The Big C & Me

In the first episode we meet three people who share one thing - the hope of seeing a life beyond their cancer. In north Wales, Sally, a mother of five, is hoping that a stem cell transplant will finally end her relationship with a disease she has lived with for ten years. With news that a perfect match has been found, it is possible she may finally be cancer-free. But with her body exhausted from years of treatment, it is a procedure that brings huge risk. In Leeds we meet Dominic in the consulting room as he learns that he is one of the very few men in the country to be diagnosed with breast cancer. A straight-talking Yorkshireman, Dominic spends much of his time with his prized pigeons. As he waits for his mastectomy, it is his pigeons that occupy his mind and not his cancer. In London, Yvette, a belly dance teacher and performer, faces a critical decision as her breast cancer, which she has lived with for 20 years, begins to spread. In the hope of halting this, Yvette is offered the chance to be at the forefront of medical science by joining a clinical trial. But it is a leap in the dark, and she waits anxiously to discover whether these new drugs might work.

In episode two we follow three families whose lives are reshaped by a cancer diagnosis. We meet 83-year-old June and her daughters in the consulting room as she learns she has pancreatic cancer. It is a diagnosis that ripples through the generations as her family faces up to her imminent death. Over the months we see her fulfil her bucket list - top of the list is living long enough to see her granddaughter marry. But as the months pass, a continual deterioration is putting this in jeopardy. Nine-year-old Mikey has been diagnosed with a brain tumour, and we join him as he begins chemotherapy. As treatment progresses, the family comes together to support one another. Beyond the family, we see how Mikey's cancer brings the local community together. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Phoebe is receiving treatment for a tumour on her kidney. We're with her as she is offered the chance to travel to America for proton radiotherapy - a treatment as yet unavailable in the UK. Juggling schoolwork, a new relationship and treatment is at times overwhelming, but Phoebe faces it with determination. Using a blog to give vent to her changing emotions, she explores what her cancer diagnosis means.

Mark is receiving treatment in the chemotherapy unit at the Christie Hospital in Manchester. His prognosis is terminal and he has been living with bowel cancer for five years, and knowing that the clock is ticking he has one dream to live long enough to see his young son on his first day of school.