The Big C & Me - Sarah Burton

Sarah Burton, Christie fundraiser

Sarah with husband Shane

Did you watch the recent documentary about cancer on the BBC? It was called ‘The Big C & Me’ and it followed the lives of a number of difference patient with cancer at hospitals throughout the country, including The Christie.

I watched the three programmes with great interest because my husband Shane is a patient at The Christie. 

Just like all the other people featured in The Big C and Me, we had the shock of finding out that Shane had cancer. We really didn’t know what to expect on our first visit and we really didn’t expect to see so many people being treated for cancer. 

Before you go to The Christie you have no idea what to expect. You imagine that it must be a sad and morbid place. If you watched the programme you realise that this is not the case at all. 

The people receiving their chemotherapy, shown having a gossip and supporting each other is very typical of what goes on throughout the hospital. The programme really did show how people diagnosed with cancer just want to be treated normally without people feeling sorry for them.

My husband Shane and I are so grateful for what The Christie have done that we recently set up a fundraising group for The Christie, called the FlatCaps. We’re from Yorkshire - hence the name.

Members of Flatcaps

We are working hard to inspire the members of the group and are doing everything possible to explain how The Christie is such a supportive and caring place. We have asked friends to come with us when Shane has had appointments. This is because it doesn’t matter how much you try to convey how special The Christie is, nobody can really understand or believe it until they have experienced it for themselves. 

So one of the great things about The Big C & Me is that it showed how good The Christie is and it also showed how difficult it is for the family of someone who has cancer. It showed all the emotions that people experience on the cancer rollercoaster. It showed the difficult decisions that have to be made. But most of all it showed people getting on and trying to make the most of life, which is very inspiring.

Having cancer is a bit like being part of an army where everyone is fighting something inside them. Everyone’s battle is different. Everyone is wanting everyone to keep going or win. None of them thinking or believing that they are brave. 

Thank you to the patients who were featured on The Big C & Me and to The Christie and the other hospitals for allowing this programme to be filmed. An especially big thank you to the brave families of Sally and Mark who sadly lost their lives. We need more programmes like The Big C & Me to help quash the taboo that surrounds cancer.  

You can watch the final episode of The Big C & Me and clips from the whole series on BBC iplayer at www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07f2gwd.