In Christmas 2007 I went to my doctor with an ulcer on my tongue that wouldn't go away. I was referred to a cancer specialist, and within a week I underwent tests, 6 days after that I was given the news I had been dreading: that it was not an ulcer, it was cancer.

I think that having the right to see a specialist within 2 weeks from being referred by your doctor should become law. Alarmingly the Conservatives say they will scrap this guarantee.

Add your support if you think that everyone with suspected cancer should have the right to see a specialist within two weeks

I was lucky enough to receive fast diagnosis and effective treatment, everyone should have this right.

Just 2 weeks after I had first been diagnosed, I was given an operation, the outcome of which would determine the next few years of my life and my ability to speak.

The operation involved cutting out the left hand side of my tongue and replacing it with tissue, a vein and an artery from my left arm. Thankfully the operation was completely successful. My speech quickly recovered.

On my 23rd birthday I was given the best present I'd had in years, the news that the cancer was gone.