About me

So…this is a bit of a turn up eh?

My plan for turning 50 this year was a simple one at heart; just select a number of experiences/activities I had never previously tried and systematically tick them off. One by one. It was a great plan, what could possibly go wrong?

Can I state at the outset that at no point did I include ‘Being Diagnosed With Cancer’ on my list, not even as a frivolous joke. No, for some reason, the powers that be decreed that yours truly was to wake up one morning to discover a lump where there shouldn’t be a lump; there certainly hadn’t been one there the previous evening…I mean, I’d remember wouldn’t I?

So that was the start of a journey which has seen multiple hospital visits, a plethora of scans and a woman taking a drill to my hip bone all to discover one simple fact. I may only be 50 but I now have Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma. I can’t escape it, this is now a fact.

Faced with this potentially life-changing news it occurred to me that I had two choices, as the line in The Shawshank Redemption reminds us, you either “…get busy living, or get busy dying”. I opted for the former, it sounded a lot more palatable and I bet they have better parties.

My treatment will consist of six sessions of chemotherapy over the course of 4/5 months interspersed with the occasional scan to see how I’m getting on. If I sound a bit too relaxed about all this it’s because I am, why wouldn’t I be? Is worrying and fretting going to change my prognosis? No it isn’t so you may as well get used to my undiluted optimism at the outset.

The purpose of this blog is threefold:

From a selfish perspective it gives me something to focus upon daily. Chemo isn’t fun, I’ll be sat at home alone for long periods and the blog is my way of communicating with the outside world and applying a sense of structure to my day. Just by reading my inane ramblings you will be helping support me and give me a sense of purpose. Or…perhaps I’m merely a self-obsessed egotist…you decide.
I’m writing this before my treatment commences and I certainly won’t be the last person to experience thoughts of excitement, terror, concern, worry and optimism. It’s an unusual and confusing mix of emotions and hopefully by documenting my journey I can help take away much of the mystique around cancer and its treatment. If one person reads my blog and finds it a comfort then I’ll be ecstatic…or perhaps even more egotistical.
I want to provide a benchmark for my daughter by demonstrating that no matter what life has in store for you, just face it head on with a determination to succeed and a big grin on your face. In many ways, this is my most important objective…never take a backward step. Never.

If you’re of the opinion this is going to be a dry slog wading through medical bulletins, trips to the toilet and Homes Under The Hammer updates then you clearly haven’t visited my blogs before have you? I am not stupid enough to think the next few months will be easy but my intention is to make you laugh in the face of adversity and come out the other side alongside me.

Oh…and then we’re going to the pub ok?