Dad was diagnosed with multiple myeloma just 2 weeks ago. Reading this has given me hope that it won’t all be doom and gloom during and after chemo. The uncertainty is the worst part. The big question of prognosis is taboo but at the same time nestled in the back of my head at all times. Shall be making the most of every moment from here on in.

Wish you nothing but the best and a speedy recovery. I shall be showing him this tomorrow in St. Vincents – he could do with seeing someone else’s story as at the moment he’s never seemed more alone.

Having lost my dad to cancer last year, I loved reading Aileen’s tweets today.
Inspirational woman.

Brave lady. Your positive attitude is vital. My mum has had cancer three times and is now 20 years clear. She credits optimism in the face of fear for her survival. You deserve the same result.

An astounding story from an astounding woman, wishing her all the very best.

Aileen, I wish you, and anyone else suffering from this rotten, insidious disease a quick return to full health.

Brave lady and an inspiration to us all.. Keep fighting.

Very inspiring story, read it on the el train home from work in Chicago. Thanks for sharing!

A postive attitude is so reassuring for those who watch on the outside. Having lost my 24 year old I know it was his upbeat attitude and fight to the end that enabled my survival – the hateful disease took him despite the best treatment in the world but his acceptance and living of life to the full has held me together,

Awesome …all the very best and thanks for sharing your journey with us

What an amazingly brave woman and what an unfair dose she’s had. She’s an inspiration

My wife spent the last year fighting cancer. We’ve been very lucky and she’s got the all clear after surgery and chemo and radiation since September of 2011. Cancer is a horrible,horrible shadow which ruins lives and destroys people completely at random. Why after all the billions spent in research and time spent finding out about it do the medical industry know so little and lose so many to it? Any ideas?

I am so touched by the many kind messages of support and encouragement I received on foot of my mini project, #mycancerstory . I felt it was important to share my experience of being afflicted by cancer – first in 1994 when I was diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma and then since November 2011 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was so lucky on the first occasion that I had no treatment setbacks.
This time I’ve had a series of complications, the most serious being diagnosed with secondaries in my liver in June.
It has been such a tough time for me and my family. But we’ve been so fortunate with the love and emotional and practical support we have received from family members, friends and colleagues. People are so, so kind. My family have been truly amazing and I can’t thank them enough for what they have done to support us since my diagnosis.
I have been stunned by what I have come to call the random acts of kindness. One friend deposited a new set of night attire to me in hospital during one of my hospital visits with a little note saying that my husband is probably too busy to be ironing (and he hates it anyway, don’t we all).

Several family members, friends and neighbours have put meals for the freezer and delicious cakes and treats given that the chief baker (me!) is out of commission. I’ve received such lovely flowers, gifts, cards, texts, emails and messages of support. And enough books to keep me going til I’ll well into my 80s!
I have reconnected with so many people, particularly former colleagues from The Sunday Business Post, as well as school and college friends.

I feel extremely lucky that for the second time I am under the care of the truly excellent Professor John Crown and his team in St. Vincent’s . The media focuses on the negative stories about our health services but there is another story to be told: how cancer care in Ireland is truly world class. There are significant advances in treating cancer, with new drugs that attack the cancer directly without the many side effects of the older medications, some of which I was on in 1994.

I am planning to take part in a charity walk in aid of John Crown’s research charity, the Cancer Clinical Research Trust. It takes place next Sunday, 16 September, between Bray and Greystones which is being organised by a group of cancer survivors. It’s called Cliff Walk CCRT and you’ll find them on Facebook or you can contact them directly on cliffwalk12@gmail.com. It’s their project, not mine. All I’m hoping to do is raise a bit of awareness and get more donations.

I’d welcome any donations, however modest. Just log on to a page I’ve set up on MyCharity.ie http://www.mycharity.ie/event/aileen_otooles_event/
And please keep sharing your stories and your experiences through TheJournal.ie as well as Twitter and Facebook.
Many thanks,
Aileen

I am always delighted to hear of someone recovering from this crappy disease, and I really hope that Aileen once again makes a complete recovery and goes on to lead a long and happy life – and wins the lottery as well!

However, and I know this is going to seem like a sour note and I don’t intend it to be, I really, really hate the way cancer and treatment for cancer is spoken of, and I am seeing the usual pattern emerge here in the comments. And I say this as someone who has recovered from cancer (lymphoma).

Dealing with cancer is NOT a fight or a battle or a war. You do not beat it. It is a disease and you are given treatment. You get better or you don’t. To suggest it is some kind of fight is to suggest that those who don’t get better somehow didn’t fight as well as those who do and that is insulting and wrong. I hate it especially when I see someone described as having ‘lost their battle’ with cancer. A horrible disease killed them and they are described, essentially, as losers. Mega insulting.

People receiving treatment for cancer are not brave, they have a crap disease they didn’t ask for which has crap and unpleasant treatments. They have no options or no palatable ones anyway. Even the cowardly have to suck it up. Being brave or cowardly is irrelevant and has no bearing on the outcome.

Attitude has no impact on outcome. To suggest that a positive attitude contributes to your recovery is to suggest that those who don’t recover… well, really, they just were not positive enough, if only they’d been a little more chirpy. Insulting. Of course not constantly moaning about it makes things a lot easier for others around you, so they are very fond of positive attitude.

I realise that people who say these things mean well, and they are numerous. I had to muster every bit of self-restraint in me to prevent myself from slapping them.

reminds of my mothers battle twice with breast cancer came twenty od years apart such strength

Katie
I sooo agree with you, I’ve had cancer and work with cancer patients, know Aileen too, if it were as simple as thinking positive everyone would get better, all that does is make the experience easier to bear. Personally I was terrified but tried to keep it together for my kids who were 12 and 14 at the time, too old to hide it from but young enough to freak them out. Thankfully I’m ok so far, but I meet many patients at work who are on ‘second time round’, and many who have cancer for 20 years or more and are on maintenance treatment. I posted before that there are many different types/forms of cancer and no ‘one size fits all’ treatment, but it’s not always the death sentence it once was. Last rant, when I was sick, hated people, who no doubt meant well, ask me how I was with that pitying ‘thank gods it’s not me’ look, I didn’t want to ignore it, but I didn’t want it to be ‘me’, if u can follow that!!!!!

Aileen, wishing you every success on your journey to recovery. I agree what a year from hell… Lets hope the next year and many years after – are wonderful years of health and happiness. Both of which you so deserve.
Fond Regards Jakki Brannigan x

Wonderful person and inspiring story. Anything I can do to help I will.

A good friend of mine is undergoing cancer treatment at the moment and everything seems to be going good for her. I hope and pray that this nightmare will soon be over for her and her family.

I came across a documentary about Royal Raymond Rife, who supposedly invented a machine which could be used to de-vitalise bacteria and viruses, but also treat some types of cancer which Rife claimed was caused by a virus, in the 1930’s. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X-26MI9gZ0

There’s also a website: http://www.rife.org

After watching the documentary, I strongly believe that a valuable resource for fighting some types of cancer and other illnesses has been suppressed. I wish I had the ability to build one of these machines myself and test it out.

If it didn’t work, then I wouldn’t feel as sick as I do now when I think of all the cancer sufferers over the decades who might have had at least one more glimmer of hope, when they’ve unfortunately been told that the chemotherapy and radium treatments haven’t worked. I hope my friend isn’t one of them.