INSIGHT on survivor's booklet for others

CANCER, which last week claimed the life of pop icon Dusty Springfield, will strike down one in three people.

The fight against the "big C" continues unabated and last week the Government announced a bowel cancer screening programme for men and women.

Millions of TV viewers have also been rocked by a storyline in Eastenders where Peggy Mitchell, played by Barbara Windsor, who has already been struck down by breast cancer, finds another lump.

But one East Lancashire woman is living proof that a positive attitude and a fighting spirit can have a galvanising effect. Now, in a bid to inspire others, she has written a booklet about her experiences which she is sending out to health centres and hospitals. She spoke to Chief Reporter JASON HEAVEY. IN 1995 Margaret Seed was told she could have just two years to live.

The hammer blow came after she had been diagnosed with secondary cancers of the bone and neck glands. It was a bitter blow to the energetic mum who was making a good recovery from the initial shock of contracting breast cancer in 1993.

Last year, as she continued to defy her medics, she was knocked off the road to recovery after doctors found a tumour on her bowel.

Amazingly, the latest cancer was totally unrelated to what she had endured before.

But today, four years after doctors gave her the gloomy prognosis, Margaret is alive and kicking.

Not only that, but she has thrown herself into a welter of fund-raising activity and has written a booklet about her own thoughts on coping with cancer.

Margaret, 47, has learned to live with regular trips to the Christie Hospital, Manchester, and Blackburn Infirmary for surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

She is currently in remission and in her own words "doesn't know which way it will go."

Margaret, who had to give up her job as a medical secretary in 1995, has had overwhelming support from her husband Bob, 50 and son Chris, 23.

But she is aware that others are not so lucky and she is hoping that by sharing her thoughts in her booklet she will provide some vital support.

In it, she writes...

"Being told you have got cancer is hard to take in. Emotions run deep. Questions are asked, not only of yourself, but by yourself as to Why me? How long have I got? Could they have got it wrong?

"Then, when realisation sets in, there are the doubts. What can I do? Who do I see? What are my best options? Finally it hits home that all this is real.

"You are not dreaming and tomorrow is another day - a day that needs fighting for and more importantly living for.......Without doubt the best way is to fight from within. Everyone else can support from outside, but I genuinely believe that the greatest support of all comes from yourself....." Margaret, of Glendale Drive, Mellor, is planning to send a copy of her booklet to GP practices, Macmillan Nurses and hospitals in Blackburn, Darwen and Accrington.

She said: "People are frightened of talking about cancer. They may tell you you look well, but that is not really what you want to hear. Only if you have been through it can you begin to understand.

"My booklet is aimed at people who have just been diagnosed and who are living with cancer. You have got to be positive."

She is also continuing her fund-raising as a member of the East Lancashire Christie Crusaders. Last year the group raised £12,000 for the Manchester hospital.

Margaret has specialised in raising cash by knitting large woollen dolls. She has appealed for local firms who would be willing to raffle the dolls in their shops and premises to contact her.

Her booklet is £2 and all proceeds will go to the Christie's Against Cancer appeal. Copies are available from the Lancashire Evening Telegraph front counters in Blackburn, Accrington and Darwen, for a limited period over the next few weeks. Copies are also available from Bookland in Blackburn.

Anybody wanting a copy of the booklet, or to speak to Margaret can call her on 01254 812904.

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