Charlie's Story - My Experience With Cancer At Age 18
Posted by Jerome Mendes on November 09, 2022
We sat down with Charlie Bartholomew, a 21-year-old mechanic, who at the age of 18 started his cancer journey. Charlie opened up about his experience with having Hodgkin's lymphoma at such a young age. He shared with us the highs and the lows, but most importantly the lessons he learn't... this is his story...
Tell us a little bit about the cancer that you had, the kind of treatments you went through.
Yeah, I had stage 3 to 4 Hodgkin's lymphoma, where your lymph nodes expand and they swell up. I had lumps all over my body. I did four months of chemotherapy, so i had a pick line in my shoulder and they would attach the chemo to the pick line and it would all just run through my body. I had to do that 3 to 4 times a week.
How did cancer affect you mentally, especially at such a young age? Like 18 years old?
At the start, it affected me mentally because I was scared. I was very scared when I first found out. But when I walked through the cancer ward, you see so many other people with such worse cancers and they're probably not going to make it out of the ward. It just puts you on your seat a bit, your like “I’m going to get out of here, I’m going to get my hair back, but these people aren't”.
It affected me more physically though because I was on so many steroids, I was on 80ml a day taking 14 tablets a day. I put on a little weight, gained stretch marks, and whatnot. So it affected me more physically than mentally.
At what point did you realize you were in safe hands?
When the doctors explained everything and told me that I will come out of it. Also, when I got in contact with a close friend of mine, Emilio. He's a mate of mine who had it as well. He explained everything to me, saying how he overcame it and it just made me feel better. My sister Tammy also had it before me too, the exact same when she was 14. So when I saw she came out of it strong as well, it made me feel a lot better.
During the whole four months, what was most important to you at that time?
Probably the people around me, the people that helped me through it. My mom was there with me every day. I wasn't taking in anything from the doctor. I was just sitting in the appointments. My mom was the one doing everything, writing everything down, making sure I was having all my tablets. I was just basically off work, having fun during most of it, to be honest. My girlfriend, Emilia, she helped me a lot as well, the same for all my mates too, I'd go out with them and they'd keep a smile on my face.
What helped you kind of push through the whole journey?
It was definetly family and friends but also, when I was by myself, It may sound stupid, but my X-Box. I would play Xbox and be focused on the game, and not focus on any of my pain or nausea or anything like that.
How much time did you actually spend in the hospital per week?
I'd be there three or four days a week for 2 to 3 hours a day. It depends on the chemo. So sometimes I'd be there for one hour, sometimes I'd be there for 2 hours. Depends on which chemo you’re doing that day.
What was the feeling like beating cancer?
The feeling was amazing. When I went for my last chemo, it was probably one of the best days of my life, because I was finally finished. I got the pick line out and it just felt amazing. Everything was done. I was going to get my hair back, and lose all the weight and yeah, it felt really, really good.
So you rang the bell at St Marys cathedral. What was that like?
Yeah. That was awesome. Emilio invited me to that. He got invited to go there, and told me to come with him. That was a very good experience because at the kid’s hospital where my sister went, they have a bell to ring, but not in adult Hospitals.
It's just like a normal day when you beat cancer as an Adult. When they beat cancer, they just say cya they don’t ring a bell or anything, which I think should change. I think there should be bells in there for people that are finishing up because it's the same, you know, finishing cancer as a kid or as an adult.
But yeah, we went there, and it was good we got to ring something because I think it's a very good tradition. Makes you feel strong, which makes you feel good after.
What is some advice you would give for people that are going through that same similar journey that that you had.
Rely on your loved ones because they will always help you, they will always take you out of your dark places. Also, try and contact someone that has had it and been through it because they will know what to do.
They will know how to speak to you like Emilio did with me. I was very scared at the start until I spoke to someone like him and someone like my sister, because they helped me get an understanding of what I'm going to go through, what is going to happen...because you're very clueless at the start. You don't know what's going to happen. You don't even know if you're going to make it out alive and all that.
So speak to someone that's had it and just rely on your family and loved ones.
What were the darkest moments for you during the whole journey?
Probably looking in the mirror because I put on so much weight. looking in the mirror and seeing all the stretch marks, seeing how big I got, losing my hair as well made it worse.
So whenever I looked in the mirror, I was pretty, pretty bad.
A lot of people were around me so I didn't have too many dark times, but if you ever do get into those dark places, just speak up. Talk. Don't keep it all in because it just makes it worse.
Did you see any professionals or organisations to help you mentally?
No, I didn't. But if you are bad and you do want to see people like that, I do recommend it. There are a lot of people that do stuff like that.
You could say my doctor was one of those people. When you do see a doctor, he does calm you down and help you a lot. But yeah, just my family and my friends really helped me a lot.
Does this cancer come back, and are you scared of that?
It can come back. And whenever I do feel something in my body, I always check up on it. But I'm not worried. And I don't like to think about that because then it's just always in the back of your head. I'd rather put that past me. If it comes back, it comes back. It is what it is.
How has your cancer journey changed you as a person?
Changed me a fair bit in bad ways and good ways.
The good ways were it opened my eyes a lot because I never even thought about cancer before, never even thought about how many people are getting affected by it every day. Like whenever I went to the ward it was full and whenever I went to my sister's hospital, with all those young kids, it was full. So, it opens your eyes a lot to how many people are suffering. You don't even know. So that helped me open my eyes a lot. Now I've got a lot more respect for people, and a lot more respect for what's going on around me.
In the bad ways, I became a lot more silent without even realizing it. I was by myself a lot, i was in my room a lot, i wasn't talking much and i was playing a lot of video games. So, i got in a bad habit.
What's something that you want to let people who haven't gone through that experience to know?
I want them to know that once it's beaten it doesn't finish. it affects you, I think, more after than when you have it. It looks like it affects people more when you have it, but all the after-effects you get are huge. The bad habits you get into, the weight you put on...like I've got stretch marks still very bright from 2 years ago now. Also, you get into like a shell as well. People just need to realize that it's not over for a very, very long time.
What would you like to say to cancer?
FUCK CANCER!
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