Results tagged “CHESHIRE” from Birmingham Mail - I Will Survive

Everyone always says how well I look and that I am always smiling. Well thank goodness for that, but I, like all cancer patients, have my worries. I have been having stomach pains and a lump in my groin seems to be getting bigger, so a trip to the doctor's is required. He suggests I see my oncologist as soon as I can, so an appointment is arranged for the next week. In the meantime my osteopath is still working wonders with my back which is just as well, because as we have to completely empty the loft as we are having it insulated. Trouble is, we have so much up there it took 4 days to get it all down. Debbie should have been staying with us, as we were going to the ballet together, but every bedroom was full of our stuff so sadly, there was no room at the inn!

I am sure I am not alone in keeping memorabilia which includes everything my boys made me at school, such as deformed clay pots, lopsided baskets, & every card they ever made or sent me. There's my hot pants, my leather and suede mini skirts, my first going-away outfit and hat I wore 43 years ago - will I ever wear it again I ask myself! My love letters and cards from way back, my Dad and Mom's love letters from 73 years ago, my old schoolbooks, the list is endless - do I really need to keep all this? and yet it is really hard to throw away memories of your life. So I haven't quite thrown everything away but pruned it down to the bare minimum and 2 weeks on, I feel so much better for getting organised and clearing the clutter.

A couple of very welcome yoga classes helped ease the aching bones and I went to Coventry Hospital to sort out my lump. A scan was arranged for last Thursday. I had been to the cinema the night before so hadn't checked out my instructions and after a lovely breakfast of tomatoes on toast I had this awful thought - I wasn't supposed to eat for 6 hours before the CT Scan. Sure enough that's what the instructions said and I had to come clean with the X Ray department who luckily were able to make it the following day. I had my blood tested and will see my oncologist next Friday. You see when you have cancer, however hard you try to get on with a normal life, the worry of it is never very far away.

Nevertheless, I do try to lead a normal life and we had my son Justin and his family to dinner for a big Sunday roast and we took John's son Richard and his family out to dinner for his birhday. We all get on very well together, so often, extended families don't so John and I feel incredibly lucky.

One day last week Monica. the poet and playwright came to see me with wonderful news.
I already mentioned that she is writing a play about 5 ladies with different cancers, but she said that the one on ovarian cancer will be my story completely. So even when people have tired of reading my blog or watching my video, or listening to my speeches, my story will be forever in the play. I can't wait to see who will play the part.

Monica is also a nutrionist and has given me a new regime for me to follow - oh dear this is going to be hard!

Luckily for me, John and I were invited that weekend to stay with our great friends Yvonne and Tony in Cheshire, so I can eat what I like there and then I'll start on Monday! We went to a fascinating place called Willow Garden Centre which is full of rusty old mangles, ploughs, tin baths, old Victorian gazebo's - can't get away from the Victorian era this week! It was amazing, the tea room was decked out for Xmas and there were little thatched huts where they also served meals
.

We then went on to Great Budworth a perfect little English village with a very large church and it's own well. After such a lovely weekend I was able to forget all the worries
of the previous 2 weeks, thanks again to wonderful friends..