Jaynie’s journal of inspiration

Jaynie Huxley putting the finishing touches to her book

Cancer victim puts her nine-year fight into words

A WOMAN’S poetry describing her nine-year battle with cancer is being published as an inspiration to others.

Such was the emotion in Jaynie Huxley’s writing, a friend who read the poems instantly knew what comfort and hope they would bring to other sufferers.

Jaynie, of Manchester Road, Greenfield, was compelled to put pen to paper to describe her feelings of anger and frustration after she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 37.

The result was an outpouring of the dread and the fear, the hopes and the joy wrung out from each precious day of life.

She jotted poems on scraps of paper lying around the house to help her cope when she needed to let her feelings out.

And it was a chance sighting of the poems by Beverley Heap who was so moved by what she read, that she has persuaded Jaynie to get them published.

Jaynie’s poetry will fill almost 100 pages of the book “Let the Swearing Begin — Expressions of a Nine-Year Cancer Journey”.

She has kept only a few very personal poems to herself, and has pledged the proceeds of sales to Oldham Cancer Support Centre.

Jaynie’s nine-year cancer journey has culminated in the remarkable 46-year-old shunning her latest course of chemotherapy so she can spend priceless time with her family.

Speaking at her home which she shares with husband Mark, Jaynie explained: “I have always been creative, and I feel blessed started to write in it. It evolved and became a way for me to express what was going on inside my head in a safe way.

“I didn’t show it to anyone. They were very personal, I just wrote them for myself.”

Jaynie recalled: “When I was diagnosed I thought I was going to die, and quite soon, but in actual fact it’s nine years down the road and I’m still here.

“Mark and I have done amazing things we wouldn’t have done if I hadn’t got cancer. We bought a narrowboat and enjoyed some good times with that, then we got a camper van and travelled all over with it.

“They are both things we wanted to do but would probably never have got round to without the cancer.”

Jaynie hopes her poems will help people see how she has lived her life with cancer, and act as an inspiration to others to get the best out of life.

She has an unparalleled determination to celebrate life and live it to the full, and although she admits her work was spurred by the fury and frustration of her situation, it also has a big injection of humour and joy.

Jaynie retired from her work as a mental health nurse when the cancer travelled into her bones six years ago.

It was a measure of her indomitable spirit that one of the first things she did was get an electric scooter.

“I couldn’t stand for very long or walk very far, but I didn’t want that to stop me doing things,” she said. “I was young and wanted to get on with my life.

“Dependency has been a real problem for me to come to terms with, and I didn’t want my family and friends to have to keep waiting for me or push me around in a wheelchair.”

As time passed, Jaynie discovered the poetry flowing thick and fast.

“If I sit and think about it, I can’t write anything,” she explained. “It just comes into my head and I jot it down on any bit of paper to hand.”

The idea to turn her poetry into a book came from Beverley who works for the charity as a therapist and fundraiser.

Beverley said: “I was giving Jaynie reflexology one day, and she had some of her poetry on the table,

“She asked did I want to read it, so I said I wasn’t a poetry person, but I would give it a go.

“It was very powerful and emotional. I recognised straight away what I was reading. With some chemotherapy people get very sore hands and feet, or they lose their hair, and it was all written down just exactly as I knew other people were experiencing.

“A lot of people will relate to it, it will help others going through the same as Jaynie, and they will smile at it too.

“Jaynie is a wonderful person with a great sense of humour, and all that comes across.”

Jaynie added: “When Bev suggested printing the book I was worried it would be too much doom and gloom.

“But when I looked at it again I realised it wasn’t. Why should there be? It was nine years of life, and there is a lot of humour, celebration of being alive and gratitude and appreciation for living in the ‘now’.

“Fundraising for cancer care is really important to me, and it makes my heart sing to think my thoughts and feelings might bring money to Oldham Cancer Support Centre when I am not here any more.

“I am so thrilled at the prospect.”

The book is expected to be out by the end of the month, and the Chronicle will carry details of where it is available.