No need to cover up your feelings

I’VE just had my monthly week of injections, tests, results and next batch of drugs.

Mentally it would be so easy to view all these things as scary, but to me they are all good things as the amazing doctors and nurses do their wonderful stuff on me and keep me going for another month.

That’s another month of family, friends, raising funds for Prostate Cancer UK, work and running. That’s a perfect life, if you ask me.

I understand, though, that most people don’t see trips to the hospital like I do – just like I didn’t when I was first diagnosed. One of my aims when I am in hospital is to smile at everyone, look happy and say thanks to all who work there.

But that’s all changed. Why, you ask? Well it’s all down to face masks. As I said, I don’t find medical places worrying but if you have just been diagnosed with cancer or are waiting for results, the inability to see the doctor’s face and therefore read his or her thoughts can be unnerving. They can’t even put you at ease with a smile – and this can add to the feeling of dread that so many have. All I could do this week on my visit to the Royal Marsden Hospital in London was smile with my eyes and nod at people as I realised just to be acknowledged means a lot to them when they feel alienated by the system, scared and forgotten.

For me this was a good week. My results are amazingly positive again and I am still running every day. But I know I am one of the lucky ones – which is why I make the most of every day.

I do hope you work hard to find a way to make yours and others’ lives better this week, even if it’s just a nod and eye smile. A small action for you could mean the world to someone else. Until next week, Kev