I confronted my fear of heights and did a Skydive because The Christie is second to none for cancer care and treatment - Phil Shaw

Phil Shaw, Divisional Director for Interserve Construction delivering The Christie’s proton beam therapy centre

Phil Shaw

Interserve is working with The Christie to bring the UK's first high energy proton beam therapy service to Manchester. The state of the art five-storey building will provide three treatment gantries, a research room, a patient reception, consultation rooms and public space.

As Divisional Director I have ultimate responsibility for the delivery of this pioneering project, which is nearing completion and is being fitted out with its equipment. This project has been an inspirational one to work on, and working at The Christie is very rewarding. I’m so proud to lead the team delivering this project that will make such a huge difference to patients quality of life.

Working with The Christie has had a profound impact on me. Key to this is the fact that I have been touched by The Christie and the fantastic care they provide for cancer patients. A close friend, a family member and a colleague have all been treated at The Christie so I know that the work they do is second to none! Being onsite I see the amazing care and treatment provided by the dedicated staff and I feel compelled to fundraise to help create awareness and contribute to enabling this world class treatment to continue.

So each year I set myself a new challenge. This year I decided to confront my fear of heights by doing a Skydive for The Christie. If anyone is considering taking part in The Christie’s Skydive, I would whole-heartedly recommend it.

The adrenalin rush is amazing, with a feeling of freedom and an incredible sense of accomplishment, pretty much nothing on earth can beat it!

Although nothing seems more unnatural than jumping out of an aeroplane, and despite it scaring the living daylights out of me, I’ve never felt more empowered.

Once my parachute opened and my heart rate steadied, I took a moment to gaze around and saw the world in a new light. It’s beautiful up there, and the experience is about as close to flying as humans can actually get.

There is another bonus too….you’re strapped to an experienced instructor and dive together. Not only does this mean you don’t have to worry about making any mistakes, it also means he or she will be doing all the hard work!

At Interserve, we are passionate about improving the lives of people in the communities where we live and work, and involvement in charity work is a vital part of our corporate aims. The Christie’s proximity to our regional office allows us to see first-hand the great work that the charity does in the North West and the fantastic care and treatment the hospital proves to cancer patients.

To find out more about doing a Skydive for The Christie in 2018 please visit christie.nhs.uk/the-christie-charity/get-involved/fundraise/events/uk-challenges/skydive/

I never dreamt I would be working on the pioneering proton beam therapy project - Emma Hanrahan

Emma Hanrahan, assistant quantity surveyor for Interserve Construction delivering The Christie’s proton beam therapy centre

Emma Hanrahan

Interserve is working with The Christie to bring the UK's first high energy proton beam therapy service to Manchester. The state of the art five storey building will provide three treatment gantries, a research room, a patient reception, consultation rooms and public space.

As an assistant quantity surveyor I am responsible for the management, recording and reporting of the financial movement of elements of the construction project, as well as managing the subcontractors’ commercial progress on site.

After holding a long term job in the printing industry I decided that I wanted to retrain to do something I was really interested in and that maximised my strengths. I enrolled on a quantity surveying degree at Salford University in 2011 and secured my first position as a trainee quantity surveyor with Interserve two years later before graduating in 2015.

The construction industry starts early so I aim to get to site at 7.30am and leave at around 5pm. However, I must be reactive to issues when they arise, so these hours can stretch either end when necessary. I always start my day with a hot cup of tea whilst catching up on emails. My main role is to ensure that the project costs are being monitored correctly and cash flow is being met throughout the construction phase of a project. I’m also involved with the management of subcontractors working on the project, ensuring that they deliver to the right standard and are paid the correct amount for the work they complete. 

The best thing about my job is getting to work with great people and every single day being completely different and challenging. I enjoy seeing the progression of a site from start to finish and being able to say I helped to build that!

The highlight of the project for me to date was looking out of my site accommodation window to see Lucas, a five year old cancer patient, being presented with a gift of a John Deere toy tractor. It really struck me then why we’re doing this, it’s not just any other project; we’re delivering something that will make a difference!

Alongside my day job I’m involved with  fundraising for The Christie charity. Being onsite at The Christie I see the amazing care and treatment provided by the dedicated staff and I hope that our fundraising will help to create awareness and contribute to enabling this world class treatment to continue. I’m proud to say that in 2016 Interserve raised over £25,000 for the charity with plenty more planned for 2017, including a repeat of the highly successful ‘Come Dine with Me’ and our ‘legendary’ Wigan Race Night, as well as some new innovative fundraising initiatives including a stay in a haunted house and a motor bike ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats!

I never dreamt I would be working on the pioneering proton beam therapy project, which is scheduled to complete on time and within budget.  It’s such an inspirational place to work and I’m proud to be part of the team delivering a facility that will make such a huge difference to patient’s quality of life.

To learn more about careers in the construction industry and to visit our proton beam therapy site book your place on a tour at the end of this month at http://opendoors.construction/site/460

Being a young person with cancer can make you feel isolated - Sophie Vohra

Sophie Vohra - Patient in our Teenage and Young Adult Unit

Sophie Vohra

At the age of 23, one of the last things you expect to hear is that you have cancer. In April I was diagnosed with a Ewing’s Sarcoma on my sacrum. I had been suffering increasingly from bad pains and numbness down my right leg since January, which became so unbearable during March that I finally decided to visit my GP. 

Initially, we both thought that the pains were due to sciatica and that I should try to reposition the slipped disc into place with NHS recommended exercises and using anti-inflammatories to help with any swelling. Over the next two weeks I was unable to sleep because of the pain when lying down, having visited the GP again for pain relief that didn’t have any effect. 

I finally accidentally aggravated it so much after I had been swimming that I went into retention and had to go into A&E as we thought it may in fact be Cauda Equina Syndrome, which would require immediate surgery. 

When I was transferred to Salford Royal, they scheduled me for an MRI, assuming they would see a  slipped disc. Sadly what we got back was worse. There was in fact a lump that was pressing onto my spinal cord and at that point they didn’t know what type of mass it was. I therefore had a biopsy and after having to wait around two weeks I was told it was malignant and by the end of the month I was told it was a Ewing’s Sarcoma that was pressing on my nerves. 

Each time I received another piece of the puzzle as to what it was I would get upset for a little while and then I would get my head round it all.  I knew I would get all the treatment I would need and that I would have the incredible support of all my friends and family throughout it.

I started my treatment at the end of April at The Christie, and everyone and everything from the minute I walked in was incredible. My family and I never felt like we weren’t getting all the information we needed and the organisation of my treatment from the beginning was so efficient. 

I had all the initial tests done, I was randomised onto a trial regarding the administration of the chemotherapy for Ewing’s Sarcomas, had a Hickman Line inserted, and began treatment in the space of a few days. 

The fourteen cycles of chemotherapy over the months were tough and my body certainly found its way around most of the side effects – sore mouth, achy body, no blood cells… the list goes on! My treatment cycles occurred every two weeks, whereas the standard treatment is every three weeks. This meant I had very little time to feel well enough to do anything because as soon as I had recovered from the chemotherapy I almost immediately started the next dose. 

Being around some of the nicest doctors, nurses and other staff you will ever meet was also really comforting when, for several months, you feel like you spend almost all of your life in hospital. 

I was also very lucky to be put forward for Proton Beam Therapy treatment in America, as my tumour cannot be operated on. This treatment means that, as opposed to standard radiotherapy, less damage has been inflicted on the area surrounding my tumour and hopefully I have less of a chance of secondary cancer which can be caused by treatment. Having all of this available to me has meant I have received all the best opportunities to try and beat this horrible disease.

The Christie also has teams in place to make sure that your social and mental needs are looked after. A cancer diagnosis means you are plucked out of normality for a while, which is a huge shock to the system. 

With having to spend long periods of time receiving treatment on the ward, one of the things I am incredibly grateful for is the amount of facilities and activities that were made available. 

Both the Palatine ward and the day unit are designed to allow younger patients, their families and friends to have as enjoyable a time as possible while going through some really difficult times. The hospital provides modern single-occupancy rooms, a social hub for when you want to spend at least a little time out of bed, access to games and DVDs from the games room and a gym space amongst many other amazing things. Many people who have visited me on the ward couldn’t believe how wonderful it was and questioned if it was in fact a hospital! 

These facilities are also available for anyone no longer receiving treatment, which means that former patients can come to events held on the ward for example. We have all manner of events organised for us within and outside the hospital. There are band rehearsals, art workshops, language lessons, cooking and baking, a pizza and film night every Wednesday, and seasonal events such as a Halloween party held on the ward just to name a few. 

The teams also get tickets for music and sporting events, organise meals and get-togethers, and generally encourage a lot of interaction between all former and current patients. These are advertised on their Facebook page so we can easily be kept in the know. 

Being a young person  with cancer can make you feel isolated because it is less likely that we have come across someone in our lives who is going through the same thing at the same age. So being able to relate to others who are, or have been, in the same position as you is very important in understanding and coming to terms with the experience you and those close to you are going through.

I have finally come to the end of my treatment, with only the post-treatment scans to happen now, and I know I couldn’t have got through it without the incredible support of every single person who works with Teenage and Young Adult  patients. 

No one should ever have to go through a life-threatening illness like cancer, but places like The Christie and the facilities they have for young patients mean that we can not only get through our treatment, but can also continue to live a fulfilling and happy life as we do. 

I can move on now with my life, having started my PhD last month at the University of York. 

But I also have a very important network of people who I am very glad I met out of such an awful experience, and I will stay in touch with this group of inspiring young people who have come together through The Christie and the incredible staff who have supported us.