Finish line
‘After those two months, in September 2017, the oncologist came with his redeeming words: ‘I no longer see intense activity, we are in calmer waters’. I literally felt the burden fall from my shoulders. The therapy had worked.
Now seven years later I am a buddy at the Melanoma Foundation and I am on the board of Melanomapunt. I wanted to turn my negative experience into something positive by creating more awareness about sunbathing and offering support, if necessary, to people who do develop melanoma cancer throughout their entire journey. Whether that is by providing information or a listening ear. A fellow sufferer, an expert by experience, often only needs half a word to understand a patient.
I have managed to put a positive spin on my cancer journey and my message for melanoma patients is: look back as little as possible and never ask yourself the question: why me? In most cases you can’t do anything about it. Your immune system should clear out all the bad cells, but sometimes you are unlucky and the immune system doesn’t get it done. Of course there are factors, such as UV light, that you can control yourself, but don’t worry about it or look back too much. It makes no sense’
