When Every Moment Counts

Can you imagine how you would react if you were told you had incurable cancer? Chrissie, Sarah and Petrina discovered just that – and here they share what it has taught them about life

- Kim Willis

‘I LOOK TOWARDS THE SUNSHINE, NOT THE SHADOWS’

CHRISSIE JACKSON, 46, is a retired photographer who lives in Cornwall with her cat Dennis.

When I was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer, I had two options: sink or swim. I chose to swim.

I had experienced no symptoms and was in China taking part in the Clipper Round the World sailing race as part of my plan to shake things up, following a messy divorce.

I was about to cross the Pacific when I developed a blood clot in the large vein running down the left side of my body. I came home and had a stent fitted in my pelvis.

During routine scans in January 2019, it was found that I was, simply, pickled with cancer. Primary cancer in my bowel had already spread to my pelvic lymph nodes, pelvic bone, and sacrum. There were multiple tumors in my lungs. The consultant explained I could not be cured, but my life could be prolonged. It was mind-boggling, but I quickly became grateful for ‘prolong’.

The hardest part of the diagnosis was telling the people I love – my mum, brother and sister back in Warrington, and my dear friends in Cornwall. I couldn’t cope with the sadness in their eyes and I needed to reassure them I had big plans to turn this negative into a positive. I could take this diagnosis as an opportunity to sort out my priorities. I could see it as a gift.