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Starting chemotherapy... again
2 weeks ago I was diagnosed with bowel cancer for the third time. This week, I started back on the chemotherapy and medication regime.

Austin Birks
Feb 21, 20211 min read


When Cancer Comes Back a Third Time
The Bag for Life saga continues with the very recent news that cancer has returned in 2 places and yet again, I find myself on the eve of...

Austin Birks
Feb 14, 20211 min read


Cancer, Cycling and Zwift
Before I was diagnosed with level 4a bowel cancer in September 2018, it would be fair to say that if truth be told, I was not a huge fan...

Austin Birks
Jan 30, 20214 min read


Cancer, Chemo and Corona: Campervan Contentment
Hello my dear chums, I recently wrote my top ten good and bad review of 2020. It was a challenging and enjoyable task in equal measure....

Austin Birks
Jan 2, 20214 min read


Review of 2020: Ten Good, Ten Bad
Hello, my dear chums! Well, here we are on the brink of a brand new year, after one of the most challenging and disturbing years in...

Austin Birks
Dec 31, 202011 min read


Reflections On Christmas Day 2019 Against 2020
It is, quite frankly, quite difficult when I take a step back and try and reflect on all the events that have occurred in this awful and...

Austin Birks
Dec 20, 20204 min read


Living with Cancer: Getting to Grips
So, it is three weeks to the day since I got the “golden ticket” phone call from my oncologist to tell me that the CT scan I had had...

Austin Birks
Nov 28, 20203 min read


Reflections on Life 7 Days After Being Declared Cancer Free
Well, my dear chums, it is 02.00 in the early hours of Tuesday, 10th November 2020. As usual, my insomnia has come to visit me once again...

Austin Birks
Nov 10, 20204 min read


Waiting for CT Scan Results
I finished my last course of chemotherapy 3 months ago and last week I had a CT scan. Next week I will find out if the bowel cancer has...

Austin Birks
Nov 1, 20201 min read


The Finishing Line With Cancer, Or Is It The Beginning Again?
So, here I am again. It is 2AM in the early morning of Thursday, 22nd October 2020. I am just tying to decide, do I watch the MSL...

Austin Birks
Oct 29, 20205 min read


The Strange World Of The (Cancer) Inbetweeners
Hello my dear chums, You might be justifiably baffled at the rather strange nod of the head to the classic teenage comedy series, the...

Austin Birks
Aug 24, 20204 min read


Cancer: The Next Part of The Journey
So, today my dear chums, after a long absence for which I ask your forgiveness, I feel ready to blog again after my most recent adventure...

Austin Birks
Aug 8, 20204 min read


Cancer: Am I Living In A Box?
Older persons reading this might recognise the lyrics of a well known pop ditty that was famous back in the eighties. It was one of those...

Austin Birks
May 17, 20203 min read


Major Cancer Surgery And Lockdown: One Month On
I do not know why, but for some strange reason, Lewis Carols “Alice In Wonderland” has been playing on my mind rather a lot recently. Not...

Austin Birks
Apr 26, 20203 min read


Easter: Corona Recovery
I have always found Easter a rather odd time of the year. As a child, of course, it was wrapped around attending church, mass, the...

Austin Birks
Apr 14, 20203 min read


Facing The Truth: Gutted Like A Fish
Catchy little title, I thought... possibly the name of my next album, assuming, of course, I had an original album in the first place,...

Austin Birks
Apr 10, 20203 min read


Austin's Story - Inspiration in the Face of Adversity
This is the full video of the talk I gave on the 20th February 2020, telling my story with bowel cancer since 2018, living with a stoma,...

Austin Birks
Mar 17, 20201 min read


What’s The Difference Between A Stoma Bag And A Volcano...
Well, there is a question, is it not? Easy answer is, of course, that a volcano is obviously a natural phenomenon of a fissure that links...

Austin Birks
Mar 15, 20203 min read


Austin's Story, Coming to Cinemas Near You Soon
Ahead of the full presentation that I gave at the University College Birmingham, EV Productions have compiled this cheeky little taster...

Austin Birks
Mar 14, 20201 min read


Cancer Is A Roller Coaster, Just Got To Ride It...
And so I quote the immortal words of the mighty Ronan Keating, in one of his finest pop ditties; except there is, of course, a subtle...

Austin Birks
Mar 14, 20203 min read
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