A CANCER sufferer who has written a book telling health professionals how it feels to live with the disease is hoping hospitals across the country will follow Blackburn's lead and buy copies to give to their staff.

A Patient's Perspective on Cancer is the follow-up to Margaret Seed's first book, A Patient's Thoughts, which raised £4,000 for research into cancer cures. Now Margaret is hoping the second book, aimed at health workers dealing with cancer patients, will eventually be distributed to hospitals across Britain.

Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley NHS trust has already bought 500 copies for staff at Blackburn Royal Infirmary, where Margaret herself was treated for breast cancer in 1993.

Manchester University has also bought 50 copies to use for training. Margaret, of Glendale Drive, Mellor, now wants other health trusts to follow Blackburn's lead and buy it for their staff. She was approached to write the book, after giving talks to health staff about her experiences.

She said: "Unless people are told and people have it explained, how are they going to know what it's like? You cannot know until you have been there."