Yesterday was World Cancer Day. Today I took my little girl to her first day of Reception. That I was here to do this is testament to the decades of work by researchers to develop treatments for metastatic disease. In cancer land it’s very easy to think in black and white terms – curable or… Continue reading World Cancer Day

I can quite confidently say that the month after my diagnosis was the worst time of my life. Blessedly it is now largely a blur. There are some very clear memories- things which seemed like they happened yesterday- but most of it is missing from my memory. Mostly I remember the feelings from that time… Continue reading Best Advice: Diagnosis

I’m now a few years into this cancer business and unnervingly people are starting to ask my advice for staying alive…I can remember when I was first diagnosed, desperately searching out people who were confounding a diagnosis and trying to work out their secrets. Somehow, despite the odds, it is me that is still here… Continue reading My Best advice – an introduction

This blog has been much neglected for most of 2018 and for this I’m sorry. In truth I’m trying to work out where to go with it. Life is somewhat more settled than it has been since my diagnosis and I am enjoying cancer not completely having centre stage. Since I last wrote I had… Continue reading Another year over

Lately, in part because life is in a relatively calm place, I’ve had time to think about a few things. One of these is friendship and serious illness. One of the hard things about being sick is having to accept help. It’s lovely and wonderful  to have the help, and it would be far worse… Continue reading With a little help from my friends

Scan results tomorrow. I had the CT done Monday and am now waiting, waiting, waiting.  Rather annoyingly the imaging place uploads your films to the patient portal but not the written report. And of course the films all look sinister. I can make not hide nor hair of them. And so I wait.  I feel… Continue reading Back in the waiting place 

I’ve just celebrated my third Christmas since diagnosis. Amazing. In writing this I have realised that I no longer measure my age or the passage of time in reference to my birth, but rather to my diagnosis. A strange and rather horrible re-birth – no longer nearly 37 years old but instead nearly three. 2017… Continue reading #alternativemilestones

My lovely friend Priscilla died of bowel cancer yesterday. Her husband sent me the most gracious and generous message today to let me know.  Priscilla and I first connected on Instagram. We were both youngish women with stage IV bowel cancer, both parenting small children and being treated at Peter Mac. One chemo session, in… Continue reading Beautiful 

I wanted to share this amazing blog which articulately sums up where I am right now.   Source: Depression 

We are currently waiting for the call from my surgeon to tell me if the liver surgery can go ahead next week. Given it is past 5pm, I suspect we won’t find out until Monday. Which will make for a long weekend. This period without a concrete plan has been very hard for me psychologically.… Continue reading A long weekend – not the good kind