The blogosphere is full of young people posting about the latest music, fashion and celebrity trends. Recently though, it has also become a place to explore more serious issues. Below, three young people explain why they are using the web to blog about their battles with cancer. According to the Teenage Cancer Trust, six young people in the UK, aged between 13 and 24, are told they have cancer every day. These blogs show cancer patients writing their own stories, talking openly about the disease and offering an insight into what it's really like dealing with the dreaded c-word everyday.
Rosie Kilburn, 18, from Gloucestershire
I was diagnosed with cancer of the liver on 1 February 2008, a month after my 16th birthday. It was such a shock because no one in my family had cancer and I didn't know anyone who had been affected by it. Also, I thought I was invincible, as everyone my age does.
I wrote my first blog post on 25 March 2009 at theknockoneffect.wordpress.com, alongside my online fundraising business. I wanted to tell people that I could talk about cancer easily and that it's fine to ask me questions. I also made my cancer public to show people that I am staying positive throughout my treatment.
The blog is a great release for me, especially because I have taken this year out of school and when you have cancer you spend a lot of time waiting around in hospitals. I don't just talk about cancer either, I blog about my day, things that are in the news, films I've been to see and more. I blog from the hospital computers and also from my bed, on my laptop. So far, the response has been brilliant [Rosie's blog has had over 70,000 hits] and the comments are positive. I even had a comment from someone offering me an eyebrow service because I was complaining that my eyebrows had fallen out due to chemotherapy. I enjoy writing the posts that are specifically to do with cancer and my treatment because it's something a lot of my friends and family have not experienced, so I can describe it in detail and know that people are interested in learning more. Some readers have said I inspired them and that's really good to hear, especially when I have bad days.
Kristin Hallenga, 24, from Northamptonshire
I really only thought older people got cancer, it never crossed my mind that I could get cancer at such a young age. I knew my grandma had cancer when she was 30, but this was not classed as a strong family history and it wasn't taken into consideration by doctors, though it should have been.
I was diagnosed in February 2009 and two weeks later, I set up the blog page on my charity website coppafeel.org. I wanted people to stumble across the blog and think, she's doing alright, considering the fact that she has got secondary breast cancer [when the cancer spreads from the breast cells to other parts of the body]. I also wanted young women to realise that they could be at risk, because cancer doesn't discriminate.
For me, the blog is a place where I don't have to hold back, I can be open and honest. I might say things on there that I wouldn't necessarily say directly to my mum, sisters or anyone else. It helps me to vent a little about how I might be feeling. I share what it is like going through breast cancer and it's a way to keep all my friends and family up to date with how I'm feeling and doing medically. I try not to take a long break from the blog, because people worry about my health if I'm not posting, though sometimes I need inspiration to know what to write about. I don't write every day, I used to write every week when I was going through cancer treatments, because I felt different every week. Now that my cancer treatments are finished for the time being, I talk about anything that might be happening in my life or anything that has inspired me to keep fighting, because I am still living with cancer, it's an ongoing thing.
It's nice when people react to my blog, because I might think that no one is reading it, then I'll write something and people comment on it. When I won the Pride of Britain award [Kristin received special recognition at the award ceremony held last October] more people started reading the blog, which was nice. A lot of older women, who are more at risk from breast cancer or who are going through breast cancer and might not necessarily have Twitter or Facebook, like the blog because it's easy to log on and read about how I'm doing. I just want people to know that I'm carrying on with my life despite a secondary cancer diagnosis.
Paul Nicholls, 26, from Glasgow
I started my blog musicisdisease.blogspot.com about a month after I was diagnosed with bowel cancer at the end of last year. Being diagnosed came as a horrific shock, especially as 97% of bowel cancer patients are over 50. I had no symptoms, but the tumour is believed to have been there for about five years. Being told that you will never get better is a hard thing to take in at 26. It saddens me because I battled with bipolar disorder for 10 years and just when I got my life back together, it's been swiped from under my feet.
I set up the blog for a few reasons: one of them was to save me from being asked 300 times a day how I am feeling. I also blog to get the message out about how real cancer is, and how important it is to make the most of life. I update my blog almost every day but I never really think about what I am saying, it just tends to fall out onto my keyboard. To have 12,000 people read the blog is mind-blowing, it's so nice. People comment on the blog too – they say they enjoy reading it because I am not depressing when I talk about the hard stuff. Even if no one read the posts, I would still blog every day as it gives me something to focus on, and I really enjoy writing it. My blog isn't just about cancer, it's about my feelings and what I have been up to. I DJ when I can, usually on my week off treatment and it's the biggest form of medicine for me. I would encourage people with cancer to do whatever they feel will help them get through, be it a blog, a diary or an activity. I chose blogging, and it has been a really good release.
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