Jules Peters: My Cancer Journey

Jules and Mike at Abbey Road

On Tuesday night BBC 1 Wales had the first airing of "Jules Peters: My Cancer Journey", which covers Jules journey of recovering from breast cancer, the reconstructive surgery that followed, to rebuilding her confidence, and supporting others. It's a must watch programme available to catch up on BBC iplayer. The show also showed Jules meeting up with the ladies "You Me And The Big C" podcast. One of whom, Deborah James (Bowel Babe) is a stage 4 bowel cancer patient, who I was lucky enough to meet last year for the new book.

I first met Jules, wife of The Alarm's Mike Peters, in the early 2000s at The Gathering in Llandudno - the annual event held in North Wales for a weekend of music by Mike Peters and The Alarm. I first tried to get her to go for printed "poppy" carrier bags, and sure enough the following year I drove to the same event with a car boot full of "Alarm" carrier bags. I can't claim to know her very well, but will always say hello and have a chat with her. Jules was extremely helpful in setting up the photo at Abbey Road of herself and Mike for the chapter about Mike in the Lives & Times book I published in 2015. I'm still hopeful that Jules will be part of the new book if she ever stays still for five minutes, and her feet ever touch the ground!

It's almost two years since mum passed away from bowel cancer. The way I have dealt with bereavement has been to shut down, and detach myself from that painful period. I suppress memories, and have found the fundraising to be quite cathartic as I moved into the next stage of my life. However every so often something will happen that gets through the wall that I have built, and hits you right in the pit of the stomach, bringing back memories and the raw pain that resides somewhere deep inside. In the documentary Jules met Nicola, who is another breast cancer patient still very much in the midst of the disease. The moment she told Jules about the cancer spreading to her brain, shook me to the core, especially when Nicola talked about the brain seizures. 

Mum's illness lasted for four and a half years. Most of her treatment was surgical, and the cancer had spread to her lungs which resulted in four operations to remove cancerous nodules. Mum never let the cancer define her, and she would always count down the days post operation to when she could drive her car again, and most importantly ride her horse. She had such a passion for life. It was only when the cancer spread to mum's brain that things really took a really serious turn for the worse. Treatment options were running out, and the brain seizures became more frequent with increasing consequences. The final seizure left mum paralysed down her right side, and almost speechless. During her 2 months in hospital, the steroids improved her speech and she got a little mobility back in her right side. However, when she was deemed to be terminal, an moved to a nursing home under palliative care, the medication was slowly withdrawn and the everything went backwards. She was at the nursing home for just over a month, and passed away peacefully on August 29th, 2016.

I am not sure quite what I am trying to say here. Perhaps to explain just how a big a deal cancer is, the effect it has on patients and their loved ones. Jules crams so much into her life every day. Bringing up a family, managing The Alarm, being a band member in The Alarm, and giving up a large part of herself to fans every single day, and not forgetting reaching out to fellow breast cancer patients. She is an amazing lady, and an inspiration to many.

To balance things out here on a personal level. Yes the loss of mum, and to be fair also dad some years earlier, has been a devastating blow, and one that I am still coming to terms with. However, when I think about things there is much positivity to take out of those sad events. I have done things that I would otherwise never have done. I've published two books, with a third on the way. I have recently jumped put of a plane. I went to New York for the first time in May. And most importantly it's the many new friendships I have made especially with fans of The Alarm. Their support of my fundraising has been astonishing, and I have gone from being very much a loner at gigs, to someone who can now go to an Alarm concert with the confidence of knowing that there will be many familiar faces to talk to, even in New York. 

So there you go, and I still really know quite what I am trying to say here! Live for the moment, hold on to what you have and those around you, and reach out to others. And watch the documentary! x

The Alarm - The Band & The Fans Supporting My Bowel Cancer Fundraising

When I started putting together the Lives & Times bowel cancer fundraising book, one of my big ambitions was to meet and photograph all four original members of The Alarm. However, little did I realise that  this would be just the beginning, and what followed would have a huge impact on me.

One of the first people I contacted when I started the book was Eddie Macdonald, and I managed to photograph Eddie and Nigel Twist together in London. Eddie has been a tremendous supporter, and he got Nigel on board, when Nige was in the UK on a rare trip over from the US, where he now lives. Jules Peters was instrumental in sorting out a photograph with Mike Peters. This took place at Abbey Road studios when I was truly honoured to be part of The Scriptures - the world's longest song. Finally just when I was beginning to think it wasn't going to happen, I met and photographed Dave Sharp in Winchester. I got to see him soundcheck before his gig, and that was observing a real master craftsman, and he was really nice when we sat down for a chat. As well as the original band, along the way the current line-up also got snapped at Abbey Road. In fact Steve 'Smiley' Barnard popped up twice in the book, as he also features in the chapter on From The Jam.

New York, May 2018

The good news is that I have already met and photographed 'Smiley' and James from the current line-for the next book, The Record, which is well under way. This will also hopefully feature Jules Peters, now also a regular in the current group. She has recently been treated for breast cancer, and her story is a huge inspiration for many. I recently also met Gareth Jones (Gaz Top) for the new book before the band's recent London gig, so it will have plenty of Alarm in it too. Who knows what else could happen before the book is published. In the meantime you can still buy Lives & Times from my ETSY online store. 

Alarm fans with Lives & Times

I've followed The Alarm since 1983 when I heard The Stand on John  Peel - never has a record made such an impact on me. Until I started my fundraising I had followed the band with a few close friends, and had kept myself pretty much to myself. In fact during my first 33 years I barely met more than a handful of fellow fans. My mum's illness, and the subsequent fundraising has changed all that. The friendship, and amazing support for my books and t-shirts, from fans has been utterly amazing. I have lost count of the amount of books they have bought so far, and some of these have lost people to bowel cancer too. When I went to a bowel cancer patient event in London in 2016, I was joined by fellow fan Tina Atkins to help me sell the book there. We'd never met, but she very kindly agreed to come and help. That has been the start of a great friendship, and the friendships have kept on coming thick and fast ever since. I can't believe why it took me so long to come out of my shell. At The Gathering in 2017 I seemed to spend as much time selling books as anything else - it was quite astonishing. I can now go the gigs and know plenty of people, which makes each gig so much better and fulfilling. I recently went to see the band in New York, which was an amazing experience making many new friendships there. Every single person who has supported me, has helped take the fundraising past £4000 so far. I thank you all 💓

The Alarm - New album Equals out on June 29th

Bowel cancer is the second biggest cancer killer in the UK taking 16,000 lives each year. If detected early it can be successfully treated in over 90% of cases. The key thing is to increase awareness, and improve early detection rates. At the moment on 15% of patients are diagnosed at early stage 1. All the funds that I raise are donated to Beating Bowel Cancer / Bowel Cancer UK. These two charities joined together at the beginning of the year to become the UK's leading bowel cancer charity. My mum passed away from bowel cancer in 2016, and as well as fundraising I am helping to raise awareness about this awful disease, and hopefully by the year 2050 no-one will die of bowel of bowel cancer.

Legendary Guitarist James Stevenson Features in Forthcoming Bowel Cancer Charity Book

I met James Stevenson, the guitarist in The Alarm, at the band's final gig of 2017 in Oxford last October. I was allowed into the venue to photograph, and chat with James before the soundcheck. I then got a photo pass to photograph The Alarm for the three songs of their set. This would have been more than enough in its own right. However it was a pretty special evening. The band was supporting the #wearitpink day for breast cancer awareness, so the venue became a sea of pink. James was very classy with his pink scarf tied to his waist, whereas myself and many others went completely over the top with it 😊 Jules Peters, keyboard player, and wife of Mike Peters, has been undergoing gruelling treatment for this awful disease, after being diagnosed during 2016. The gig was outstanding, and I had the added bonus of getting to chat with Jules, and drummer Smiley after my meeting with James - both of whom will also feature in the new book. So plenty to write about for this chapter...

In the photo pit waiting for The Alarm

The forthcoming charity book, The Record, will raise funds for Beating Bowel Cancer / Bowel Cancer UK, who have recently merged to become the UK's leading bowel cancer charity.  Bowel cancer is the second highest cancer killer in the UK with 16,000 lives lost to it each year. Sadly my Mum passed away from this awful disease on August 29th 2016, so all my fundraising is now being done in her memory. Another aim of the book will be to raise awareness about bowel cancer. If detected early it can be successfully treated in over 90% of cases. This figure falls dramatically the later it is detected, so improving early diagnosis rates is vital.

All the items I am selling on my www.bowelcancerfundraising.co.uk website are raising funds for the charity.