I am so grateful that my oncologist and surgeon supported my decision to continue working - Geraldine Leydon

Geraldine Leydon, Christie Patient

Geraldine Leydon

I have just turned 50, feel very content and have so much to look forward to. My husband Tommy, our two girls and I are currently in New Zealand, part of a travelling fellowship from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust to research international best practice in early years care and education.  

It seems a long, long time since the night in 2011 when my husband and I were given some difficult news that left us dazed, that I had cancer.

I had made a number of visits to my GP with what could in hindsight be described as atypical symptoms.  Eventually I happened upon Professor Gordon Carlson, who advised a precautionary colonoscopy. The colonoscopy helped to diagnose a very aggressive bowel cancer, more specifically a T4 N0 bowel cancer. 

It came as a huge shock at 45 years old, particularly as there was no previous history of cancer in my family.  

It was a trying circumstance for obvious reasons, which coincided with me changing jobs. 

In hindsight however, this proved to be a useful distraction from the ongoing treatment. My surgeon and oncologist were remarkably positive and motivating people, urging me to work as I wanted to and felt able. 

The new job, gave the family as a whole something else to focus on outside of the cancer bubble in which we felt encircled. Interestingly, I did not find that this was something that some people understood.   

Some people suggested that I might want to give up work. For me, I chose to work part-time, as that was right for my family and I at that point in our lives. 

I went to Salford Royal for my colorectal surgery under the care of Prof Carlson and the treatment was first rate. There were very structured and focused opportunities to prepare for what the treatment had in store for me. 

This was followed up with six months of chemotherapy at The Christie under the diligent care of Dr Mark Saunders. The Christie is an infamous institution and was known to me, as I am local to the hospital and passed it and its visitors regularly.  

Becoming one of ‘those people’ who needed to go there was one of the most unexpected and hardest feelings that I had to overcome.  However, those feelings passed remarkable quickly and my monthly visits became part of life’s routine.  

Now, five years on, I have gained a distinction in my Master’s in Education Degree and I have been accepted onto the Educational Doctorate. 

Most exciting of all is the travelling fellowship from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. I have travelled to Germany to observe a programme called Baby Watching and I am now in New Zealand visiting universities, the world famous Dunedin project and preschool settings working with the Te Whariki curriculum. 

Geraldine and family in New Zealand

I hope that cancer patients reading this will be inspired and that it will give them hope. I am so grateful that my oncologist and surgeon supported my decision to continue working. My work is my passion (family excluded) and I feel glad I did not give up work as that was the right decision for me.

And of course whilst I am in New Zealand and Australia with Tommy and my gorgeous girls we are having a little holiday!

Geraldine's blog is at http://eyfs.info/forums/topic/46559-travelling-fellowship-research-study-in-new-zealand-and-germany/