What surviving CANCER has taught me.

For those of you that don't know me, my name's Amy. I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma when I was 17 and yeah, it was the shock of my life. I never in my life thought it could be cancer or anywhere near as drastic as that. You don't think that that's gonna happen to you being 17. I was literally just about to start my life, you know, become an 18 year old and I thought that was all gonna be taken away from me. I was diagnosed on the Friday and on the Tuesday I started a 10-month cycle of chemotherapy and nobody around me could really understand because this is something, even though everybody's there, your family rushes to you from all over the world, everybody comes, your friends, your family, they support you like fully. You have to do this, like you have to go through this. And at 17, scary, it was so scary. Into my second chemo, my hair started falling out. So when my hair started falling out on the pillows, I was just, I would just lock myself away. I didn't want anybody to see me like that, you know. I didn't have the confidence then that I do now and I'm ashamed of that, I am. I truly wish I could have just embraced it, you know, and wore my bald head and showed everybody and really stood proud that I was battling something so, so big. It just strips you of normality, of wanting to feel normal. The fact that it takes your hair makes you stand out and I think that's one of the most horrible things about cancer. It makes people know that you've got it. Having cancer is not just, oh you have to have chemo and that'll get rid of it. Having chemo makes you susceptible to everything. If everyone, if anyone's got a cold, they can't come and see you. I couldn't go shopping. It took away every part of my health that I had. I could barely walk up the street. About five months into chemotherapy, I contracted pneumonia. I was on watch basically. My family and friends were told to come in just in case. It was the scariest part of my journey. I was in intensive care for three to four days and luckily my body fought off the pneumonia. A few weeks later, I finally had some good news. So they cut my chemotherapy early. They said your scans look good. If you're happy to not go through any more chemo, you don't need to and I was like, I'm done with that, absolutely. They did one last scan and I was waiting for the results. At the time, I was working in a call centre which I absolutely hated. It was a new job so I was surrounded by like new people. So when I got the call to say that I'd been given the all-clear, it was, it was insane in my head. Like I was elated but nobody else really got it. Nobody knew. Like I'd not told anybody. So it was kind of, you know, it was a celebration for myself. But there's no, there's no better news than that. You just go through so much to get to that point. It's amazing. It's so good. It's the best thing ever because you are, you're given another life. You're given another chance to, to really live. So the 10th of the 10th marks my So I decided to book me and Craig a little surprise. What are you doing fam? Van life tip 101. If you don't have a hairdryer, just lie by your diesel heater. Well we did have a hairdryer but it nearly blew the inverter, didn't it? She's like, I don't think you can use that Craig. Get on the floor. Bought a little rose gold hairdryer, it doesn't even work. Oh, fuming for you babes. Absolutely fuming for you. Bonjour madame. I don't even know if it's on right. I've never worn a beret before. So uh. Comma toots beret. I don't know what you want to know. Do I? You look smart babes. Thank you. Happy 12 year canterversa in my life. Thank you very much Craig. It only seems like yesterday that I was like going in for chemo. I guess that's just something that doesn't leave you. So every year on the 10th of the 10th, we always get a reminder, don't we Craig, of how we should truly be living our lives. How lucky we both are really, you know? Because if you didn't know, Craig broke his neck as well in New Zealand. But um, watch this video to know all about the backstory of Kingin' It and how it grew into what it is today. But yeah, so we've got a wonderful day planned by um, that would be me. Who cooked breakfast this morning? Who planned what we're going to do today? Where's my mother jeff and cake? These aren't rhetorical questions Craig. Yeah, Amy has planned this. I was going to plan something but she was like, I've already done it. I've done it. What more could I do, you know? Shirts are us today babes, we're posh. I know. Like a couple of days ago, I was like, you're gonna need a bikini, like trying to throw him off the scent. Um, but yeah, so today we are going to go and have afternoon tea on a steam train. Oh, no way. Yeah, so that should be lovely. I've let them know we're vegan and we need everything vegan. Go on babes. And it goes through the Cairngorms National Park. It's going to be, although it's raining, it's going to be beautiful. Oh, that sounds wicked. Yeah, should be really good. That'd be canterversary to me. Every year that I have a canterversary roll around, I don't know, I get a bit funny now because it's been 12 years and I've been talking about it for 12 years. Sometimes I feel like people get annoyed at me or they're like, oh, yeah, she goes again. But unless you've had cancer, or you know somebody that's got cancer, you don't realise how, how big a part of their lives that is and having all of the treatment and all of the bad things that go with that happen to your body. And then for someone to say it's gone, you've done it, is, is mighty. It's amazing. It really is amazing. So we've got our little afternoon tea. The gentleman showed us down. We've got our tea, have we? Well, no, we've got the ticket. So we're in coach B, which means we're eating. I'm so buns and stuff. And someone's going to show us to our seats when we get there. Posh, I'm glad I wore a shirt today. Posh, innit? And a new coat that I got from the charity shop just across the way for £5.95 yesterday. Can I get a hell yeah? Hell yeah. They don't hang around, Craig. We must have been late, late. Wave to your fans then. Hey, what have we got? Can you see that? Yeah, I can see it. So cool. So we've got a little coffee. Yeah. And we've ordered some, we've ordered some cheese and cucumber sarnies. Oh, that's like lush. I'll eat anything right now. If that's all they've got, I don't care. They've also got like a cake stand for us. So it's going to be like a big, one of them, is it? I think so. Hopefully, fingers crossed. All the desserts are chocolate and Amy doesn't eat chocolate. So, mob me. You did me a solid, didn't you, Craig? You scraped all the chocolate off the top of the flapjack. So I'm going to have that. You're good to me. It's all really good though. These taste like Christmas. I don't know what's in them. But yeah, we're enjoying ourselves, aren't we? Lovely. Having a good time. The 10th of the 10th for me is not just a celebration, but it's also a reminder of all the people that I've lost in my life and that I knew. Because I've been part of so many charities and clubs and all things revolving around cancer. I've known so many people to go through it. I've made so many friends. So every time I get a text message from someone out of the blue saying, we've lost so-and-so or yeah, that's super tough. That's really tough because everybody I know would be around my age and nobody I know that's had cancer deserves it. It's a rollercoaster of a day because I go through, wake up, I feel like it's my birthday. I'm like, oh wicked, you know, 12 years, 13 years, 14 years. And then I think of the people that we've lost and it's super difficult to accept that you're still here when they've lost their lives through the same disease. So you go through a dip then of thinking about them and wondering, well, why was I chosen to stay? Why were they taken and I wasn't? And do their families look at me and think, oh, she's got another year all clear. And then I'm like, maybe I shouldn't celebrate it. There's so many emotions that go through with it. But then I think, no, I hope that they would be watching down or I said to Craig earlier, sometimes I feel like they're with me on this day. They all round each other up and go, all right, it's Amy's cancerversary so we should go and be with her today. And I always, always think of them and whatever I do on this day, I'm like, they're here somewhere cheering me on. And hopefully I do a good job of making them proud and living the best they can. I do miss them though. I have got so much to say for if somebody was going through cancer right now, especially if they're younger. Like I wish I could go back and tell myself so many things like, don't worry about your hair, show that bald head off to everybody that'll look because you are a warrior. You are so brave to be going through this and fighting it and always have a smile on your face if you can help it. I know it's super tough, but if you've got a positive mindset, if you think to yourself, I know I'm going to do this, I'm going to get through this, no matter what it throws at me, you're going to get there and you'll have a smoother, happier ride the whole way through. Nobody, nobody should be ashamed of having cancer at all. I know it's super hard when a friend or a family member is being diagnosed and some people just don't know what to say. You know, a lot of people didn't know what to say to me and I wouldn't know how to like go around that because I'd never spoken to anybody that had had cancer and I'm sure I probably would have been in the same boat, but for me personally, talking about it was fine. You know, that's what's going on in my life right now. If you were to go and see a friend, you'd be like, how's work? Because that's a big part of their life. Well, cancer was a big part of my life. So ask me how I'm doing. Ask me when I'm having scans. Ask me what's next in the treatment. How are you feeling? Is there anything I can get you? You know, ask if, if one day they might feel okay and you could take them somewhere. Take them to a spa or something where they didn't have to really do much physical exercise. Loves a spa, me. But just don't exclude them from anything, you know. Make them the pinnacle person you go to every day because you can't imagine what they're going through and the support you could give someone is just ten to none. If you've got cancer right now, don't be afraid. Just give it everything you've got. You've got this. You have to have it. There's no other choice really. So if you can accept that and go at it, you know, full force with everything you've got, you can only hope for the best outcome. So the train was lovely. We always try and do something. We do, we do things all the time anyway, but I feel like, especially on the 10th of the 10th, we always try and do something really nice for ourselves, you know. And I just, I just want people to not, not wait until you've got a date to do that, you know. Just do it anyway. Enjoy your life as much as you can and make sure you've got the time to spend with your friends and family. You're not working too much or you're not stressing out too much and just, I just don't want people to have to wait until something bad happens for them to start living. I travel because it makes me feel great. It learns me things, not English. It just opens your eyes up to everybody. Different cultures, you know, different ways of living. It makes you appreciate what you've got, even if it's like the basic stuff. For me, I've always wanted to challenge myself and squeeze everything out of life, whether it was driving a Fiat Panda to Russia with a group of friends or driving a rickshaw through India. Another dream I had was to build a home with Craig so we could travel in it and we're doing that now and it's incredible. Kinging it means to rule your own world. That doesn't just mean to travel, it means to go out there and do the things you want to do. It could be a new job, it could be starting a new hobby, it could be to reach out to somebody that you haven't spoken to in a long time because you missed them. Life is way too short and way too precious. We started kinging it because we wanted to break away from the nine to five. We did those jobs and we knew we wanted more out of life. So for the past five years, we've made travel videos to inspire you guys to get out there and Craig is a madman and he always pushes me outside of my comfort zone but one of the things I wanted to do was to swim in a lock in Scotland in October. We're on our way to a gorgeous green lock and Amy's got her bathers on underneath because she's going to test herself this week and she's going to go for a swim. This is a just in case towel, just in case it takes my fancy which it won't. I know it won't. I'll push you in. Can you just ask if I could put a podcast on? Why are you laughing at that? It's normal. Listen to the nature around you. Live your life my friend. I've just had a frosted shiny Craig which is currently stuck in my lung. We've only just started and nature sounds are going to be happening real soon. If you're stuck in a rut, if you're not happy where you are, if you've got a job and you just you just hate it, I actually left that job the day I found out I got the Eau Claire. I just left. Find something you're gonna love, stick to that, put your everything into it and all your hard work will pay off. Would you look at that? That's mad that isn't it? Crazy clear. So beautiful. Just dotted, just smacked in the mud. Do you reckon someone sneezed and this is where it ended up? I reckon. Legend has it that this lock is green because the fairies wash their clothes here and I'm about to wash my bum here. I'm not. Are you gonna go in? I might do. Technically I'm in. I'm already in Craig. You're not getting away with that easily. Spoke to a Labrador over there, Misty, she'd already been in. She said a little bit of brain freeze so it's getting late. We should go. What happened to testing yourself this week? I did my makeup and I did my hair Craig. I know this is like something that I wanted to do but we won't lose me anyway. If I need the lifeguard, I wore this just in case I need the lifeguard. There's no lifeguard here. And you can see me when I'm drowning. For those, obviously everybody must know at home that I wear wigs. I do have my own hair, I just prefer to wear wigs so Deborah's gotta go. I don't want to get it wet. You look lush babes. I'm sure I do. You've got a lovely egg, round egg. No, it's like a perfect oblong. Thank you. This is a really bad idea. Starting something new or pushing yourself out of your comfort zone is always hard and I know from past experience that things don't always go smoothly but having a reason why and believing in yourself that's what will get you to the finish line even if it is freezing. You gotta do it. They say you've got one life, live it. Don't be doing that routine or thing that you do all the time and you hate it. Flip the script, you know. Try something else out because you never know where it might take you. How do you feel? Do you feel alive? Yeah, yeah. Don't look here. That was wicked. Proper adrenaline rush. My toes, they're like burning. We were watching a video the other day. It was of a guy who had terminal cancer. They told him he had two years to live. Incredible guy. He had run so many marathons. He'd really like pushed his body through his treatment and done all of these incredible things and he said he came across a quote which said, we have two lives. The second begins when we realize we only have one which I thought was so powerful and so true. That quote really resonated with me and I realized myself that I would never take away having cancer because it's made me who I am today and it was my wake-up call to realizing that you've only got one life to live and you've gotta do it. Don't wait for that bad thing to happen. For you to have that wake-up call and think, right, now is the time to start living. Go and do it now. And just one more piece of advice. Don't take yourself too seriously. You rocked it, buddy.