How humour helped us cope with cancer
Receiving a cancer diagnosis is a serious moment - and yet everyone reacts differently. Three young people supported by Teenage Cancer Trust talk about how finding and keeping their sense of humour in the face of cancer was a vital part of their journey.
'It’s my way to tackle things with a sense of humour'
Dan was 21 when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma after developing a persistent cough. His GP found that his left lung had collapsed and filled with fluid, and sent him to Southend Hospital for further tests.
But his reaction to being told the news wasn’t what you might expect.
Dan says: “When a doctor told me that he thought I had Hodgkin lymphoma, my reaction wasn’t as expected. Instead of crying, I broke into singing It’s a Hard Knock Life from Annie.
“He’d come into the room with lots of trainee nurses who had all been smiling and didn’t know what was coming. The nurses all looked at me like: ‘Are you ok? You’ve just been told that you have something that means you may die, and this is how you react.’ But it’s my way to tackle things with a sense of humour.”
Dan was helped by Grace, Teenage Cancer Trust’s Clinical Nurse Specialist, and was treated at Teenage Cancer Trust’s unit at UCLH. And he says that keeping things light was an important part of dealing with receiving his diagnosis.
“I have always been a jokey person so when put in a life-or-death situation my brain instantly goes to making a joke.
“Keeping the sense of humour when going through anything in life is important because as soon as you lose the fun and the humour it all kind of becomes real. The sense of my cancer not really being real helped in a way because it didn’t feel like a thing that was as big of a deal.”
Dan says that putting his trust in the expert doctors and nurses around him allowed him to focus on the emotional side of his cancer journey.
He says: “I had said to myself if this is the end then I am going to enjoy every last breath and I am not going to have anyone around me not have a smile on their faces while we go through this time.
“My bit of advice for anyone who is going through cancer right now is to look at everything like it’s a joke and then let laughter and happiness guide you to having the positive outcome in the end.”
'We were always having a laugh - that’s not something I would have expected'
Leah was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma in December 2023 aged 21, and had a traumatic time before being diagnosed. Her symptoms were repeatedly misdiagnosed as everything from sciatica to ‘meat sweats’. Now 23, she says that her nurse Shona’s gentle use of humour was helpful for her during treatment.
She says: “I was introduced to Shona, who would be my nurse throughout. If I ever needed anyone, Shona was there. It was easier to talk to her than anyone else. She was very bubbly, she had a good sense of humour, and we were always having a laugh. That’s not something I would have expected, but I welcomed it.”
Leah says that making friends with other young people on her unit also helped her, as they could share their experiences.
“Being treated around other young people gave me the opportunity to meet some of the strongest, kindest and most understanding people in my life,” she says. “It helped knowing that I wasn’t alone.
“I think my experience would have felt a little more alien without Teenage Cancer Trust. They brought a spirit back in me that I thought I lost.”
'I didn’t think that I’d have friends who I could joke about cancer with'
Josh was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare soft tissue cancer, at the age of 24. He says he felt “unable to process” his diagnosis. However Teenage Cancer Trust’s Youth Support Coordinator Steve and nurse Hanna helped him through treatment, and with their support he met other young people going through the same thing – which helped Josh rekindle his sense of humour.
Josh, now 27, says: “I didn’t think that I’d have friends who I could joke about cancer with and who could fully relate to my cancer jokes.
“It’s nice to have humour while going through treatment as it made things feel less scary.”
He says that meeting other young people in the same situation was a “turning point” for him, as it helped to meet other people the same age who understood exactly what he had been through.
“My advice to other people is that it can be scary at the start, but bear with it and it will get easier,” says Josh. “You will have the support of lots of people, like Steve and Hanna. They have helped save my life and make treatment so much better.”