Benjamin Evans - Author

Its been a good week on planet cancer. I've had six days off the chemo drugs, there's been no more trips to A&E and the semenology dept has deemed my sperm as 'satisfactory.' Unfortunately, today its time to get back on the meds. Currently I'm sat in Chilworth Ward of the Royal Surrey hospital, waiting while the nurse prepares a very large bag of platinum-laced liquid to pump into my arm. After a week of feeling good, I'm heading back into the malaise of nausea, lethargy and general physical decay that is chemo life. I'm not looking forward to it. Luckily there's a silver lining. People have invented some pretty cool ways to cope with chemotherapy. In this week's blog I want to take through some of the remedies that I’ve discovered during my first cycle and others that have been suggested to me for the future. Some are more unlikely than others. Crossword puzzles While on chemo I've found myself sat on the sofa watching e...

Its the end of the first cycle of chemotherapy. I've been taking the pills twice a day for two week and had a full dose of platinum stuck in my arm, and its time to give my body a rest. The first few days were pretty rough (and I've already had one false-alarm trip to A & E - in an ambulance!), but other than that everything's been pretty smooth going. The side effects aren't too severe, and although there's a long way to go, so far chemo could be worse. And that’s the subject of today's blog. Why having cancer is not as bad as I thought. Or, dare I say it, why cancer has actually been a positive experience. In no particular order, here's 10 reasons why: I really appreciate being alive. We may not appreciate this very often, but not dying is f#!cking brilliant. I have developed a healthy need for other people. I used to think that being solitary made me strong, but company make me feel way better. All my stupid daily worries have disappeared...

Over the last seven days I’ve been keeping a diary. There are so many things that happen during the pre-chemotherapy period of cancer and keeping a written record was the only way I felt I could get my head round it. In order to get an insight into my exciting life I'd like to share an excerpt with you. Monday Last sperm sample delivered today. Time from phoning cytology to presenting cup was 38 minutes (including coffee break) – a personal record. Having to do this at midday every day is not ideal – kinda ruins motivation for the afternoon. Also feel weird sense of guilt when handing over sample – not sure why. I’m glad this its finished. NB: * Buy ginger beer and jelly for 'clear out' tomorrow. Tuesday Preparation for colonoscopy. Start taking laxatives 10am. They take two hours to start working, then – bloody hell - I can't leave the toilet for more than ten minutes at a time. Its crap not being able to eat solid food, but jelly is a go...

Its been five weeks since I was taken into hospital. My scar is looking less the work of Dr Frankenstein and my energy levels are back to pre-op state. I've been given the all clear to do exercise, to drink alcohol, to go back to work – and my body feels almost back to normal. In a sense, I'm healed. Except, that's not entirely true. Although I recovered well from the extensive bowel surgery, I still have traces of malignant cancer in my system. I feel absolutely fine, but in reality I am seriously ill and need chemotherapy to rectify this. Right now I have a 75% chance that the cancer will never come back. With chemotherapy, this goes up to an 85% chance. If I then work on adding certain foods to my diet – nuts, cheese, yogurt – then this becomes even more likely still. The odds are pretty good – but I should still get the chemo right? Right? Potential Side-effects of Chemo for Bowel Cancer 1) Feeling sick and vomiting 2) Hair loss 3) Diarrhoea 4) ...

It all began with a stomach ache. It was a Thursday morning and I'd woken up early to go for a run. Everything was normal – coffee was brewing, bagels were in the toaster and the sun was rising over the Surrey hills. There was a slight pain in my stomach but I was sure that was nothing to worry about. I put on my trainers and didn't give it a second thought. Caffeine and running would solve everything. Forty-eight hours later and I was in the intensive care unit of the Royal Surrey County Hospital. I'd had major surgery to rectify a perforation in my bowl and was trying to get comfortable in my hospital bed. There were twenty-nine stitches in my stomach, a tube coming out of abdomen and an epidural catheter in my spine. A group of doctors came to talk me through the results of the operation. They told me that they had found something in my bowel that had caused it to perforate. It was a cancerous tumor. There was no explanation as to how this could have h...

A Pedal to Enlightenment It began on the way to Santa Cruz. The wind had been blowing in my face all the way down the Cabrillo Highway and I had seriously underestimated the mileage from Sausalito. I had planned this trip so methodically as well - I had a specific route, with a certain miles-a-day to follow – but now it had all gone out of the window, and I was in trouble. That evening, in my diary, I described my predicament: “Something unusual happened today. I was halfway up a two-mile hill and something came at me that I’d never experienced before. It was at the point where my legs couldn’t go on, where my lungs couldn’t take in any more air and where a grey fog had started to cloud my mind and my eyes. “I squinted up through the haze to try to locate the top of the hill, and saw I still had at least another mile to go until the summit. Another mile! I thought and thought, but nothing could tell me how I was going to do it. All my mind could come up with was ‘Stop’, ‘Tur...

Parkrun To 'parkrun.' To be a 'parkrunner.' This is a new term in the running vernacular in the last five years – one who does not fit in with the conventional image of teenagers sprinting round a track or an overweight man huffing and puffing around the park. Who are they, this new breed of sportsperson? What does it mean to be a 'parkunner?' Where do they fit in the running community? Running in the 21st century is a very individual pursuit. No-one does it to beat other people – they do it to get fit, to relieve stress, to forget about the working day, to get out into nature and to feel alive. Okay sometimes running against other people can help, but this is not really the activity as it now exists. Parkrunners are the modern exemplification of this - they're athletes who don't participate in track and field, they're runners who don't race, they're people who are trying to get fit but will happily meet for a slice of cake at the...