Rebecca Bennett

Story: “I was diagnosed in September 2018 with stage IV bowel* cancer. The doctors suspected I had it for at least a year without previously being diagnosed. I was told if I didn’t have surgery I would be dead within six months. My tumours were very big, and I had aggressive chemotherapy to shrink them before surgery. I then had surgery and more precautionary chemotherapy. I lost all my hair after my first round. Chemotherapy and surgery didn’t scare me: what scared me was having to tell my parents and my two daughters.”

Advice: “Don’t ever ever give up and no matter how hard each day is, give it all you got. Don’t let cancer beat you. But at the same time, don’t push yourself to do more than you feel like doing.”

*In some countries, colorectal cancer is referred to as bowel cancer.