Life after cancer isn't always the ending people imagine.
When David Barrow hears the words "There is no evidence of disease", he receives the news he has been waiting for. Treatment is over, the scans are clear and everyone expects life to return to normal. But relief is accompanied by something less expected: fear.
OH SH!T, I've Had? Bowel Cancer – Part Three: Don't Call It a Comeback is the concluding instalment in David's candid, moving and darkly funny account of bowel cancer. Picking up after chemotherapy, it explores what happens when the appointments become less frequent, the immediate crisis recedes and the emotional reality of survival begins to surface.
Written through contemporary diary entries and reflections, David describes the anxiety behind every new twinge, survivor's guilt, therapy and the challenge of finding a way forward when "getting back to normal" no longer feels possible.
Yet this is not simply a book about fear. It is also a story of Guinness, rescue dogs, family, friendship and a remarkable – and perhaps slightly ridiculous – attempt to run 107.85 km around the Isle of Wight. David also discovers that his writing has reached far beyond its original audience, finding its way into a cancer research laboratory in Manchester.
With a foreword by David's copy editor, Kirsty, who brings her own lived experience of cancer, Part Three offers an honest account of the stage of recovery that is too often overlooked.
This is not a conventional comeback story or a polished retrospective written once everything was safely in the past. It captures what David thought and felt at the time: uncertain, vulnerable, hopeful and unmistakably himself.
Written for people living beyond cancer, as well as their families, friends and supporters, Don't Call It a Comeback offers companionship, recognition and reassurance. Above all, it reminds readers that receiving the all-clear does not mean they must immediately feel fine – and that they are not alone in wondering: "OH SH!T, now what?"