About 7 years ago I first noticed a small lump the size of a pea. I didn’t think it should be there, but everyone was saying that things got bigger and changed when you were going through puberty.

The thought even crossed my mind that it could be cancer! But how could it, I was only 11. So I took no notice of it.

"Three years later the lump was still getting bigger"

It was now the size of a big marble and hard. I was going to tell someone, but I just never got around to it.

To me it wasn’t that important because I had it for 3 years and there were no signs that it was cancer. To be honest, I didn’t know what the signs of cancer were. So what’s a couple more years?

Mid 2006 it stopped getting bigger and there was now no point in telling anyone.

"In 2007 every thing was going well"

I’ve been in a band since 2001 and I was asked to play in the Australian Federation Tattoo that year. (It was a big thing for me at the time). I was getting Bs in English and some As, and the odd A+ in Maths and Music. I was even getting good at volleyball.

It was a good year outside of school too. I got a great part-time job restoring and making wooden boats, from yachts to fishing boats. My boss kept telling me that I was too smart to keep working there and that one day he would be working for me on my yacht.

Little did we know that on Boxing Day that year I would buy my first racing yacht! But as all this was going on, my lump started to grow.

"Once again I meant to tell someone and once again I didn’t get around to it"

It must have been either Christmas Eve or the night before when I knew that the huge lump was something – and that it was probably cancer. I don't know how I knew but I felt sure about it.

I was going to tell my mum in the morning but, well, it was Christmas. And if I did tell her, and if it was cancer, well there goes Christmas!

Because of this I thought it would be better if I tell her the day after Boxing Day; but that was the day I brought my yacht home. So, I decided to tell her the next day, but I went out and it didn’t happen. So I told myself the next day, or the one after that…

"Part of my hesitation was that I didn't know what her reaction would be"

So a few days before New Years when I was hanging out with my best mate, I wanted to see how he would react to the news. (Kind of like a tester before telling my mum).

“Alek, I think I might have cancer…”

It went well, so I made the decision that on the 5th of January I would definitely tell my mum. I made her promise beforehand that she wouldn't freak out. And she didn’t, that much.

"She took me straight to the hospital the next day"

I had an ultrasound, and afterwards we were waiting for the doctor to say that they have all the tests they need and we can go home.

What we weren’t expecting was a surgeon who said the lump could be a cancer and if so they were going to operate that night. They did tests on the lump and they came back positive for cancer.

Long story short, I had four months of chemo to kill and stop any other spots of cancer.

We found out later that it had already spread: I had two more small cancer spots, one in each lung. Last year was full of blood tests, scans and chemo and now only one spot remains.

"Even though I have cancer, I'm doing a lot with my life and nothing's stopping me"

Last year when André Rieu toured Australia, I was asked to be a “guest artist” and perform in his Melbourne concert and at a charity performance at the Crown Palladium (which was jam-packed full of celebrities).

I also joined the naval cadets (when I had no hair) and I’m heavily involved in the Education Department for the Royal Children’s Hospital doing speeches for the Lord Mayor’s Foundation and other things like that.

Also, I’ve received a highly-commended for a painting I’ve done for the Cancer Council’s Art Awards.

"There are a lot of good things that have come out of my cancer (like freebies)"

But there are obviously bad points too. I’ve lost my short-term memory and all my grades are fluctuating from As to Ds. It’s was also a big shock going from year 9 to year 11 because I’ve lost a year of my life that I won’t get back.

Another worrying thing is that I’ve gone temporarily blind twice in my right eye, and that doctors are treating it as a possible cancer.

"My advice to anyone is to tell someone if you have a lump"

Two months after I told my friend about mine, he told me that he also had a lump and because of me he told his doctor and got it checked out. Luckily, it was nothing.

So if you have a lump, tell someone, because the odds are that it’s nothing. But if it is something, catching it early could make all the difference.