I’m not particularly religious. My Mum went to Church, so I had to go to Sunday school. I was in the Scouts so had to do Church parade. I have kids, so we went to the yearly Nativity service. I got married in Church, and my boys were both Christened. I was bought up as a Christian and taught the ways of God and Jesus in school.

The only other religious exploring I’ve done is around Buddhism. I’m not sure why, I think I just liked the peaceful way in way Buddhists seem to live. I’ve recently gone back to looking at the Buddhist way of life.

I’m not sure being religious and being spiritual are the same things. There is no doubt I’m questioning how I feel about this more than ever – cancer drives you to think about all sorts of deep stuff.

All I’m looking for at the moment is some kind of spiritual connection, and that seems to be in a Church currently. I just get moved, really moved, when I’m there. I can’t explain why, but I just feel humbled by the love that fills the place.

So, what about hope, belief, faith? Are these spiritual? Do I believe there is a greater power guiding me, that destiny exists? As a control freak, I would hate the thought that I was not in control of my own life.

What I can say is that without the hope and belief that I can survive, then I’m lost. Sure, I don’t know what the future holds – who does? What I do know is that I have to hope for the best, believe I can survive, and have faith that what I do will make a difference to my outcome.