An Open Letter

Dear Cancer

I hope you don’t mind me writing to you like this, but I think after the last 15 months we’ve at least become acquaintances, even if we’ll never be friends. I’d obviously heard about you before we met, I’d heard you had a nasty reputation as a cruel dude, people said you were ruthless and said you were crude. They were correct! I’ll never forget our first meeting, after 52 years of avoiding you, you came round the corner and tried to punch me in the head, not a very pleasant thing to do, I’m sure you’ll agree.

A one to one fight with you was never going to be easy, but you made one simple mistake when you tried to take me on. You didn’t look to see who had my back. My family, old and new friends were all there fighting with me. Some of those friends are big and tough rugby players, others are “Butter wouldn’t melt” ladies, a few have been through what you throw at them and have come out the other side, but they had one thing in common, they were there for me. Ok, I’ll admit it, you got a couple of lucky low punches in during the first few rounds. Towards the end you managed to knock me down, but I still got up before the count of 10 and my family and friends never threw the towel in. That’s why you were never going to beat me this first time.

Now that isn’t to say that the poor buggers that you do beat don’t fight and don’t have amazing support, it’s just that sometimes you can be a real playground bully and you’ll hit people with sucker punches when they least expect it, that’s what bullies do, you’re not brave, you’re a coward. One day, probably not in my lifetime, but one day, someone bigger than you will come along and give you the beating you deserve. You’ll be banished from this earth along with all the other bullies modern medicine has managed to beat. You don’t care who you pick on, the good, the bad and the ugly, they’re all the same to you……. Targets to be eaten, lives to be changed, you don’t care.

This now brings me to the main point of this letter. You’ve beaten someone I’ve come to know and respect over the last six months or so. Lisa fought against you with all her heart, soul and strength, but you just wouldn’t leave her alone, you had to keep coming back for one more bite at her didn’t you? Just like the playground bully that you are. She was one of the bravest people I’ve had the fortune to come across, her writing inspired me to continue my blogs and finish my book. I was lucky enough to have three or four private conversations with her, she was frightened, annoyed and darn right pissed off with you, but her fighting spirit kept her going far longer than you had planned. She will be missed hugely by her close family and her worldwide family. But, and here’s where you’ve made another mistake Mr C. she’ll never be forgotten, and in her memory the fight to banish you will become even stronger. You see what happens each time you have a victory? It makes us stronger and more determined to see the back of you once and for all.

This is a very sad day, but now the Magill family know that Lisa is at peace and away from pain. It’s been heart breaking the past few weeks seeing Lisa and her family in so much pain.

You will not win!

Yours faithfully.

Cancer patients and their families.