Tom Edmunds arrived in our Soulhub world a few years before he actually arrived.
What we mean is...we met his mum Debbie back in 2020 just before the pandemic, and then 3 years on, we received the call no mother wants to make. “Can you help?”.
Tom was given a cancer diagnosis out of nowhere. He was experiencing pain, which as we’ve got to know him well, realise that his level of pain management is extremely high. Hence it must have been a strong indicator that something was wrong. He was told that not only did he have Stage 5 bowel, liver, and stomach (peritoneum) cancer, but that his life expectancy would be 6 – 12 months. Tom was 40 years old. He has two children, and he was in a new relationship with the love of his life Esme, and she also has 2 children.
Many people love Tom, and as we have experienced each day, he touches hundreds of lives and is loved way beyond his immediate circle. We (Carmen & Andrew) met Tom and Esme for a walk and talk, and shared how we felt we could support them. We gave a wide directory of people and options, and he was quick to say, that we were his team. It was time for him to ‘get some control back’.
Since November 2023, we’ve been Team Tom. This is an unusual ‘Soul Story’ as sharing the experience of someone who’s within our therapeutic care isn’t the normal done thing. However, Tom is extraordinary, and how he’s managing himself and his cancer is a story we felt was important to share wider. Andrew Cuerden is your host, and together with Tom, they briefly explore and cover Tom’s back story and his present day thinking. Why he came to therapy, what he gets from it, and why he continues to step deeper into his path of self-understanding.
We have learnt that we can control our thoughts. That we can utilise our mindsets to control certain aspects. I deploy the tools that I have been given.
He’s travelled through a few very-near death experiences, perforation of the bowel, liver failure, kidney issues, urinary tract infection, sepsis, clots in the groin and lung (pulmonary embolism) and most recent a closed loop in his already reconstructed bowel. Poo stories are a regular occurrence in his household. He chose to do a (controlled) boxing fight in his favourite boxing gym several weeks after his diagnosis to raise awareness of cancer and how it can be caught early through testing. He’s still working, boxing, weight training, restoring the family home and making time for his healing and reflections.
Thank you, Tom, for your continual openness. And we hope as listeners you get a real sense of what Tom is experiencing and who he’s becoming as life throws curve balls at him.
If you’d like to follow Tom, you can find him here at @oldtomnewtom (Instagram) and if you’d like to make a Charitable donation to Phyllis Tuckwell who’ve been amazing for him and the family then please do so via:
He has 3 asks:
1 - Get tested annually or more
2 - Get some critical/life illness insurance
3 - Look out for each other - It’s okay to cry
We’d love to have Tom back for a longer episode and go deeper into his experience. Please share in your comments if you’d like to hear more, and any questions you’d like us to ask him.
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