'We're normal people trying to get through a tough time'

People in Jersey have been encouraged to talk about cancer "without being fearful" to mark World Cancer Day.

An awareness event was held at Jersey Library on Wednesday, attended by charities including Jersey Hospice Care, Macmillan Jersey and Jersey Cancer Relief, which came together with the government and private services to share information.

Melinda Tidy, 40, was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2022 and advised families to talk to loved ones with cancer "like normal people" because "we are just normal people trying to get through an extremely tough time".

Dr Elisabet Gomes Dos Santos, clinical lead for cancer services, urged people to "be more open and discuss cancer without being fearful".

She said it was vital to "keep the message flowing throughout the year".

Lorna Pirozzolo founded Cancer.je, which shares tips from patients, and said the website made "you feel less alone and that's also what World Cancer Awareness Day does, it helps you feel more connected".

Pirrozolo has incurable breast cancer and said raising awareness of the disease was important, while screenings and self-checks were vital.

She added: "One of the main things is to see what cancer looks like.

"It's still got that really scary thing about it and everybody thinks a cancer patient is bald and looks weak and frail and they're not.

"I'm working every day and I've got incurable cancer."

Meanwhile Tidy had three months of chemotherapy to shrink the localised tumour in her bowel, before a 14-hour operation at Southampton Hospital to remove it, and now has two stoma bags.

Nearly three years later, she said: "Day to day life is great, I feel so lucky to be able to sit here now because I didn't think I would be able to.

"There's a lot of management with the bags but I deal with them and live my best life as much as I can because I feel so grateful to be here."

She added: "I've learned I am very adaptable and resilient, I don't sweat the small stuff and I try not to give my energy to worrying because it doesn't get me anywhere, it's wasted energy," she added.

She advised people going through cancer treatment to "be kind to yourself and take each day as it comes", as well as encouraging friends and family to talk to patients about "normal stuff".

Gomes Dos Santos encouraged woman aged 50 and over to ask the screening department for an appointment if they had not yet received an invitation.

She said: "All cancers diagnosed early can be treated."

Currently, there are three screening programmes in Jersey for bowel, breast and cervical cancers and she said the team was studying lung and prostate screening programmes in Europe.

Her advice to islanders to help reduce the chance of cancer was to "eat healthier, walk more and stop smoking - all the little things that can add up".

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