You know when you “know” that the title of the blog post on its own will make people read it! …Ha!

Regular readers will know that it isn’t just Melanoma that I face. Way back to almost 3 years ago – after diagnosis I tried to get onto a clinical trial for Melanoma.

I was unable to access that clinical trial because I failed one of the base line tests – a colonoscopy. The drug Vemurafenib has a side effect of causing or exacerbating pre-existing lesion or polyp issues within the colon. I had more than 1 polyp & serrated flat lesion growing inside – so I was unable to take part in the clinical trial.

Since then I have had numerous surgeries (some more complicated that others) to remove these rare serrated flat lesions that are pre-cancerous – but known to cause bowel & colon cancer – and whilst not caused by Melanoma, they are connected in that they are both Braf+.

2 rare diseases in 1 body! Lucky me!!!

So – my last surgery was a year ago & I had received a pack of pre-op mini torture devices to prepare my insides.

The little people have been drip fed more information slowly about Mummy & my medical stuff. The calendar entry for the surgery simply read “Imogen Bum Surgery Oxford 4.15pm! The little people were intrigued…they were also still on holiday – so whilst I was inside the John Radcliffe having yet another growing lesion removed they were outside at the park with The Mr.

The following morning my daughter in concern as I moved around gingerly, gave my bottom a squeeze…”it is smaller Mummy…I hope they didn’t take too much away, we like your bottom”!

Like any surgery there are risks & I have had enough of these colon surgeries to know there can be side effects (I passed out after 1 of them) and pain…I really didn’t want anything to go wrong because I am starting a new adventure….a new job!

Any Cancer patient will tell you that the work/treatment/life balance is difficult. Not all employers are as supportive as they should or could be. Having a member of staff with Cancer is for many bosses an irritation & an inconvenience that they have to accept but are not likely to do so willingly. The staff member tries not to have their diagnosis impact upon their job, but hospital appointments can become too frequent..or worse still, you employ a patient like me who had chosen to transfer their care to a hospital that is almost 2 hours away & the standard guidelines for employee care don’t really allow for such instances.

Cancer patients “undergoing treatments” are protected very well in the UK by law…but there are 100’s of thousands of the rest of us, that live in limbo or are watching & waiting…and for us mixing work with being a patient is very difficult.

For a while I was using personal holiday days for every single trip to Oxford….it made a sad situation for my family even less pleasant because I wasn’t getting that much needed holiday time off with them.

My work situation changed & I worked for a much nicer company…where my boss knew….but we never discussed my “Melanoma” and it grew into this elephant in the room.

Over that same time period I was becoming more involved in the Conference & in other organisations involved with general Cancer treatment & research in the UK ….and I sort of felt like I was living two lives….I wanted to find a way to combine what I was growing to love, being personally involved with (randomly) and what I am paid / trained & experienced at doing.

But how does one even go about that?

There are issues for Cancer patients…do we openly disclose our Medical conditions to our future employers…they aren’t “supposed” to discriminate & rightly so…yet it is so easy to turn down a person based upon a Cancer diagnosis if there is another equally qualified person available & in the current job market there almost always is – why take on a risk?

The fact that my involvement with this blog & the Melanoma Patient Conference is so public makes it even harder – people would know “what happened/who I am” before they even had a chance to meet with me…and I had this feeling of reluctance towards the idea of putting myself & my CV out there only to be turned down for ludicrous reasons.

Completely out of the blue I was head hunted via Linked In by a US company that I had met 4-5 years ago…they contacted me professionally with no knowledge of my blog or the conference, but were reaching out to say they remembered me & were looking to expand into the UK & would I be open to talking.

Then I made a decision….I was in a job…so if I was going to make this move I would only do it with 100% open disclosure and acceptance of the other side of me….I had these new skills & experiences that I could bring to the table….and I wanted to use them.

There was this wonderful moment when I shared….and my future bosses sat there, listened, smiled & said…wonderful how that fits with what we do too isn’t it!

I have just had the weekly teleconference sales meeting & was introduced to my new colleagues….when my immediate manager said…but Imogen doesn’t just bring X to the table…she has been working on an amazing project & I want her to tell you all about it!

I fly out tomorrow morning to the States for a week’s induction & training. The hardest bit will be being away from my family.

I have put all my cards on the table. I no longer need to put different hats on & take them off. I don’t need to live in a juggling act. I am so nervous….but I am so very excited about this new adventure & where it will take me.