My intention is to get hold of a copy of the book and review it here, but meanwhile here are the back cover blurb and synopsis of the story, both written by John himself (I think!)
‘A Love Affair with Cancer’ tells the true, powerful and emotive story of an immature teenager attempting to come to terms with the devastating diagnosis of cancer and the outrage he feels at the attempt of his parents to deny him that knowledge. The journey outlines the psychological damage that the disease can elicit and the subsequent change to his personal philosophy.
The story begins with an admission of his failure to comply at school and his passion for one of history's great rock bands, Hawkwind. It continues with the association and small part that this band played in keeping John on the straight and narrow, including his first and traumatic experience of the big city. The high jinks and tomfoolery of young teenagers is an important part of adolescence and the story depicts his eagerness to play the practical joker, yet soon we discover that he finds himself in a difficult predicament as he follows his heroes (Hawkwind) to London.
Plagued by an unexpected fatigue John is diagnosed with a life threatening cancer. Yet no one can even attempt to imagine the destruction and fear that chemotherapy can cause and as an innocent eighteen year old, John tries to explain the unexplainable and the psychological morbidity caused by an indiscriminate disease and the equally predatory treatment, but importantly John highlights that cancer is very much about individualism. No two people are affected the same and yet the mutual peer support is invaluable.
Recurrence of cancer time and time again means more and more treatment until, enough is enough and he decides that no more chemotherapy can or will be tolerated, whatever the consequences of that monumental decision may be. The story unfolds the respect John earns for his carers, particularly a young staff nurse named Sid, who takes it upon himself to persuade John to continue with more chemotherapy. Unfortunately, even though he accepts more treatment, it fails and eventually his parents, again, without his knowledge, are told that this cancer is likely to claim the life of their son. Yet, unexpectedly within months the cancer disappears.
Continuing with a poignant story unlike any other, John confesses to making knee jerk reactions in a bid to conform to societies demands such is his feeling at missing out on so much so early on in his fragile life. Sadly, this decisions proves to be wrong as he enters a marriage destined to fail, but not before he finds the joys of parent hood followed soon afterwards by the news that all parents fear, a cancer diagnosis of their child, even worse is to follow as it revealed that Donna is expected to die from the vicious ravages of cancer. The story gives an insight into the difficulties parents face trying to come to terms with this news and the coping mechanisms that are needed. Once again, John is faced with an end of life scenario, but on this occasion, it is not the threat to his own mortality that he fears, it is his precious daughter.
Despite an ongoing handicap the amazing Donna belies all of the odds to become a prolific swimmer and ultimately represents Great Britain at the 1997 World Swimming Championships in New Zealand, returning with unexpected honours.
Faced with a decision in respect to his future employment, John decides on a career in nursing but not before the difficult ordeal of returning to college to attain the requisite qualifications needed to become a student nurse. But, it all pays dividends as he experiences a meteoric rise to the top, including working as a staff nurse on the very ward that he himself was a patient on many years earlier. He clarifies the pleasure that nursing cancer patients brings with it and subsequently returns to his home town of South Shields where he is appointed as a Macmillan Clinical Nurse Specialist in haematology, caring for individuals with the same disease that both he and his daughter had had and using the same rooms at his local hospital to discuss diagnosis and prognosis with patients today in the same way that on more than one occasion, bad news was given to him many years earlier. It is evident of his joy working in the same hospital that made his diagnosis some thirty years ago. And so he has come full circle and believes passionately that much of this is down to fate.
The unique and occasionally tearful story draws to a close with the most unusual wedding ceremony, walking down the aisle to the sound of Hawkwind, one of his life long passions. Yet, irrespective of all that has gone before, a love affair with cancer emphasizes just how difficult it is to escape the life long sentence that is a cancer diagnosis and the permanent psychological scarring that remains, but also how this disease can change your beliefs and philosophy to make you the person you are.
A Love Affair with Cancer epitomises the individualism that the killer disease creates, but also how every day is faced with enthusiasm and fervour, a new perspective and appreciation of life itself.
The book is now ready and available via the publisher's website and is easily the cheapest (£8.00) way of getting it. P & P is approximately £4 (depending on where you live). Check that page out to see the cover of the book and read a brief extract.
12th March 2006
Here is my review...for what it's worth
The synopsis given above really says enough about the outline of the story, so I will confine my comments to observations concerning the experience of *reading* the book, which I managed in almost a single sitting; it is very compelling stuff. First of all there’s the familiarity of much of the initial material, particularly for those of us who grew up in the UK in the 1970’s. But that changes in the third chapter with the diagnosis of cancer that turns John’s life upside down. What really struck me, and I have virtually no experience in this subject, was how barbaric cancer care was at that time in the National Health Service. As the book progresses, this point is more fully drawn out, given that the author is now a senior health care professional in that very field; and one of the keenest points to be made by the book is that, although he does not parade his personal experience of suffering from cancer to his patients, it obviously informs the author’s philosophy and professional outlook.
In case I am making it sound as though this book is a depressing trawl through a subject that is traditionally held to be horrific, that is not the case. First, the author dispels the myth that cancer is a doom-laden business inevitably resulting in terrible pain, suffering and death. And this is not really a story about cancer, but about a life lived with and around it. One consequence of this distinction is the surprising amount of Hawkwind content in the book. Being a *serious* fan, Hawkwind plays a huge role in John’s life, and this comes across loud and clear, with the multitude of references to them being much more than just passing mentions. John describes trips around the UK to see them live, his reaction to newly released albums, the degree to which they are an essential layer of his everyday life, and does an excellent job of getting across just how much Hawkwind means to we the committed. And when you look at the chapter titles, and marvel at how relevant they are to what unfolds in the author’s life, you can see why this is.
Now to something which might be construed as a criticism, but which I think in the end almost enhances the book, and that is the style in which it is written. I have the greatest admiration for the author – John has done things with his life which I could never accomplish, if I live to be 150. But his writing style is pretty undeveloped (maybe because of the lack of application at school that he mentions), and I could further characterize it as raw, naïve and unpolished. This has certainly not been helped by an apparent total lack of editing, which has resulted in the text containing some basic errors of spelling and/or grammar, such as the interchangeability of “to” and “too”, and the misuse of “new” where “knew” was intended. Now, this book was obviously never intended to be a work of literature, and so in that sense this doesn’t matter one iota. And actually, it reinforces the fact that this is an intensely personal narrative, telling the inside story of one man, who started out as a welder in a shipyard and made the journey to becoming a Haematology Clinical Nurse Specialist (not an English Literature major at a prestigous university!)
But…something that the writing style does achieve is to mirror this journey, so that early in the book, the author notes that “I could recall many anecdotal stories about those early days and the mischief I regularly found myself in, most often of course I didn’t have to look far for it, trouble seemed as though it could find me quite easily.” Contrast this with a sentence from the penultimate chapter: “The published data in respect to developing cancer as a result of the effects of treatment (Carcinogenesis) is rather ambiguous.” The subject matter is of course far more mature, but there’s a stylistic sharpness in the latter sentence that is missing from the earlier chapters of the book.
I did find the passage towards the end in which John explains his views on religion to be unnecessary, or perhaps overstated, but otherwise found this a thoroughly absorbing story, which completely achieves its aims, and will be unlike anything else you’ve ever read. And I learned a lot from reading it too - in fact, I now feel a little embarrassed when I recall the conversation that I had with John on meeting him in person for the first time, after the London Astoria gig on 21st December 2005. On that occasion we discussed his forthcoming book, and I rather airily asked him if I was right in thinking he was "a cancer survivor", with what I now realise is only a superficial understanding of all that implies. I remember John smiling slightly and nodding in assent; he had the graciousness to leave me to discover the extent of my own ignorance at the right time and in the right way. Like I said, I could never do what he has done and continues to do, but maybe I can persuade you to buy this book. It is well worth reading.
And there was also the Love Affair With Cancer Launch Party on 11th March 2006!
3rd November 2006: The author now has a website dedicated to the book 'A Love Affair With Cancer'
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