In other news

Posted on by Josephine Corcoran

I’ll come right out and say that my husband, Andrew, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. We’ve known for a short while and have been coming to terms with the news.  I’m not going to go into all the personal details but I will say that I married a beautiful man, full of love, energy, laughter and strength.  This is Andrew’s situation, certainly, although of course it affects me and our children, and all of Andrew’s and my family and friends.  This isn’t my first experience of cancer – my mother died of cancer of the colon in 1974 – and I know that many of you will also have been affected by the illness, in many different ways.  Whatever you think you know about cancer, whatever kind of cancer, it’s different for every person.  No one’s situation is the same.  You probably already know that.

Me and A 1 Me and A 2 Me and A 3

We’ve gradually been telling people that Andrew has cancer.  He didn’t mean to make a big announcement but he’s signed up for Movember – being sponsored to grow a beard or moustache in November to raise funds for research and support into prostate and testicular cancer and men’s health –  and shared his page to social media so a lot of our friends and family have now found out.  To be honest, it’s a relief to be able to talk about Andrew’s cancer and it’s typical of him to want to do something that might help other people, to be positive and upbeat about what he’s going through, and to understand that I need to talk about it, too.

We’ve already been given a lot of love and support from family, friends, our children’s school, and friends in the writing community I’ve mostly got to know through social media.  Thank you, you know who you are.

Life is carrying on.  I’m still going off to Suffolk in a few weeks to take part in the Aldeburgh Eight Advanced Seminar – Andrew wouldn’t have it any other way.  I won’t be going into every detail of Andrew’s illness.  It’s in the early stages, he’s still deciding what course of treatment to undergo, and this isn’t the place to be discussing any of that. Thanks for your understanding.

So now you know a bit more about me. And him.

Andrew’s page at Movember.

45 thoughts on “In other news”

  12. Dear Josephine, so sorry to hear this upsetting news. Will keep you all very much in my prayers. It seems to strike so many men these days. A couple that I know have lived with it for many, many years, so it seems to progress very slowly. Hope that Andrew will find some good treatment and so glad that he is doing something positive with the fundraising. Lots of love and prayers xxx

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