Benjamin Evans - Author

Today I’ve been seeing a medical counsellor to talk about what’s happened to me over the last six months. It’s a part of the complimentary therapies that the hospital offers to help cancer patients. I know most of my blogs convey a positive outlook, or make throwaway gags about the cancer experience, but a lot of horrible stuff happens, and that’s where the therapy can help. As a British man I usually have two methods for dealing with trauma - get roaring drunk and pretending nothing happened or repressing militantly and carry on regardless - however, as a modern man-of the-world, I also like to consider other methods. Here’s a guide to the ‘alternative’ therapies that I’ve tried so far. Acupuncture A traditional Chinese technique which uses fine needles to balance the body’s energy flow, helping to provide short-term relief from many symptoms side-effects. What’s it good for? ...

Happy new year from planet cancer. After a couple of weeks of big eating and big partying its back to reality: painful injections, toxic chemotherapy drugs and, worst of all, work! The REALLY good news is that I’m now off the hardcore Oxaliplatin drugs. The bad news is, I still have three months of Capecitabine (pills that you’re not allowed to touch because there so poisonous). Ah well, it might get rid of that New Year’s hangover. Today I want to talk about exercise. Its something that most of us try and do more of in the new year, but also something that many of us find ourselves doing much less of by April. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I’ve made a pledge to run the London Marathon in April, despite all that’s happened, and so I better do some training. Exercise is good for us. It keeps us healthy and stops us getting horrible diseases. Right? I really want to still believe this, but there is nagging voice in the back of my head that tells me otherwise. ‘You spent t...

Seasons greetings from Chemo Ward B. Big news this week. I’m here to have some chemo! White blood cells are back to normal, I haven’t contracted any major infections and the weird line in my armpit looks in good shape. It’s Friday and I’m ready for a chemo party. This week’s blog is a fashion special. I don’t know about you, but when I’m walking around the house feeling like I need to vomit, I want to look good! So here’s a guide to what’s trending in the world of cancer this winter. In Scarves When not in hospital, cancer patients spend most of their time sitting on park benches or wistfully walking along the beach. Having a good scarf is an essential accompaniment to this. It gives a certain intellectual quality - think Sherlock Holmes with a hangover - and it protects our sensitive throats from the wind. I like a nice long woolly number, it looks good and has chemo-chic written all over it. Jumpers Not since Sarah Lund in The Killing have knitted jumpers been at s...

In the hubbub of life, clarity can be a hard thing to find. Cancer is no different. The body is under attack and to deal with this it forces the mind to think some pretty crazy things. Today I want to relate some of the personal dialogues I've experienced over the last few months and the methods that I’ve drawn upon to keep some semblance of normality. Mad thought: ‘You’re never going to feel better, ever again. This is your life now.’ We all have reactions such as this. I spent pretty much entire late teens thinking that splitting up with a girl was the equivalent of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Even now events like losing a job, getting a running injury or not being able to charge my phone prompt a similar end-of-the-world reaction. The truth, of course, is that life isn’t really that profound. As Take That wisely observed – ‘everything changes,’ and it’s like this with chemotherapy. One day you feel terrible, but the next day you don’t and sometimes there’s no rhyme or r...

1. Wake up. Its 7am and its still dark. Weigh up motivations for getting up or staying in bed. Stay in bed for another hour. 2. Take 800 mg of highly toxic cancer medication 3. Check the TV guide over breakfast. The highlight of the day is University Challenge – which doesn’t start for another twelve hours. What am I going to for the rest of the day? 4. Read a book for ten minutes to try and feel productive. Decide its too early. Watch the new Taylor Swift video on You Tube instead, then make a cup of coffee. 5. Spend the morning arranging old holiday photos on Facebook. I used to be so happy and good looking. What’s happened? 6. Eat some toast, then stab myself in the stomach with an immune boosting injection. Regret eating the toast. 7. Spend an hour looking for Christmas films on Netflix, then turn it off and watch a repeat of How I Met Your Mother on Channel 4. 8. Change into running kit. Jog around the kitchen until it stops raining. It doesn’t stop raining, so ...

Hello from Chemo Ward B! Its Friday, I’m in a room with twelve other cancer patients and there’s a nurse in front of me with a box of syringes. We’re all set for a chemo party. Except they aren’t chemo syringes. Due to an excessively low white blood cell count I’ve been prescribed a new set of drugs to boost my immune system. I’ll need to inject myself every day for the next six months, and take an extra week off to allow my body to fully recover. Chemo is strong stuff folks. Alongside the drugs, the nurses also advise me of a list of foods that will help to improve my white blood cell count. And that’s the subject of this week’s blog. Food that’s good for the immune system and food that’s good for people on chemotherapy. One in two of us will experience cancer in our lifetime, so you don’t want to make any faux pas when it comes to serving up dinner. Good foods Chips and Gravy Pop quiz class. How does Chemotherapy work? Its…kind of like radiation right? It fills you w...