Richard's story
Finding the humour in chemo
When Richard and Sophie Armitt waved goodbye to family and friends in their native UK, they were excitedly planning a new life in Auckland together.
Fast forward a year to 2006 and the couple were coming to terms with the news that Richard had non-Hodgkin lymphoma – and it was spreading fast.
Richard recalls: “Looking back, there were very few signs. I had been feeling a bit run down and tired but I wasn’t sleeping brilliantly at the time and was busy hunting for a new job.”
It was the discovery of a lump under his arm during a shower at his Green Bay home that prompted Richard to seek medical help.
He says: “I went to see my GP and he was fantastic – I’m convinced he knew what it was straight away. He recommended an ultrasound and as the nurses carried it out I watched the look on their faces suddenly change...”
Within days he was in front of a specialist experiencing a “painful” bone marrow biopsy, and around two weeks later Richard received his diagnosis, non-Hodgkin lymphoma stage 4.
Richard says: “It was very aggressive. During the first scan they saw some activity in my chest area; by the end of those two weeks it looked like I had half an apple sticking out of my chest. Then, between the scan and my first treatment, a 5cms growth appeared on my liver.
“I was diagnosed in the August and I think that if I hadn’t visited a doctor, I might not have seen Christmas.”
Richard had surgery to remove the lump under his arm, followed by eight rounds of R-CHOP chemotherapy. He recalls: “The medical team were fantastic and luckily my body stood up to the treatment really well. It’s the tiredness I remember, and the blisters that covered my feet. My nail beds became really tender and it’s not until something like that happens that you realise how often you bash your fingers!
“When I look back at photos, I was bright yellow with tiny little eyes and sleeping half the day, but at the time I wasn’t aware of all that, I was just trying to focus on getting better.”
Richard continued to work three days a week throughout his treatment, “It gave me some semblance of a routine.” Then, as his treatment came to an end, he received a phone call for an interview. He says: “It felt exciting but also quite dangerous. During treatment you become quite institutionalised, then, suddenly, you are on your own.”
Richard started the new job in logistics with the North Shore firm at the beginning of 2007 and has now been in remission for more than two years.
When he was diagnosed, both Sophie and Richard received plenty of support from their new Kiwi friends and their families overseas, and Richard visited his local bookshop, seeking helpful guides.
The 39-year-old says: I couldn’t find anything that gave me the advice and practical help I wanted. I was left thinking, where’s the fun? So I decided to write my own book.”
Earlier this year, Richard published Taking Chemo on the Chin – simple advice from the other side of treatment, a ‘helpful, honest and humorous look’ at cancer treatment.
He says: “It’s helped me to move on.”
Copies of Taking Chemo on the Chin are available for loan from the LBF Support Services resource library or can be purchased at www.koru-cottage.com.
