A man from Plumstead is urging people with cancer to make the most of all the different support networks available.

Formerly the head of environmental services at his local council, Leo Fletcher, 57, was forced into early retirement due to ill health, but now he wants to help others who may be suffering.

Leo was diagnosed with lymphoma 35 years ago and had a lump removed from his groin in 1984.

Apart from regular check-ups, he needed no other treatment. After five years of clear scans, Leo considered himself cured.

However in 2010 he began to feel unwell again.

Leo said: "I was waking up drenched in sweat, which I now know is a symptom of lymphoma."

After blood tests and scans, Leo was diagnosed with a new form of the disease, a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), which a high-grade or fast-growing form of the condition.

The lymphoma was affecting Leo’s left lung and causing his spleen to be painfully enlarged.

It weighed around 2.5lbs by the time it was removed in an emergency operation.

This time Leo underwent four weeks of combined chemotherapy and antibody treatment as an in-patient.

He continued: "My consultant tracked down the original specimen that had been removed from my groin 26 years previously.

“He had it re-tested and found out that I’d had Hodgkin lymphoma; another type of lymphoma which is also fast growing. This was the first time an exact diagnosis had been given to me after that first experience 26 years ago.”

Leo’s second experience of lymphoma in 2010 marked the start of eight years of treatment and during that time, Leo had 20 lymph nodes removed and a bone marrow transplant, as well as chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Now he is on ‘active monitoring’ or ‘watch and wait’, which is a treatment regime where people have regular check-ups to monitor their health and are advised to contact their medical team if they notice any symptoms.

He said: “I feel as if my lymphoma and I are on friendly terms for now."

Leo recalls seeing youngsters on the children's ward during his treatment, and he said “It made me think: ‘what have I got to whinge about?'"

He says he prefers not to think too much about the cancer, although he admits it is always at the back of his mind that it could come back.

However, he plans to make an exception for Lymphoma Action’s national conference in May because it’s “a great chance to speak with people who have the same type of cancer”, something, he says, that cannot be under-estimated in terms of the comfort and reassurance it brings.

For more information about lymphoma or to register for the national conference organised by Lymphoma Action, visit www.lymphoma-action.org.uk/NationalConference - email conferences@lymphoma-action.org.uk or call 01296 619412.