chrismoyles.net
- Wed Jun 07, 2006 11:16 pm
#233293
Chris' mum Vera was interviewed for the Leeds Today newspaper.
This is a really lovely interview about a very courageous woman.
We may argue and bitch on here alot but just reading this makes me think about life in a different light. Well done to her on getting over her illness and hats off to Chris and the rest of his family for supporting her all the way.
A brilliant story....very real and heartfelt. Sensible and good mannered comments only please.
DJ's mum thanks the health workers who helped her in her darkest hours
Behind the laughter of Chris Moyles's X-Factor performances is the heartbreaking story of his mother's breast cancer battle. In an exclusive interview Rod McPhee spoke to Vera Moyles.
"My mum had breast cancer a couple of years ago," announced Chris Moyles to millions of TV viewers this week. "She's alright now, but she got a lot of help from the Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre in Leeds."
Vera Moyles was already the proudest mother in Britain as her famous DJ son first took to the stage of X-Factor: Battle of the Stars this week.
But at the end of his barnstorming debut performance she was reduced to tears when he pledged all the cash he raised on the show to a relatively low-profile organisation in Leeds.
Audiences in the London studios may be forgiven for being oblivious to the Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre, but sadly here in the city where they're based, they are almost as unknown among the wider population.
Like many people Vera, 65, only heard about their services because one of her friends had been diagnosed with cancer and was referred to the unit at St James's Hospital.
But she never thought she would be also be struck down with the disease and suddenly find herself relying on their invaluable help.
Active
"At first I wouldn't believe it." said Vera. "They told me I had cancer and my first response was 'No, I haven't' I just wouldn't accept it.
"I felt fine and I was so active I didn't see how I could. I was just walking around in a dream, telling myself 'You've got cancer', but I just couldn't get it to sink in.
"It only sank in when I first went to the hospital and started undergoing the treatment, then the shock set in and I realised it was for real."
Vera, of [ ], Leeds, was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2004. She had a mastectomy before undergoing a gruelling period of intense chemotherapy.
On top of the trauma of being diagnosed and the uncertainty of the treatment she had the added stress of telling her family, including her famous son.
Radio One breakfast show presenter Chris and his brother Kieran had just got over the illness of their father, who underwent a quadruple heart bypass in the summer of 2004, when their mother dropped the bombshell.
"Unfortunately I had to tell Christopher over the telephone." said Vera. "But I knew he wasn't on his own, his girlfriend Sophie was there, so I knew he'd be OK.
"He was great about it though, both he and his brother were there for me and they were there for each other as they both live in London.
"Whenever I needed them they were only a phone call away and they would come up at the drop of a hat. We're a very close family and I also had my husband, who had been ill himself – I drew inspiration from him.
"Just as he had got over his illness I was determined to get over mine. I didn't think about things too much, I just got on with them. I just said 'Right, let's deal with it'."
But behind the determination lay festering anxieties which many cancer patients, however courageous, have to endure.
Like countless women Mrs Moyles had to deal with changes in her body image as a result of the operation and her treatment, which caused her hair to fall out.
Which is where the Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre steps in. Following on from diagnosis and treatment the team of counsellors and carers help to deal with the psychological and practical needs of patients.
"I didn't go for a long time," said Vera. "I was still taking a long time to come to terms with my diagnosis and the treatment and I didn't want to think beyond that.
"But when I went I wished I'd gone sooner. I can remember the first time I walked in I just burst into tears through the sheer relief of it.
"You can just sit down and talk about anything, and all the anxiety and worry comes out. They will stay and listen to you for as long as it takes, it's wonderful.
"And they help you deal with all sorts of things. Having chemotherapy is bad for anyone, but it can be particularly bad for a woman.
"Losing your hair is possibly the worst thing because you can see it. But there you can talk through how you feel, try on some hats and wigs and stuff.
"And you feel so relaxed, nothing you say sounds stupid, so you go from being traumatised to sometimes having a laugh about things.
Laugh
"I sometimes look back at pictures of me with a wig on and it looks horrendous, but I can laugh at it now which is great."
Vera has been in remission for a year now and feels perfectly healthy, with regular three-monthly check ups monitoring her continued progress.
Now Chris is repaying the debt of gratitude as he appears on X-Factor – and if his show-stopping performances so far are anything to go by, then a pretty large cheque could soon be heading towards the Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre.
"He knows how much they did for me," said Vera, "and I'm so proud of what he's doing. If you could have seen me there after his performances when he told everyone about the charity I was reduced to tears, it was wonderful."
The centre opened six years ago after a fundraising campaign which saw local businessman Robert Ogden donate £500,000 towards the appeal.
A joint venture between Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Macmillan Cancer Relief, its aim is to provide palliative care to people with life-limiting diseases.
In practice that could mean anything from CJD sufferers to people with motor neurone disease, but of the annual 14,000 people who pass through the centre's doors, a large proportion are cancer patients.
And of those patients roughly 70 per cent are women who have been diagnosed and treated, usually for ovarian or breast tumours.
"Women have great difficulties dealing with many of the side effects of their treatment." said centre manager Dorothy Lambeth. "If you lose your hair, or part of a breast then that causes a great deal of stress in terms of self-image.
"It isn't about vanity, it's about self-esteem which is vital when you're going through a period of extreme stress. Not only can it be important in terms of aiding your recovery, as evidence suggests a better psychological state helps your physical recovery, but also some people actually decline treatment because of the effects of certain therapies.
"So what we aim to provide is a broad range of services including counselling, make overs, even aromatherapy, reflexology, anything which may help.
"It is also about providing information and support, we're here to answer all the questions which doctors and medical staff cannot answer.
"Simple considerations like, where can I get a bus to the hospital, who will look after my pet when I'm away from home and that sort of thing. They're added stress at a time when you can do without it, and we aim to help with all those elements too."
It all began in 2000 when Dorothy, a nurse since her teens, was given an empty shell of a building and free rein to develop a unit which would provide all the essential services required by patients after their treatment.
"The biggest hurdle is the emotional rollercoaster you seem to be on, one minute you can receive good news the next minute it is bad.
"But on top of that there are lots of additional problems. For example it is much harder to get men to open up about their feelings in the way that women do, though it is often best if they do. Family members often go through just as much stress, if not more, than the patient who is diagnosed with the cancer.
"Which is why we are here for them too. It is terrible to think what many people went through before this centre opened, they would have gone through so much on their own.
"We've actually had people who initially went into remission then come here after a tumour has returned and they said to us 'If only you'd been here before.' But the important thing is we are here now, not many people know about us, but we are here. And that's why we're so grateful to Chris for what he's doing.
"Not only is he raising cash he is raising our profile, which means that there may be many cancer sufferers out there we could help, but until now they may not have known we existed."
• For more information or to make a donation call the Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre on 0113 2066501.
This is a really lovely interview about a very courageous woman.
We may argue and bitch on here alot but just reading this makes me think about life in a different light. Well done to her on getting over her illness and hats off to Chris and the rest of his family for supporting her all the way.
A brilliant story....very real and heartfelt. Sensible and good mannered comments only please.
DJ's mum thanks the health workers who helped her in her darkest hours
Behind the laughter of Chris Moyles's X-Factor performances is the heartbreaking story of his mother's breast cancer battle. In an exclusive interview Rod McPhee spoke to Vera Moyles.
"My mum had breast cancer a couple of years ago," announced Chris Moyles to millions of TV viewers this week. "She's alright now, but she got a lot of help from the Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre in Leeds."
Vera Moyles was already the proudest mother in Britain as her famous DJ son first took to the stage of X-Factor: Battle of the Stars this week.
But at the end of his barnstorming debut performance she was reduced to tears when he pledged all the cash he raised on the show to a relatively low-profile organisation in Leeds.
Audiences in the London studios may be forgiven for being oblivious to the Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre, but sadly here in the city where they're based, they are almost as unknown among the wider population.
Like many people Vera, 65, only heard about their services because one of her friends had been diagnosed with cancer and was referred to the unit at St James's Hospital.
But she never thought she would be also be struck down with the disease and suddenly find herself relying on their invaluable help.
Active
"At first I wouldn't believe it." said Vera. "They told me I had cancer and my first response was 'No, I haven't' I just wouldn't accept it.
"I felt fine and I was so active I didn't see how I could. I was just walking around in a dream, telling myself 'You've got cancer', but I just couldn't get it to sink in.
"It only sank in when I first went to the hospital and started undergoing the treatment, then the shock set in and I realised it was for real."
Vera, of [ ], Leeds, was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2004. She had a mastectomy before undergoing a gruelling period of intense chemotherapy.
On top of the trauma of being diagnosed and the uncertainty of the treatment she had the added stress of telling her family, including her famous son.
Radio One breakfast show presenter Chris and his brother Kieran had just got over the illness of their father, who underwent a quadruple heart bypass in the summer of 2004, when their mother dropped the bombshell.
"Unfortunately I had to tell Christopher over the telephone." said Vera. "But I knew he wasn't on his own, his girlfriend Sophie was there, so I knew he'd be OK.
"He was great about it though, both he and his brother were there for me and they were there for each other as they both live in London.
"Whenever I needed them they were only a phone call away and they would come up at the drop of a hat. We're a very close family and I also had my husband, who had been ill himself – I drew inspiration from him.
"Just as he had got over his illness I was determined to get over mine. I didn't think about things too much, I just got on with them. I just said 'Right, let's deal with it'."
But behind the determination lay festering anxieties which many cancer patients, however courageous, have to endure.
Like countless women Mrs Moyles had to deal with changes in her body image as a result of the operation and her treatment, which caused her hair to fall out.
Which is where the Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre steps in. Following on from diagnosis and treatment the team of counsellors and carers help to deal with the psychological and practical needs of patients.
"I didn't go for a long time," said Vera. "I was still taking a long time to come to terms with my diagnosis and the treatment and I didn't want to think beyond that.
"But when I went I wished I'd gone sooner. I can remember the first time I walked in I just burst into tears through the sheer relief of it.
"You can just sit down and talk about anything, and all the anxiety and worry comes out. They will stay and listen to you for as long as it takes, it's wonderful.
"And they help you deal with all sorts of things. Having chemotherapy is bad for anyone, but it can be particularly bad for a woman.
"Losing your hair is possibly the worst thing because you can see it. But there you can talk through how you feel, try on some hats and wigs and stuff.
"And you feel so relaxed, nothing you say sounds stupid, so you go from being traumatised to sometimes having a laugh about things.
Laugh
"I sometimes look back at pictures of me with a wig on and it looks horrendous, but I can laugh at it now which is great."
Vera has been in remission for a year now and feels perfectly healthy, with regular three-monthly check ups monitoring her continued progress.
Now Chris is repaying the debt of gratitude as he appears on X-Factor – and if his show-stopping performances so far are anything to go by, then a pretty large cheque could soon be heading towards the Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre.
"He knows how much they did for me," said Vera, "and I'm so proud of what he's doing. If you could have seen me there after his performances when he told everyone about the charity I was reduced to tears, it was wonderful."
The centre opened six years ago after a fundraising campaign which saw local businessman Robert Ogden donate £500,000 towards the appeal.
A joint venture between Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Macmillan Cancer Relief, its aim is to provide palliative care to people with life-limiting diseases.
In practice that could mean anything from CJD sufferers to people with motor neurone disease, but of the annual 14,000 people who pass through the centre's doors, a large proportion are cancer patients.
And of those patients roughly 70 per cent are women who have been diagnosed and treated, usually for ovarian or breast tumours.
"Women have great difficulties dealing with many of the side effects of their treatment." said centre manager Dorothy Lambeth. "If you lose your hair, or part of a breast then that causes a great deal of stress in terms of self-image.
"It isn't about vanity, it's about self-esteem which is vital when you're going through a period of extreme stress. Not only can it be important in terms of aiding your recovery, as evidence suggests a better psychological state helps your physical recovery, but also some people actually decline treatment because of the effects of certain therapies.
"So what we aim to provide is a broad range of services including counselling, make overs, even aromatherapy, reflexology, anything which may help.
"It is also about providing information and support, we're here to answer all the questions which doctors and medical staff cannot answer.
"Simple considerations like, where can I get a bus to the hospital, who will look after my pet when I'm away from home and that sort of thing. They're added stress at a time when you can do without it, and we aim to help with all those elements too."
It all began in 2000 when Dorothy, a nurse since her teens, was given an empty shell of a building and free rein to develop a unit which would provide all the essential services required by patients after their treatment.
"The biggest hurdle is the emotional rollercoaster you seem to be on, one minute you can receive good news the next minute it is bad.
"But on top of that there are lots of additional problems. For example it is much harder to get men to open up about their feelings in the way that women do, though it is often best if they do. Family members often go through just as much stress, if not more, than the patient who is diagnosed with the cancer.
"Which is why we are here for them too. It is terrible to think what many people went through before this centre opened, they would have gone through so much on their own.
"We've actually had people who initially went into remission then come here after a tumour has returned and they said to us 'If only you'd been here before.' But the important thing is we are here now, not many people know about us, but we are here. And that's why we're so grateful to Chris for what he's doing.
"Not only is he raising cash he is raising our profile, which means that there may be many cancer sufferers out there we could help, but until now they may not have known we existed."
• For more information or to make a donation call the Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre on 0113 2066501.
