“My way of saying thanks”

The Ocean Suite on Exmouth seafront will be rocking on Friday June 2 for a special fundraising night in aid of FORCE and the Fire Fighters Charity.

There’ll be great food, music from local band Conscious Club that’s guaranteed to get you on your feet and a fantastic draw with around £2,000 worth of prizes.

It’s being organised by Graham Rooms, a long-time supporter of FORCE who sought our help when cancer turned his life upside down.

Graham is no stranger to a challenge. He was fearless in the face of danger as a firefighter and in his spare time ran marathons and endurance races.

In 2019 he faced the biggest challenge of his life when he was diagnosed with aggressive, high grade prostate cancer, a challenge he still confronts every day.

Diagnosis

He was approaching retirement after 30 years in the fire service when he recognised a symptom that made him visit his doctor.

“I noticed a slight decrease in urination pressure, so I went to my GP and had a PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test – a procedure to check your prostate,” explained Graham.

Elevated levels set in train a series of tests that led to that diagnosis just two weeks after his 55^th birthday.

“That’s when my life changed forever. The diagnosis put dark clouds in place, dark thoughts. So, I contacted FORCE.

“My relationship with the charity began in 2009 when my mother was diagnosed with cancer and despite living over the border in Dorset, there was no question that she would receive support from FORCE.

“That’s when I first got involved, raising money in various ways including running the London marathon and taking part in the Rock Solid event as part of the FORCE team.”

Wonderful

Graham had counselling with FORCE oncology support specialist Emma Barker.

“She was wonderful. She took away the dark thought. It was brilliant,” he said.

Emma shared one particular piece of advice – courtesy of unlikely mental health heroes Pooh and Piglet – that has stuck with him.

“Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?”
“Supposing it didn’t,” said Pooh after careful thought.
Piglet was comforted by this.”

“It helped me to understand things. I had cancer but it didn’t mean the end of the world. It helped me mentally through the diagnosis,” said Graham, who lives in Talaton.

Ongoing

His cancer journey is ongoing. He’s had prostate surgery, 37 doses of radiotherapy, a further operation to help with the complicated effects of lymphoedema in both legs which means he can no longer be as active as before and he is now on hormone therapy after cancer was found in in his lymph nodes last year.

“I’ve gone from curative treatment to suppressive treatment and the lymphoedema is a daily reminder of my cancer.

“To know that FORCE was there in the background was always reassuring for me and my family.

“I’ve had fantastic help and support from the charity and the RD&E specialist nurses and consultants – I couldn’t have had better treatment.

“And I’m blessed to have a wonderful network of family and friends around me.”

Generous

Wife Karen and daughter Emma are the solid foundations of that support network and his former colleagues – many living with the knowledge that absorption of toxic material from firefighting can lead to a higher incidence of cancer – have remained constant.

They raised £36k for Prostate Cancer UK and are backing his latest fundraiser in June with Ocean generously allowing use of the venue for free.

Event and draw tickets are available via https://charity-fundraising-event.sumupstore.com or call Graham on 07946 755810.

“I wanted to do something for FORCE and the colleagues who do so much for me. FORCE supports the local community. This is my way of saying thank you for FORCE and all its unsung heroes. I hope it will be a success and everyone will enjoy themselves,” said Graham.

“I want to educate men. If you have any symptoms – you’re peeing more, you have difficulty starting and stopping, there’s blood in your urine, even just once – get yourself checked. When I was diagnosed it made 50 of my colleagues go and get checked. Two of them were flagged for active surveillance. They wouldn’t have done that if I hadn’t spoken about my cancer.”