Why We Do What We Do: Michael, Claire and family
What followed was a journey of family, fundraising and seeking positivity during what Michael and Claire modestly call ‘a tough time’
This story has been told to us by Michael and Claire; it is their very personal experience of cancer and highlights the importance of why we do what we do and why it is vital that we continue to fund and support the cancer research and clinical trials that can change lives.
It all started back in 2012 when a mole on Michael’s belly was diagnosed as a melanoma and removed.
What followed was a journey of family, fundraising and seeking positivity during what Michael and Claire modestly call ‘a tough time’.
In 2015, further melanomas were found and removed along with the surrounding lymph nodes.
In 2018, a lump the size of a tennis ball formed on Michael’s back, alongside others near his heart and on his belly.
His consultant, Dr Guy Faust offered the choice between a trial at the Hope Cancer Trials Centre or standard NHS care. The trial came with the caveat that Michael could always return to standard care if he wished.
The trial involved tablets and bi-monthly immunotherapy.
Within a month all the lumps had begun to shrink and after a year they had all disappeared.
Treatment continued nevertheless, becoming a routine part of life.
Michael is a coach driver and, like many people with cancer, he did not want to give up work. He wanted life to remain as ordinary and as distractingly hectic as a family, friends, work and everything else can make it.
Michael and Claire have two children and have always made the conscious effort to be open and honest with them.
Michael’s diagnosis was no different.
Their youngest, Emma, who was 12 at the time, immediately announced she would bake cakes to raise money for Hope Against Cancer.
Together they set up a JustGiving page with the aim of raising £500.
Emma hit her target by the first weekend!
Through coffee mornings, raffles and, of course, the delicious cakes Emma was baking, she ended up raising over £8500 and deservingly won a Young Volunteer of the Year award!
Their son, Alex, who was seventeen, joined in on the fundraising and took part in a sponsored abseil.
Michael and Claire told us that the fundraising brought something truly positive into their lives.
It occupied them and brought in the extended family too.
Michael said that he tried to remain positive throughout, “you have to be, or at least switch off from it”.
His treatment continued until February 2020 when it was disrupted by COVID.
While Michael has had no further treatment for five years now, he continues to have yearly scans. The cancer has not returned.
Each scan brings nervousness nonetheless and, every time, it is Dr Faust who calls with the results. This isn’t just a brief relay of facts. Dr Faust takes the time to chat with them, and the family really appreciates this personal touch.
They said the same about the Hope Cancer Trials Centre, and Michael’s nurse, Theresa who took the time to get to know them on a personal level.
Michael told us that the Hope Centre treats you as a person and not an illness.
Both he and Claire emphasised just how important Hope Against Cancer is for local people, and that more people should know about it…
So please, if you’re reading this – please tell your friends and family about HOPE.
Hope Against Cancer is extremely grateful to Michael and Claire for speaking to us about their experience with cancer. Such stories really bring home the importance of working towards improved treatments and helping more people to overcome cancer.
If you would like to help us continue to support local cancer research and care the benefits local people, please click here to donate
John Nellis
Content and Communications Officer, Hope Against Cancer
