Louis shares his story

"I’ve always been healthy from a young age, playing football twice a week as well as dance classes three or four times a week. No-one in my close family has ever had a cancer diagnosis and I didn’t know enough about the various types so I never thought it would happen to someone like me at my age, especially when I was training at the top dance college in Europe and so would presume I was much fitter and healthier than average. Turns out, no matter how healthy or fit you are or think you are, whatever your family background, cancer takes no prisoners.
Fortunately, I am completely over my illness and am 8 months in remission, currently continuing my Musical Theatre training at Laine Theatre Arts, feeling better than ever.

So, how did I find out I had cancer? - I originally started feeling a bit ill in October 2014, but only flu-like symptoms, nothing major, so I didn’t think anything of it. I was over the worst of the symptoms after about a week but I still couldn't shake the cough. I saw my local GP in Epsom who diagnosed me with a chest infection after feeling a small lump on my neck. She suggested it was the start of glandular fever and prescribed me with penicillin as well as a note telling me I wasn’t allowed to dance or sing…not ideal when that’s what I do all day."

"The college suggested I go home back to Hertford to recover so that’s what I did, except, I didn’t really recover at all. I had an allergic reaction to the penicillin, sending me to A&E where the first of many tests were done. Blood test after blood test, week after week, no results were showing up as to what it could have been so I was sent to have a PT scan at the start of December. The results came back later that day and that’s when I was told I had a type of Lymphoma. A type of blood cancer.

Of course it was a shock to hear and something me or my mum definitely didn’t want to hear, but in a way, it was good that they finally worked out why I was as ill as I was, it explained the symptoms; night sweats, chesty cough, itchiness, tiredness, among the standard flu-like symptoms. So the ball was rolling and I was referred to UCLH where more tests were done to see what specific type of Lymphoma I had. Finally in January, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma with CD20. Which in summary means, all the symptom’s of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma with a symptom of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. So the chemotherapy treatment I received, was ABVD(R) - the R, being what treats the dysfunctional Non-Hodgkin’s cell. It’s all a bit confusing to explain but when you hear it every week when receiving the chemo, it gets a little easier to understand!
My chemo lasted for just over 7 months, I had a two week delay due to some poor decision making by me which put me in hospital for 6 days, but that’s a different story."



"As a young person (13-24 year old) who receives a diagnosis, we also receive a lot of information on various charities out there that help support people during and after their treatment. I was given information about Teens Unite, who are based in Broxbourne who I’d somehow never heard of. They are an amazing charity that organise and run days and events throughout the year for young people affected by cancer. You meet other young people in similar situations to you and do it in a fun environment, not just in hospital. Various events I’ve done with them include Go-Karting, watching the ATP Tennis Finals at the O2 (in a suite) as well as seeing a handful of West End shows, of which a few of my friends were in.

The charity isn’t just there for these events, it’s also there to have someone to talk to or socialise with. A lot of the time, going through a cancer diagnosis can make you feel quite isolated and leave you unable to socialise with your friends the way you normally would, and people get a bit awkward when it comes to talking about cancer as they don’t know how to. TeensUnite organise these days so that you don’t have to think about it, everyone there either has cancer or has had it so it’s ‘normal’, it’s not usually a topic of conversation. You also get to meet other people and find out their aspirations and goals and how they’ve coped with it which can be quite inspirational.

I still have over two years left to join in with TeensUnite events but even after that time, I will always stay in contact with them to keep up with their progress as a growing charity as well as giving them mine as a performer. Hopefully one day soon, they’ll be organising a group trip to see me in a West End show."