MACMILLAN SCOTLAND ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Last week I had the honour of giving the closing presentation at the Macmillan Scotland Annual conference in beautiful Edinburgh.

I was fortunate enough to be there for the full day so caught all that was being said.

So much talk and action around supporting people post cancer. As we all know, being cured can be just the first step in recovering from cancer. The effects can often last a lot longer than the treatment.

I’m usually quite excited about speaking at these things but last Monday we took our wee boy to have his 8 week jabs. On day I left he was struggling to move and keep his eyes open. All this is apparently normal but I have to admit I found it heartbreaking seeing him like this.

Both this experience and the conference itself really got me thinking about those who have to care for and support children who are unwell.

I am now in no doubt that it was much harder for my parents than it was for me when I was unwell with cancer as a 7 year old.

I called my mum up after Joseph got his jabs and asked how on Earth they managed to cope seeing me go through operations, treatments and injection after injection.

She said they just had to be strong because there was no other way.
They are amazing.

It still feels so surreal to see them with my baby son. Who would have thought that that they would one day be grandparents after all that they had been through. We are very fortunate indeed.

CHILDHOOD CANCER AWARENESS

Last month was childhood cancer awareness month. I just want to send a big shout out to all the parents and carers out there who are looking after an unwell child.

You are all incredible and I am in complete awe of you all.

If you are caring for an unwell child please talk about it with someone. Don’t bottle it up.
I know first hand that this is not the way to cope.

Seeing the figures released yesterday on World Mental Health day about the rise in mental health issues has shaken me to the bone.
We seem to be in the midst of a terrible epidemic and it is so important that people know that there this is help out there.

The most inspirational thing I’ve done is being open and honest about my challenges with mental health.

Macmillan Cancer Support are one of the many charities who have people on hand to chat about these issues.

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