The Journey Behind Mission Remission
Laura’s story
The oncologist beamed at me in the starkly lit hospital room. “That’s it,” he smiled. “No more treatment. We’re very hopeful of a full recovery.”
Relief flooded through me. After a 15-month struggle for a diagnosis and months of grueling chemotherapy, my ordeal was finally over. And yet, to my surprise, it felt like another was only just beginning.
I’d expected to feel like an all-conquering hero — ready to ride off into the sunset. Yet walking home moments later, I felt no joy, no sense of triumph. Inexplicably, I just felt numb.
The early signs
My journey had begun two years earlier, when I was just 29. Persistent stomach pains and bowel changes sent me repeatedly back to my GP, only to be dismissed each time with a diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome. Over a year passed, and my symptoms worsened. I felt like a difficult patient, apologizing for my concerns even as they became impossible to ignore.
By 2013, the pain had forced me to leave my teaching career—a profession I adored. In desperation, I traveled to South America, hoping for healing. Instead, while there, I started hemorrhaging. A local pharmacist was horrified by my symptoms and urged me to return home for urgent care.
Yet back in the UK, the delays continued. After five more months, a colonoscopy was finally scheduled. I remember staring at the grotesque, bleeding mass on the screen. My first thought wasn’t fear but relief—proof at last that the pain was real. I was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2014 and underwent invasive surgery followed by seven months of aggressive chemotherapy.
The unexpected struggles
Treatment was brutal. But it was what came next that truly blindsided me. I had expected the end of treatment to be a moment of triumph. Instead, I felt lost. Isolated. Crippled by the psychological aftermath. Scar tissue from the surgery left me in agony, while chemo fog clouded my memory and thinking. I could barely work, barely plan my life, consumed by fear of recurrence—what I now know as “scanxiety.”
At follow-up appointments, I realized the long-term physical and emotional struggles cancer leaves behind often go unspoken. Survivors’ guilt kept me from reaching out to those I’d relied on during treatment, as if sharing my struggles would be heartless in the face of those still fighting for their lives. Meanwhile, those who’d never faced serious illness struggled to understand. “How are you?” was a question I didn’t know how to answer. I was supposed to feel grateful. Instead, I felt stuck in survival mode, haunted by the thought that the cancer might return at any moment.
Founding Mission Remission
It was this silence around life after cancer that led me to create Mission Remission in 2017. I wanted to break the stigma and give survivors a place to share their stories and find solidarity. What started as a small initiative has grown into a thriving charity and online hub where thousands of people share strategies for coping with life after cancer—from managing fatigue to returning to work.
But Mission Remission goes beyond support. We campaign for faster cancer diagnoses and better post-treatment care, inspired by my own delayed diagnosis and the gaps in aftercare I experienced. Our ‘Something’s Not Right’ campaign pushes for earlier referrals and ensures patients know how to advocate for themselves when symptoms persist.
Since its founding, Mission Remission has supported over 22,000 people and partnered with the NHS to improve cancer services. Our community is a testament to the power of shared stories and the importance of compassionate, continuous care long after treatment ends.
Surviving cancer doesn’t mean the battle is over. But through Mission Remission, I’ve found purpose—and I hope we can continue to inspire, support, and empower every survivor to reclaim their life with hope and strength.
Laura Fulcher, Founder.
