BEING diagnosed with cancer feels as devastating now as it did for patients decades ago.
While ground-breaking research and treatment means the disease is no longer necessarily a death sentence, the emotions and questions that follow those three words, "you have cancer", remain the same.
Why me? What is going to happen? Will I die?
They are questions all cancer patients have, at some point, asked themselves.
But what has changed is the caring, unwavering support available, thanks to organisations like Macmillan Cancer Support – both for the patient and their family – as they struggle to come to terms with what cancer may mean for them.
And no two people know that more than Grimsby sisters Nicola Maasdam, 43, and Monique Oakley, 41.
Monique was 19 when her sister Nicola was diagnosed with cancer. While her sister struggled to find support, Monique had a very different experience when she was diagnosed with breast cancer 20 years later.
Monique said: "I was introduced to my Macmillan nurse immediately after I was told I had cancer.
"My consultant introduced me to Jill and left us to talk.
"She got me a cup of coffee and I just fired all these questions at her: 'Am I going to be in pain?' 'Am I going to die?"
Nicola, however, felt she had few to turn to, throughout her treatment for Thyroid Cancer – which required intense radioactive treatment – and afterwards.
She suffered with depression for years afterwards, and even now, ten years after the all clear, she is haunted by the constant worry the cancer will return.
The year was 1992 and Nicola, then 22, had just started her first year as a primary school teacher in Hampshire.
"The doctor sat me down, told me I had cancer and left me to go and tell my family," said Nicola.
"There just wasn't the support available like there is today and I think that is what caused me to have psychological problems.
"I didn't have anyone to talk to. My friends didn't want to know – to them, cancer was something only old people got.
"I had depression for years after my diagnosis. Not a day goes by when I don't think about cancer returning."
In North East Lincolnshire, 750 people are diagnosed with cancer every year.
And it is Macmillan Cancer Support's aim to make sure not one of these people faces cancer alone.
They provide practical, medical and financial support and push for better cancer care – even locally funding a team of 40 cancer care experts, including nurses, specialists in head and neck cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer and palliative care.
They have been a godsend for Monique, her daughters Brooke, 15 and Holly, 12, and husband, Paul, while she underwent gruelling chemotherapy. She will start radiotherapy in July and take Herceptin. Monique continued: "When I found a lump I expected the worst to be honest. I had a lumpectomy and started six cycles of chemotherapy. I've had sickness from the treatment.
"I feel really fatigued and have had the worst bone pain I've ever experienced.
"But despite that, it has been all right so far because I know I have support. The information and advice I have had from Macmillan has been really useful. I've also used the Macmillan website because I know the information can be trusted.
"I've called the Macmillan Support Line and I've used Macmillan's online community to talk to other people with cancer who are in the same boat."
For Nicola, who has a son, Daniel, 15, and adopted daughter, Dominique, 12, knowing her sister is getting the support she didn't, is a huge comfort.
She added: "It was devastating news but she has had so much better support. When she was diagnosed, a Macmillan nurse was in the room with her. I'm there for her too, just like she has been for me."
Don't suffer alone. Get in touch with Macmillan Cancer Support for free on 0808 8080000, Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm.
ON THE WEB: Visit www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk to find out more about Macmillan Cancer Support.
