Be assured that people do care and do get you through things. The surgeons, the nurses there for you and they will help you get through. Um, GPs too for that matter, should be able to sense when something's necessary to, to uh send you to the Jasmine centre or wherever for treatment

So hearing about people who've got through positively is a good move. Um, that could be done through advertising on TV or on websites, possibly like this one, telling people what's involved, reassuring them that it's not the end of the world. Um, sometimes it does, and how to prepare for that

Macmillan does have a possibility that they did call on me. They did say that do we need any advice, um, on finances, on work, um, allowances and that sort of thing, because not every workplace knows what it should do or shouldn't do regarding a cancer, um, situation. So, um, information, education

Uh, but also testimonies that are positive can help us through. So all together, it's a test of my. Resilience, I guess, um, but with friends and family around me, that worked positively, especially with the church and faith, um, and there is of us in the scriptures that says that we should comfort with the comfort with which we have been comforted

That's in 2 Corinthians 1, and that's what I aim to do in reading this, uh, story to you. Thank you for listening.