Cancer patient speaks of his ordeal

Mark Lewis, 38, of Silvester Road, was diagnosed with Pseudomyxoma Peritonei after being rushed to the Conquest with appendicitus in January 2008.

The disease is a variant of bowel cancer, thought to affect one person in a million every year. The cancerous cells produce mucus, which, left untreated, can spread throughout the abdomen and compress organs.

He was referred to Basingstoke Hospital, one of two state-of-the-art specialist centres in the UK for treating the disease, where a specialist explained that an operation was necessary to better understand the extent of the cancer.

During the operation surgeons found the cancer had developed rapidly. They removed two-thirds of Mark's bowel, one of his kidneys, and poured a heated solution of chemotherapy drugs directly into his abdomen to neutralise any remaining cells. It took him three months to recover.

Mark said: "Cancer is a real mental disease. It does so much to your head. You have doubts and emotions dealing with day to day life - having things taken away from you that you can't do. It's a two way thing, both physical and mental.

"After the first few weeks I began to get very tearful. You go through all those questions, Why me? Am I going to die? What's my family going to do? That's when I got involved with Sara Lee."

Mark began attending weekly support meetings held by The Sara Lee trust. In the summer, the organisation uses a Mongolian yurt in Powdermill Woods for the two hour sessions. During the winter the group meet in a cottage in Northiam.

He said: "It's a totally different atmosphere. I was so nervous but within the first few minutes I sat down and told them all about my cancer. You feel part of a group or family."

He also used monthly sanctuary days at Penshurst Place Manor House, in Kent, to try alternative therapies. The days are designed to create a safe space where people living with serious illness have the freedom for personal reflection.

Mark says the support he has received from Sara Lee has been important to his family's ability to get on with life, mentioning that his wife, Tina, finds their counselling service helpful and that his daughter, Hannah, also has the option of speaking to Sara Lee nurses.

A few weeks ago Tina, Hannah and Mark's mother Olwen Lewis raised over 400 for the trust on the Rotary Club's sponsored walk day.

Mark hopes that his experience will prompt others to pay attention to their own wellbeing.

He said: "I'd like people not to be too shy. People need to visit their doctor when they think there is something wrong with them, and persist with it. If you think there is something the matter, persist in it.

"If they have got a change, that will have a meaning. Do not be embarassed.

"The only problem I had was a bit of weight loss. I put it down to work and martial arts. I'd got up to my purple belt. I thought, Great, two and a half years of martial arts, I thought I was starting to benefit.

"Only you know your body and the way it performs."

Sarah Geall, therapy manager for the Sara Lee Trust, said: "We at the Sara Lee Centre would like to say a big thank you to Mark and his family for all the recent fund raising events they have been involved with for the Sara Lee Trust. All donations are so valuable as all our funds are donated, we do not receive any funding from any government sources."

"As Mark has said we provide complementary therapy, counselling, creative art therapy to people with cancer, motor neurone disease and HIV/AIDS.

"We have therapy rooms in St Leonards and Rye, and all referrals need to come from a healthcare professional. We also support partners or carers with their own unique needs."

The Trust always requires volunteer drivers to transport people to and from their therapy groups. If interested, contact Sarah or Liz Knight, office manager, on 456608 for a chat. They also welcome fundraising ideas.