Ghosts & ghouls and Childhood Cancer

This evening is Halloween, which has changed since I was a boy going out 'guising', as we called it in Glasgow.

You couldn't buy costumes of the peg at Asda and unless you had creative parents, the best you could hope for was a "back tae front" Cub, or footballer. Which for those of you who haven't worked it out, involved putting you Cub Uniform, on the wrong way round.

It's also the case that when you rattled someones door, the best you could expect were a few Monkey nuts, or maybe a "dook" for some apples, where as now I see kids walking round our neighbourhood with huge sacks of stuff, that they can hardly carry. Aye, changed days indeed.

As you answer the door to "trick or treaters" as they're now called, keep an eye out and see if you can spot an outfit that someone has made, rather than bought, bet you don't. I mean what every happened to the scary, spooky ghost, that was no more than a white sheet over your head with the eyes cut out?

I remember when I went out guising with my pals. It always seemed kind of foggy and by the time it got really dark, you used to run when you saw a "ghost", just in case, cause we were all just a wee bit more scared that we let on.

Of course come tomorrow, the Ghosts and Ghouls will have gone and we won't be scared anymore. You won’t be scared unless you were one of the 10 parents a day who are told their child has cancer because that is very real and VERY SCARY.

There are some 220 cancers that affect children and parents need to be aware of the early signs and symptoms, as early diagnosis of cancer saves lives. However, in order to gain an early diagnosis we must first be aware of the symptoms of cancer in children and teenagers.

So the question is would you know what to look out for? I wouldn’t. To help raise awareness the Be Child Cancer Aware charity have produced an excellent set of indicators, all spelled out from the words CHILDRENS CANCER.

Continued, unexplained weight loss

Headaches, often with early morning vomiting

Increased swelling or persistent pain in bones, joints, back, or legs

Lump or mass, especially in the abdomen, neck, chest, pelvis, or armpits

Development of excessive bruising, bleeding, or rash


Constant infections

A whitish colour behind the pupil

Nausea which persists or vomiting without nausea

Constant tiredness or noticeable paleness

Eye or vision changes which occur suddenly and persist

Recurrent or persistent fevers of unknown origin

I hope that no one reading this ever has to go through what some of Oor Kiltwalk families have, however if your child shows any signs of ill health, take a moment to think CHILDHOOD CANCER.