“I say to our children, if anything causes you stress or worry, confront it head on. You just need a little bit of courage, a little bit of confidence and a little bit of bluff. When I noticed symptoms of bowel cancer, it was time to take my own advice.”

“It wasn’t just me my depression was affecting, but the people around me. My mum would think, ‘was it something I did?’ I feel so bad that I even made her ask that question, because it’s not anything anyone has done, it's just how I am.”

“It’s so hard to get the diagnosis because it’s a process of elimination. Every day it’s difficult, but a flare-up is unbearable. It’s pain that stops me in my tracks. With depression on top, it can send me to a really bad place.”

“I have to work, I have to cook, I have to look after the kids. Because I’ve been taking care of my family, I haven’t had the time to become a proper nurse. My marriage is for life, but I’m still planning to be a nurse one day.”

“I thought losing my hair would really affect me but it hasn’t. I prefer no hair, I really do. You get offered a wig but I wasn’t bothered. Knowing me it would just blow off in public! So I’ll roll with this look. I’m still me.”

"I’m a primary carer for my dad who has dementia and I work full time. With all of my ‘spare time’ taken up by caring, I neglected my own physical and mental health and started experiencing panic attacks."

“I lost 10 stone in a year, and my health problems snowballed. I have multiple complex conditions including diabetes, Bell’s palsy and skin cancer. I used to feel like a nuisance, but seeing a doctor from home gives me real reassurance.”

“I’m nearly 65 and happy to say most of my life I’ve been physically fit. I’m even building a man den in the garden! So getting hit by lots of physical complaints later in life is hard, but at the end of the day I come through smiling.”

“I’d been experiencing chest pains, and then a doctor found a lump in my breast. Luckily I got the all clear, but I’m really glad I saw a doctor, learned about my symptoms and put my mind at rest.”