Chemotherapy

Life Is A Roller Coaster, Just got To Ride It

Austin Birks

Oct 214 min read

Life Is A Roller Coaster, Just got To Ride It

Well-known blond, Irish warbler Ronan Keating famously sang in his big pop tune of May 2000 that life is indeed a roller coaster, and you...

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Would You Rather Have Cancer Or Apply For An Electronic Signature?

Austin Birks

Jul 84 min read

Would You Rather Have Cancer Or Apply For An Electronic Signature?

Now I do not know about you, my dear reader chum, but I am finding that as I get older, it is the small things in life that cause the...

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Trouble and strife with the strawberry tart

Austin Birks

Mar 194 min read

Trouble and strife with the strawberry tart

In my adolescent years, I had a mate of mine called Eamonn Martin. One of the things that we used to do was make up our own version of...

171 views0 comments

Austin Birks

Jan 295 min read

Head, Heart Beat, Knees, and Toes

I was talking to a friend of mine today, and he asked me how I was. I had not seen him since before Christmas, so when he asked me, I...

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Austin Birks

Dec 20, 20233 min read

Treatment Number 100 Of Chemotherapy

The Bard himself famously said that life is but a stage, and we are all but players on the stage. Well, the older that I get, the more...

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Austin Birks

Dec 19, 20235 min read

Bag for Life This Year So Far

Well, as I meander closer to my 99th dose of chemo the week after next and then the big one on December 20th, where I hit the big...

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Two Fat Ladies Click Click Click, Dose 88 of Chemotherapy

Austin Birks

Jun 10, 20233 min read

Two Fat Ladies Click Click Click, Dose 88 of Chemotherapy

I used to enjoy playing Bingo once upon a time in this strange and wonderful world that I have lived in for 63 years. It was a different...

53 views0 comments

Austin Birks

Mar 13, 20236 min read

The Dark Side Of Chemotherapy

Over the course of my 4 years and 6 months of living with cancer, a lot of kind people have said to me: “So, if you don't mind me asking,...

208 views0 comments

Review of 2022 - In Short: No, Thank You… Things Can Only Get Better

Austin Birks

Jan 7, 20236 min read

Review of 2022 - In Short: No, Thank You… Things Can Only Get Better

One of the benefits of being a rather sad, old, English gentleman like myself, is the fact that even though technology allows us to have...

158 views0 comments

Cancer And The Snakes And Ladders Conundrum, Or Shake Rattle And Roll!

Austin Birks

Nov 10, 20227 min read

Cancer And The Snakes And Ladders Conundrum, Or Shake Rattle And Roll!

When I first started writing these blogs back in late 2018, I had absolutely what was going to happen, or indeed what I was going to...

126 views0 comments

Austin Birks

Sep 13, 20225 min read

Blood Clot MAAANNN......Rastafari

When I was a young punk, living in Birmingham in 1977, I would regularly go to gigs in the city centre. Watching the likes of The Clash...

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From The Top Of My Head To The Tips Of My Toes…Who Knows Where The Cancer Grows… Part 2

Austin Birks

Jul 30, 20226 min read

From The Top Of My Head To The Tips Of My Toes…Who Knows Where The Cancer Grows… Part 2

Following on from the first part of my journey exploring what the side effects of chemotherapy are and what they are actually like. I...

112 views0 comments

Austin Birks

Jan 19, 20223 min read

First Blog of 2022

Well, my dear chums, here we are and today was my first day back at chemo, having missed my last one and a half chemo sessions, which is...

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Once More Into The Breach Dear Friends (Back to Chemo After a 2-week Break)

Austin Birks

Oct 21, 20213 min read

Once More Into The Breach Dear Friends (Back to Chemo After a 2-week Break)

It was good while it lasted, I have to say, but it did not last long. My wonderful oncologist, Doctor Peter, had agreed to give me a...

67 views0 comments

The Long And Winding Road: A Journey With Cancer

Austin Birks

Jul 25, 20213 min read

The Long And Winding Road: A Journey With Cancer

So, here I am, my dear friends. It is 02.45 on Thursday July 22. The daily temperatures have been record-breaking for 5 days solid and...

153 views1 comment

Cycling 300 miles in 30 days - whilst on chemotherapy - to raise awareness for cancer research

Austin Birks

Mar 3, 20211 min read

Cycling 300 miles in 30 days - whilst on chemotherapy - to raise awareness for cancer research

At the beginning of February 2021, I found out that my level 4a bowel cancer had returned for a third time. This was a tough blow, but as...

67 views1 comment

Austin Birks

Feb 21, 20211 min read

Starting chemotherapy... again

2 weeks ago I was diagnosed with bowel cancer for the third time. This week, I started back on the chemotherapy and medication regime.

37 views2 comments

Austin Birks

Nov 1, 20201 min read

Waiting for CT Scan Results

I finished my last course of chemotherapy 3 months ago and last week I had a CT scan. Next week I will find out if the bowel cancer has...

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The Finishing Line With Cancer, Or Is It The Beginning Again?

Austin Birks

Oct 29, 20205 min read

The Finishing Line With Cancer, Or Is It The Beginning Again?

So, here I am again. It is 2AM in the early morning of Thursday, 22nd October 2020. I am just tying to decide, do I watch the MSL...

134 views1 comment

The Strange World Of The (Cancer) Inbetweeners

Austin Birks

Aug 24, 20204 min read

The Strange World Of The (Cancer) Inbetweeners

Hello my dear chums, You might be justifiably baffled at the rather strange nod of the head to the classic teenage comedy series, the...

163 views1 comment