Illustration of a pear on top of a pile of books

Home Class activities Facts about cancer Real life experiences Support Getting involved
HOME > Real life experiences > I have cancer (young person)	Search

I have cancer (young person)

	Adam was 14 years old when he was diagnosed with a kind of brain tumour. He tells us how he felt going through treatment and then returning to school – and how his teachers helped.

When I was told I had cancer, I felt shocked and surprised, but not really scared. I did feel depressed when I began treatment. It was frustrating because I had to miss out on a lot of school stuff during that time. I had a Macmillan nurse, Julie, who has been my friend as well as my nurse.

My parents felt we couldn't have got through it as well as we did without Julie. As time went on Julie took so much pressure off my parents, chasing appointments and scan results. Julie helped my mum deal with any anxieties she felt during that time and reassured her. She also made us laugh a lot which is one of the best medicines there is.

At school I asked my teachers to give my classmates brief details about what had happened. I found that my classmates asked questions and spoke to me about it on their own, although some rumours and stories were made up and spread throughout the school.


	I think that the best thing a teacher can do is just treat the student as normal as possible.

I returned to school after my hospital treatment finished and was treated really well by everyone. I attended school for an hour a day and gradually increased the amount of time. I was given extended deadlines on homework and the school was very accommodating around my situation, making it easy for me to get into the school routine again.

As my vision has been affected by the cancer, I had to have an escort guide me around the school. It really helped that I wasn’t put under pressure to attend school until I was ready. The teachers helped me in their own free time to get school work completed and also helped me cope.

I think that the best thing a teacher can do when someone in their school gets cancer is just treat the student as normal as possible without forgetting about the student and how they need assistance. Also ask questions about what happened to gain a full understanding of their situation. And the best thing your friends can do is treat you as normal and ask as many questions as possible.