Centre volunteer who has been diagnosed w/cancer twice speaks about his experience

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Centre volunteer who has been diagnosed with cancer twice speaks about his experience The Chester Standard

Wirral, England - A volunteer who has been diagnosed with cancer twice has spoken out about his experience and is urging people to support a vital centre.

Glyn Salmon, who volunteers at Maggie's Merseyside, is backing their campaign encouraging people to walk 12,000 steps a day to help them support the one in two people who will get cancer in their lifetime.

Mr Salmon said: “I’ve had cancer twice, the first time I underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Sadly, within two years the cancer returned which cumulated in a series of operations, which left me in chronic pain and with a permanent stoma.

"Of course, going through this process there’s so much TLC from doctors, nurses, consultants, everybody just wants to look after you and guide you through.

"Then you’re sent home and there’s a big void. I’d always been an active man and involved in sport all my life. There I was at home and not being able to share real issues that I had and needed to talk about.

"I felt like having this stoma was like a boil on my face and being in chronic pain and not being able to sit down stopped me from going out. So, I spoke to someone who asked if I’d tried talking to the people at Maggie’s. But I’d never heard of Maggie’s before.

"So I went along to Maggie’s Merseyside and from the moment I walked in I fell in love with the place. I was met with a wonderful smile and welcome.

"Kathy the centre manager sat me down and I felt so at ease, I started sharing my feelings and I just felt I was being listened to and that somebody was understanding what I was going through. Did I cry? Yes I did, Did I laugh? You bet I did. But I left feeling like I’d been adopted by a family that genuinely cared for me and what I was facing.

"They encouraged me to get out, obviously I couldn’t do the things I’d always enjoyed like cycling, so I bought myself a recumbent trike.

"I started building myself up and I eventually fulfilled a lifelong dream by cycling on the trike up the Stelvio Pass in Italy and when I got to the top, I called the team at Maggie’s, they cried tears of joy and I did too. I think the tears were still rolling down my face as I was rolling back down the mountain on my way to the hotel. It was a fabulous and unforgettable moment."

As more people live longer with cancer, charity Maggie’s Merseyside, which helps people in Wirral, Cheshire and North Wales, is seeing an increasing ...

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