I never liked the idea of fighting cancer either. We fight so many things and it’s not always the most creative or productive way to deal with problems. When my mother had cancer, we wanted to help her through it. We negotiated with it – it was always going to have the last word. I am so glad that many of my friends negotiate their way through breast cancer and I’d so much prefer if they didn’t have to.

I’m working with the Women’s Equality Party Health Group and among other things, we’re looking at why women’s illness is so often diagnosed late. The structural reasons why although women live longer, they live so often in ill-health.

So I’ll add one to Stella’s plea, get active in the positive campaign to create a society where the way we are living means that we can take time to get to a doctor in time, when we need to, ALL of us. And a society that makes it an article of certainty and principle that when we need to see one, there will be a doctor available – FREE.