AT one point during his treatment, Mark Brown was so weak his mum, Delia, had to push him in a wheelchair through the corridors of Colchester General Hospital.

Mark was receiving chemotherapy for Hodgkin Lymphoma, a rare cancer of the lymphatic system, and was simply exhausted.

Only 1,700 people a year after diagnosed with the cancer in the UK each year.

Mark was one of them.

He was 21.

A month before Mark's diagnosis, his father Geoff, had been told he had prostate cancer.

Mark was a music technology student at Colchester Institute when he got his first symptons of the illness which was going to change his life.

He had his sights set on going to university to take an IT degree but that is now in abeyance as he undergoes treatment to fight the cancer.

Mark first became ill in January.

"I had a cold to start with," he said.

"The symptoms developed into a cough in February and it just got worse.

"Every morning I got up coughing and it started to affect my day-to-day life.

"I would get up and have a coughing fit to the point where it would make me sick.

"I felt so tired I had to go back to bed."

Mark went to the doctors in March and was prescribed anti-biotics for a possible chest infection.

He said: "I returned within two weeks as I had a lump in my sternum.

"I saw a different doctor who sent me for an X ray and said it could be a pulled muscle.

"He said I had an infected lymph gland in my chest and he said it could be lymphoma.

"At the time, I was unaware it was a type of cancer. He said my chances of having it were 50/50.

"He sent me to have blood tests but he said there was a two week wait to see a consultant.

"It got worse and I could not do anything. I would get up but have to go back to bed because I was so tired.

"The blood tests showed I was anaemic. I know now that is a sign of this type of cancer.

"I went back to another doctor who looked over me and within 15 minutes said 'I think this is a lymphoma. I will get you to a consultant as soon as possible'.

"Within 15 minutes I had a call from the Mary Barron suite at Colchester General Hospital and had an appointment to go there the following day."

That was on April 25 and Mark remembers the consultation clearly.

"They were pretty amazing. They told me I probably had Hodgkin's Lymphoma which is life threatening but the cure rate was 90 per cent.

"He went over it in specific detail and said 'We are looking to cure you'."

Mark had X rays and a biopsy which confirmed the diagnosis.

"There was relief in knowing what I had after the uncertainty and in knowing something could be done.

"I also knew my whole life would change. I knew university would have to be delayed and I knew I would be going backwards and forwards to the hospital."

Mark began his chemotherapy.

"I was astounded by the number of people who were there, they treat 60 patients in a day with lymphona and blood cancers."

Mark had a PICC line fitted into his body through which the chemotherapy was administered. After the first course of chemotherapy the lump in his chest had shrunk - but it was there and still active.

Mark was put on a second, more aggressive chemotherapy regime.

He had to go to the hospital on consecutive days for treatment which left him exhausted and sick.

He also developed fevers and suffered oppressive headaches and terrible pain in his lower back and shoulder. He was admitted twice to hospital when his condition got too bad.

When he was too weak to walk through the hospital and had to be pushed by his mother, Delia, in a wheelchair.

As brutal as the treatment was, it was effective.

The lump in Mark's chest has become tiny but is still there. He is to begin a course of radiotherapy next week.

Mark supports the Cancer Centre Campaign to create a new cancer centre to allow all cancer treatments to be given on one site.

If the £4.5 million target is met, it will be built on top of the new radiotherapy centre at Colchester General Hospital.

"The care I had in the Mary Barron suite could not have been better.

"They talk you through every step of the way and treat you in the best, kindest and most professional manner.

"But the Mary Barron suite is tucked out of the way on the far side.

"There is no patient parking and you have to walk from the main car park.

"It is fine if you are not ill but when I was too weak, my mum had to push me in a wheelchair.

"The radiotherapy centre is an unparalleled centre for cancer treatment.

"A cancer centre would be excellent. I also talk to the Macmillan team about support and they are exceptionally helpful.

"They are right next to the radiotherapy. It would be so good to bring all the services together."

Mark, of Tulip Way, Clacton, is now looking forward.

He has become engaged to his girlfriend, Zeta.

He said: "I hope the radiotherapy is successful and I can go to university next year and start a career in IT."

He also hopes the staff and cancer patients can get the centre they deserve.

Gazette:

To donate to the Cancer Centre Campaign, which is supported by the Gazette, text GAZE11 £10 to 70070 to donate to the Cancer Centre Campaign (or choose a different amount).

Cheques can be made payable to CoHoC Cancer Centre Campaign and sent to Colchester Hospitals Charity, Colchester General Hospital, Turner Road, Colchester, CO4 5JL. Donations can also be made online by going to www.CohoC.org.uk.