ABOUT ME
I was born at Nether Edge hospital in Sheffield on January 8th 1973. I am very proud to be born in Sheffield. I grew up there until I was about 27 and my dad still lives there, and he is a fantastic father. Dronfield has a big, positive impact on me and my life. I was christened there, I went to the cubs there, my granny lived there, my wife's mum was born metres away from the golf course I used to play as a kid, Hallowes. My "LIFE" spun into a very positive place months ago when I literally bumped into my closest ex girlfriend's parents in a Dronfield supermarket , for the first time in about 20 years!!! Dronfield's brain impact, massively beautiful.
10/9/17 was a "LIFE" change moment for me. I was diagnosed with a Brain Tumour cancer following an MRI scan, operated 13/9/17. I asked a Dr, prior to surgery ( who I'm trying to find, and say "hello, remember me?" ) how long have I got left in "LIFE"? He said "2 years...." ok, interesting....... why am I still here Mr clever Dr? I had an email on Saturday from the actual surgeon who operated on me, and has touched my brain. That was a massive positive situation for me.
So, what is my focus now I'm alive? I have an 11 yr old daughter and an 8yr old boy. Thankfully, I've reached a point where my GBM4 is reality which helps me smile. My 2:1 psychology degree is helping me understand my "LIFE", lockdown, school, homework and most importantly "is it fish fingers for T?".!!
I was told I shouldn't be alive. Cool, next step in my "LIFE"? Support, hope., talking, alternative treatments, links, and connections are incredibly important. I feel very lucky to still be alive. Yes, I live with my children and "separated wife" with a smile on my face. I've got no choice. I'm changing my house a little bit to help my brain work out a better "LIFE" for me and other GBM4 patients. We are all UNIQUE. I'm not that clever but I heard we only use 10% of our brain capacity, interesting.
So my life, experience and relevant GBM4 topics are what I need to talk to people about. Communication is the most important thing in my life now, why? I received this email recently :
"Dear Chris
Thank you so much for your email. It is lovely to hear from you. So please you are doing so well.
I will indeed endeavour to find out which registrar it was!
I hope you had a good Christmas and New Year,
Best wishes
Dr”
This is Neuro Dr now lives in Australia and it hit me with some very positive exchange of emails. My surgeon, IS THE only person in THE WORLD who has used his fingers and touched my brain, WOW!! I feel amazing because I feel incredibly lucky to know the people I know, which is why I need to talk to people. I need people to enter my brain (imagination...) and try and work out their "LIFE" compared to my brain and future thoughts.
Connections are very important for me. About 10 metres away from my house, across the road, is a Consultant Endocrinologist. I went to Germany and met a scientist to discuss a medicine regime on top of Royal Marsden, apparently one of the best hospitals in the world. I'm a lucky bugger! We had cycled together a lot over the years but on 10/9/17 my neighbour buddy knew something was wrong when we cycled. I am now connected to some amazing cancer, brain, psychology "LIFE" amazing people. We only get one "LIFE". How do we know what's right? What's good? GBM4ers, please try and find what makes you happy, makes you smile, have you got enough psychological support? Are you eating good food? Number 1 message, from me to any cancer patient would be : DO NOT... EVER, EVER, EVER ASK ANYONE ABOUT TIME....... no one, will ever know the exact TIME, so move on, try and squeeze enjoyment out of every day. Next............".
So, my website is for people to look at, and maybe get something from it to think about. My journey since 10/9/17 is different to everyone else's. For me, that's why communication is so important, because there is no one answer to any given illness and people need to form powerful personal connections as soon as possible. This is tricky, which is why I am personally amazed I'm still here.
I write notes daily in A4 note books, I'm on book number 10, and have plenty of thoughts, emotions, stresses, feelings and would be happy to throw positivity at the right people.
