AS Megan Blunt was facing her long cancer battle her thought weren’t on her own life.
Instead she was thinking about how she could help other children get through the long hours of gruelling chemotherapy treatment.
As she lay in her hospital bed beside her friend Nathaniel Burke - who was also battling through the rare bone cancer - she began to plan to write a book to help others.
Now Megan has completed the 40 page book, which is full of helpful tips for children fighting cancer, and it has been published in memory of Nathaniel who sadly lost his battle with the disease.
The book, called ‘chemotherapy and cakes’ was published in March by children’s cancer charity Clic Sargent, and has already been published in seven different languages and has been distrubuted as far as Japan, USA and Australia.
Mrs Blunt, Megan’s mother, said: ‘We are so proud of Megan. She not only bravely fought her own battle with cancer - but her first thoughts have been how she could help other children with cancer.
‘We are so thrilled the book has been published and is now helping children around the world.’
Megan, 15, from Billericay, Essex, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in November 2004. It is a rare bone cancer that affects only about 30 children under the age of 15 every year in the UK.
She had a sore right leg for several months, but a scan at a local hospital failed to show anything was wrong, and the tumour wasn’t diagnosed until two months later.
Mrs Blunt, 42, a primary school teacher, who lives with husband David, 44, a statistician, and their other two daughters Anna, 17, and Rosie, 12, said: ‘I knew something was wrong with Megan as she was exhausted and she was limping too.
‘A few weeks after the scan, her leg started to swell and we took her back to hospital, where this time an MRI scan showed that it was bone cancer.
‘I just burst into tears, I was so shocked. I couldn’t believe that my daughter had cancer. Megan was so brave when she was told.’
Megan started her chemotherapy treatment at the end of November, and it finished eight months later in March 2005.
She lost her hair after the first course of chemotherapy, and in March that year, she also underwent an operation to remove the tumour. Surgeons removed four inches of infected bone and put in a metal prosthesis into her thigh bone.
Mrs Blunt said: ‘Megan found it hard to look at herself without any hair, and she took down all the mirrors in her bedroom. And the chemotherapy made her very sick and dizzy too. But she never complained.
‘We bought her a baseball cap with blond hair attached to it, and she joked that after being dark it was a nice change to be blond.’
It was just after her surgery that Megan met Nathaniel, then ten, who arrived at the hospital for treatment for the same type of rare cancer.
Megan said: ‘We would talk for hours. He loved trains and would tell the nursing staff exactly what route to take from the hospital to their homes and how long it would take.
‘We would talk about our favourite meals too, as we couldn’t eat properly as our mouth were covered in ulcers from the treatment. Nat would tell me about his mum’s amazing home made meatballs and I’d tell him about cakes I’d cooked at home.
‘We just tried to be as normal as possible. I made pom poms to hang on my chemotherapy drip, and I’d decorate my hospital bed with fairy lights.’
Megan was allowed home from hospital in July 2005, and Nat remained there until January 2006. He was then allowed home as his cancer had gone into remission, but in the summer, his cancer returned, this time in his lungs.
Megan said: ‘Nat achieved his dream of going to the world cup in Berlin, but then his cancer came back and there was nothing the doctors could do.
‘I went over the day he died to say goodbye, and it was at his memorial service a week later that I vowed that I would do something in his memory.’
So Megan began writing down all the tips that she could think of to help children get through the gruelling months of chemotherapy.
Her guide, which as an A-Z of tips, advised children to tell jokes to amuse their visitors and to make up songs about their hair falling out.
She said: ‘I sang ‘I’m losing all my hair’ to the tune of ‘Walking in the Air’ and it made all the nurses laugh.
‘Its better to laugh as it does make you feel better.’
Megan finished writing the book in September. Nat’s dad Chris, a professional illustrator, did all the illustrations for the book and it was published in March.
Mrs Blunt said: ‘Its a very positive and different way of looking at cancer, and its full of things we wish we had known when Megan was going through it.’
Megan added: ‘Its called chemotherapy and cakes because Nat and I used to make chocolate cakes in the hospital kitchen. I always wanted to be a positive advert for cancer, and to show children that they can get through it too.’
Chris Burke, Nathaniel’s father, who lives with wife Amanda and their son Benidict, nine, in Tunbridge Wells, added: ‘I was delighted when Megan asked me to illustrate the book as she and Nathaniel were great friends in hospital - she was like a big sister to him.’
SOME OF MEGAN’S TIPS
A is for Anaesthetics. Come up with a joke to tell the anaesthetists who are putting you to sleep. If you can, try and go down laughing to theatre as you will come round after the anaesthetic better than if you cry
C is for Crisps. If you are having chemotherapy that can cause ulcers as a side effect, don’t eat crisps as these make them worse. If you do really crave crisps try and eat softer ones. Quavers and Skips are the best crisps to eat.
F is for Friends. Keep in touch with them. When you are having a good day invite them to the hospital so they can see what is happening to you. Play games with them so they see that you haven’t changed at all.
H is for Hair. As some chemotherapy can make your hair fall out, it is a good idea to have it cut shorter once you begin treatment. Maybe you could do a sponsored hair cut and raise money for your ward.
K is Keeping Cheerful. The happier you fell and more you try and look on the bright side of life, the better you will cope with the chemotherapy.
Megan’s book can be ordered through the CLIC Sarent Child Cancer Helpline on 0800 197 0068 or from their website at