Teacher who beat cancer '˜never felt like he would die'
Jason Bottomley, 45, from Cleveleys, went to the World Cafe Listening Event, held at the Hilton hotel on the Promenade to help improve cancer services on the Fylde coast.
He said: “I had a very good experience of treatment, so I wanted to put over something positive at the event.
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Hide Ad“It was good to hear what other people thought. I think it’s important to remain positive when you have cancer.
“I have been lucky because it was curable. Everything has been good for me.
“I found a lump. The next day I went to the doctors and was sent for scans.
“I was told I had testicular cancer. On the second week my tumour was removed. It came back in my stomach.
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Hide Ad“I never felt very ill or that I was going to die – even when it came back.”
Jez Such, Macmillan development manager for Lancashire, added: “It’s fantastic we had this opportunity to engage with people affected by cancer, and to make sure what they say is at the heart of our attempts to improve cancer services.”
Three key issues were identified during the event, which followed a similar one last September: Information and support, having someone to talk to, and money.
A ‘service user information officer’ will be funded by Macmillan, a cancer charity, and work at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, to seek patients’ views and help to develop services, it was also revealed.