I received so many letters, cards and flowers from friends, family and students and began to realise how much I was valued. And I was ALIVE! I had time to reflect and I had to learn to consider myself as well as everyone else that I had supported for years. The pathology report was excellent and my prognosis was too. I needed to have regular checkups for five years so I decided to turn the whole experience into a positive one. It would be a five-year plan for me!

"The beauty of B-Mail is that it is a group which is accessible everyday. .....When I first started writing to the list I liked it because I felt I could be a little bit anonymous. I didn’t have to put on a brave face and I could say as little or as much as I wanted to. The process of writing meant that I could reflect, edit and clarify my thoughts and be specific in what I was saying. And someone would always listen and respond."

"I felt that as a guy there was a great expectation for me to be a rock solid support for Deb. I thought that the last thing she needed was to see me upset, or anything but a tower of strength. I sometimes felt that I needed support but I kept those thoughts to myself… ‘I don’t have it anywhere near as tough as Deb’ I would remind myself."

"I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer a couple of weeks before Christmas 2004. I was 29 and 6 months pregnant. My husband had discovered a lump. I thought it was a milk duct but as I have a really bad family history I decided to get it checked out."

"I think once the initial shock of a diagnosis of bone mets passes and you realize you are not going to die right away, you start to slowly get your life back to a fairly even keel. My advise is to try something new, something you wouldn't do in a million years......"