Cancer Story - Raymond
Raymond joined the Maggie’s Centre’s annual fundraiser “Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centre & Legend Charity Foundation presents –The Fayre of St. John’s 2019”, sharing his story with over 350 attendees.
My name is Raymond. I was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2011. I felt I was fortunate because I knew cancer could be much worse. At least I only had to take the surgery but not the chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments 8 years ago. After recovering, I was desperate to put my body back in shape. There and then I came to know the name: Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centre and decided to pay a visit.
As I recalled, Maggie’s Centre, in short, was just an iron cabin at that time. The Centre was small, but to my surprise it was very homely inside, and the cancer care services provided there were quite comprehensive. Therefore, I decided to take up a number of the programmes such as music therapy group, Tai Chi, Qigong, meditation and a support group for men. I felt very fortunate to be able to use the Centre which helped a lot in my cancer rehabilitation. I was also keen to use my own experience to help other new Centre visitors. That’s why I took up the Befriender Training Course and later became a befriender and a frequent visitor of the Centre.
The permanent Centre of Maggie’s was established in 2013. My role as a befriender became a much larger committment as I noticed more and more visitors coming to the Centre. In 2017, it came as a shock to me that I was stricken again with another disease, namely prostate cancer, stage 4; and the cancer has already spread to my bones. Although I have always been an optimistic person and not that afraid of difficulties, it was still so tough to take the physical suffering and many cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and other medications. The treatment side effects made the pain in my body so intense that sometimes I couldn’t even get out of my bed. To my greatest surprise, I was told by my doctor that there was currently not any available targeted therapy suitable to my case.
The treatment process has been long and is still going on. Maggie’s Centre is always my best support! It gives me the motivation to move ahead and do something regardless of the physical discomfort. It provides me with a soothing environment to take part in various activities as ‘normal’, or just to enjoy a cup of tea in a healing space. When I feel weak or have any doubts about my body and treatment, I can talk with the oncology nurses there immediately to get right and practical information. When I have appetite or weight concerns, I can join a nutrition workshop or see the Centre dietitian for professional consultation. I’ve joined their music therapy programme. I could temporarily forget the pain I suffered while playing musical instruments with the guidance of the music therapist and sharing my feelings with others at the same time. Whenever I am down, or sometimes feeling lost, the support from a social worker or psychologist would help relieve my stress. I could also meet with a lot of fellow patients who shared similar situations with me, and we become friends gradually and support each other during difficult times. When I was hospitalised, they even came to visit me with a bowl of soup every day. Although my daughter cares about me very much, she lives far away and cannot support me as much as she wants. Maggie’s Centre is really my second home which makes me feel safe, warm and that I belong.
The look of the original, temporary Centre is very different from the permanent one, but what remains unchanged is the loving heart of the friendly staff members who continue to devote themselves in serving us – not just in developing quality programmes to meet our needs, but also in raising funds and soliciting donors like every one of you to keep Maggie’s door opened for anyone affected by cancer. I am very grateful for this opportunity to show my gratitude to Maggie’s Centre and I am sure your generosity will help the Centre cheer up many more sad faces and rewrite their cancer experiences.