A Sydenham artist has revealed how she turned her experiences of having cancer whilst pregnant into a comic.
 
Matilda Tristram, 32, is now free of the disease and has a healthy one-year-old son with her partner Tom.
 
Her comic was snapped up by publishers Penguin and published in August and this Thursday she is doing a reading at Bookseller Crow in Westow Street, Crystal Palace.
 
But less than two years ago, things were very different.

The illustrator and Kingston University tutor had symptoms for a few years before her diagnosis in February 2013 but doctors put it down to indigestion and later, as pregnancy symptoms.

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Matilda was 17 weeks pregnant when she was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer.

She says: "I was diagnosed at 30 but it was probably in my body for a few years before.
 
"Eventually my colon was entirely blocked by the tumour and I had to refuse to leave A&E before they gave me a scan.
 
"As soon as they realised how serious it was, they were amazing so I had a really positive experience of the NHS as a whole. I have so much respect for the doctors and nurses who treated me."

The emergency operation revealed a tumour, the size of an apple, and her colon had stretched to the extent she was forced to wear a colostomy bag for a year (this procedure was reversed in May).
 
Matilda also had 12 rounds of chemo - six whilst she was pregnant and six afterwards.
 
She explains: "It was upsetting to talk about at the time so the blog was a good way of explaining what was going on. In a weird way I wanted to remember what was going on because it was so intense.
 
"It’s funny how this comic ended up being a professional highlight."

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As revealed in her book, Probably Nothing, the oncologist told her: "’As I see it, you’ve got three options: have chemo now and risk damaging the baby, terminate the pregnancy and start chemo after that—and I must make you aware that chemo could make you infertile, or delay treatment until after it’s born.’"
 
Fortunately James is now an excitable one-year old, currently demolishing a croissant, during our meeting at the Blue Mountain Cafe in Kirkdale Road, Sydenham.
 
Matilda says: "When they operated on my tumour, they could see James in there as well.
 
"They said he might be a bit smaller than usual because I had six weeks of chemo while pregnant and he was induced early, but he’s actually really big."

Matilda has been overwhelmed by the positive reaction of the book.

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She explains: "I’d had amazing feedback from readers and hear a lot of stories from fellow cancer patients, which I’m always really moved by.
 
"Doctors have got in touch to say that reading the book could help medics to better understand what it's like to be a patient.
 
"However a lot of the comic is about how much I love London and doing the things I enjoy."
 
James has seems to have inherited this passion for the capital as he shouts "bus" to one going by outside - apparently one of his favourite words.
 
The family are enjoying Sydenham after moving there in May from east London.

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"We love walking round here, especially in Sydenham Wells Park. When I was ill one of the only things I felt like doing was walking and James loves the Horniman Museum's aquarium."
 
Matilda says experiencing cancer has changed her.
 
She explains: "In some ways I’m more anxious about the future – there’s a chance my cancer could come back – but in other ways I worry less about the things I used to.
 
"Although I didn’t need cancer to appreciate the small things in life because I already did."
 
Matilda is reading from her book and signing editions of Probably Nothing at the Bookseller Crow in Crystal Palace on Thursday (October 9) from 7.30pm. Tickets cost £3.
 
Visit mmaattiillddaa.com to read the first few months of the web or follow Matilda on Twitter at @Colonoclast