My partner, John, passed away on 31st May 2015 after over a 3 year battle with prostate cancer. We were introduced to Gini Melesi (Community Cancer Nurse Specialist), who John has aptly named his “Pocket Rocket” in January 2014 after the cancer had spread to the bone and a course of Chemotherapy was prescribed.
This lady is amazing – she never stops! She was always at the end of the phone, text or e-mail. She will pop round to your home to give you advice or take blood prior to appointments; she will come into specialist appointments as an extra set of ears. She was a constant support, not only to John but to me as well. I can safely say that with the support that she has given to us, she made a difficult period of my life a lot easier to cope with.
While I was always there for John to care for him and he will always be part of me, one word of advice that Gini gave me has always stuck in my mind...
This advice was for me not to stop doing the things that I enjoy doing. Now I openly admit that I am no athlete and exercise has not really been part of my life since I left school! But I believe that if you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything. So I have signed up to do the Peterborough Half Marathon in October this year! What's more, I have roped a couple of friends - Craig Pritchard & Lisa Fitzpatrick - into doing it with me. Training has been tough so far but I needed to I have some "me" time! I have also found that I actually enjoy running!! Now I hope John will be looking down at me encouraging us to do well - in his memory.
This I why I want to give something back to the Hunts Community Cancer Network. I don't wish what John has gone through upon anyone, nor would I want anyone to have to experience what I went through, but cancer is so evident in all of our lives and we may all need the help of someone like Gini and the Hunts Community Cancer Network in the future.
