Austin Birks
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...
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Austin Birks
Dec 20, 20204 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...
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Austin Birks
Nov 28, 20203 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...
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Austin Birks
Nov 10, 20204 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...
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Austin Birks
Nov 1, 20201 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...
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Austin Birks
Oct 29, 20205 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...
134 views1 comment
Austin Birks
Aug 24, 20204 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...
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Austin Birks
Aug 8, 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...
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Austin Birks
May 17, 20203 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...
159 views4 comments
Austin Birks
Apr 26, 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...
154 views2 comments
Austin Birks
Apr 14, 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...
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Austin Birks
Mar 17, 20201 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,...
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Austin Birks
Mar 15, 20203 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...
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Austin Birks
Mar 14, 20201 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...
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Austin Birks
Mar 14, 20203 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...
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Austin Birks
Mar 12, 20203 min read
Sampson and Delilah, and No Blogs...
I recall, as a young child, being quite intrigued by the story of Sampson and Delilah; the idea of some superhero with long hair that...
130 views3 comments
Austin Birks
Jan 28, 20204 min read
My Cancer Journey
When I was originally diagnosed with Level 4a bowel cancer in September 2018, it was a complete surprise. Mostly, because the original...
214 views4 comments
Austin Birks
Jan 17, 20204 min read
Sainsbury’s Stoma Surprise... Water Closet!
I have to say that as a stoma bag user on a daily basis... Mind you, it’s not like you can take a day off, or just go back to the good...
73 views1 comment
Austin Birks
Dec 29, 20193 min read
Ho, ho, ho, The Force is Strong With This One. Aka: The Real Spirit of Christmas
So, what a great Christmas that was! And indeed, the festive season continues in full flow. It is, without doubt, a wonderful but strange...
75 views1 comment
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