Your research benefits me! Your discoveries are my survival!

Being diagnosed with cancer sucks. Being told by the radiographer, whilst you are in a post-anaesthesia haze, that their dad recently died from cancer, sucks even more. I was only 30-years-old when I was diagnosed with young-onset colorectal cancer – the rouge group of cells responsible, changed my life forever. What followed was a high-anterior resection, time in intensive-care, fertility preservation (which involved being driven to the sperm bank by my mother!) and 6-months of chemotherapy, which at times made me feel like a toxic waste bin.
Fortunately, despite being diagnosed with a large and aggressive poorly differentiated colorectal adenocarcinoma, I am cancer free and navigating my way through the complex world of cancer survivorship. My survival, and experience of survivorship, is influenced by your cutting-edge research both within and outside of the lab. The discoveries that you make provide me with individualised treatment options, ongoing surveillance recommendations and survivorship supports. I am extremely grateful for your dedication, and lifelong commitment to improve cancer care.
In my presentation, I will provide my lived experience of cancer care and survivorship, including why I don’t always agree to be a research participant, despite being a registered and practicing healthcare professional who appreciates evidence-informed practice and a direct beneficiary of research. I will also highlight some of the many benefits to collaborating with consumers when conceptualising projects, applying for grants and conducting research, drawing upon my experience as both a consumer advocate and co-design researcher. Together, let’s make a cancer diagnosis suck less!