Cancer Summit 2024

The importance of understanding what’s important to me

Blog by Kirsteen Redmile

Last week I had the privilege of attending and supporting the Lincolnshire Cancer Summit. It was held at the Lincoln Medical School, which grows in stature as a higher education facility every year.

The summit opened with three keynote speakers who very quickly grounded us in the reality of what it’s like to have a diagnosis of and be treated for cancer in this country. The figures are stark; half of the population of the UK will be affected by cancer in some way, and currently, the challenges around early identification, waiting lists and treatment are well known.

However, the personal stories from Dr Liz O'Riordan and Lauren Mahon demonstrated the importance of really understanding what’s important and what matters to people.

Liz was a breast cancer surgeon when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she explained that as a surgeon she had no idea what her patients really needed to understand, the little things in life that make the difference, and who else is out there to help with the hundreds of questions you have when you leave her clinic.   

‘We need to support people to live, not just stay alive’.

‘Lozza’ from the BBC podcast ‘You Me and the Big C’ spoke about the moment she knew she had breast cancer, and it wasn’t when she was told by her Consultant, it was a slip of the tongue from a nurse who told her ‘they only give out the bad news later in the day’, and as the minutes ticked by she was one of the last people sat in the waiting room.

She knew they were only trying to be kind, but the impact was significant on her when she was eventually told.

‘Please be kind, but be honest with me, like telling me microblading my eyebrows before Chemo would be a good idea.’

They both talked about the importance of being part of the decision making process, but needing to know different things and in different ways. Lozza said ‘we get so many balls to juggle and not enough hands and then when you really need the balls there aren’t any there.’

Both these ladies stories will stay with me, their personalised experiences, their honesty, their integrity, their reality is something we need to hold on to, and if you weren’t able to make the Summit all the keynote speakers will be available on the Living With Cancer Website soon.

Thank you for the opportunity to hear what you shared.