This week a nurse described me as being “ace” and “an absolute legend”. A doctor said I looked the most well of anyone she had ever met who had done 45 cycles of Folfox (the chemotherapy regime that is helping me fight against my incurable cancer spreading and keeping death at bay). I’m not sure “most well” is a compliment when I’ve got a massive pink face, osteoperosis, issues with my veins and other problems thanks to the longterm effects of chemotherapy, but I’ll take whatever compliment I can get these days. And today, as I mark the second anniversary of my first chemotherapy session, I’m looking back at everything that has happened over the past two years.

I remember my first chemotherapy session where I was advised that I may get the sensation of my throat feeling like it is closing up and I may struggle to breath while one of the chemo drugs slowly drips into my veins. I remember one time feeling well enough to order a takeaway pizza after treatment but feeling too sick to eat it when it arrived 45 minutes later. And I remember my delight at getting my first set of scan results and them revealing that my body and the drugs had united to fight against the cancer in every way they could. It felt even better than getting my first front page as a journalist back in 2005.

It’s a long hard slog which as far as I’ll know will never end, because its actual end will be me being lowered into a hole in the ground. But before that happens I’ve got a mission to complete.

The same nurse who said I’m ace told me that my health is the most important thing. I don’t want to come across like a guest on the defunct Jerry Springer Show but “I beg to differ”.

For me the most important thing is to have had an impact on the world, even in a tiny way, so it’s a better place when I take my last breath then it is when I took my first all those years ago.

Making the world better is much more important than my health. For years I wondered what this would involve and how I could do this. And I wondered whether my life was worth it.

And now, as someone who has always depended on the kindness of strangers, I know that I need the support of every single one of you reading this to achieve my goal.

At the Daily Express we are running a Cancer Care campaign to ensure all cancer patients have access to mental health support both during and after treatment.

This should be commonplace across the country but sadly it isn’t and we need you to help send a message to the NHS, the Government, and hospitals, that this is unacceptable.

Cancer is the hardest thing that most people will ever have to face and the toughest bit is the mental health aspect – whether that be having dark thoughts at 3am in the morning or realising you won’t be alive to see your friend walk down the aisle. And the toughest bit is the part that most people will face alone.

We need your help to change this. By signing the petition you’ll be putting pressure on the Government to make sure all cancer patients have the right support. And you’ll be making the world a better place than it was when you took your first breath.