Monday, January 11, 2016

Bon Voyage

Everyone has their battles. In 2015, cancer was mine. So what can I tell you about my experience?

Firstly, the disease is a small part of the overall picture. Cancer is a thief of the highest order. It robs you of your soul, your humility, your independence, your happiness, your sanity, your faith, your feeling of immortality. It also robs your nearest and dearest and for me that was the hardest bit to deal with – knowing how sad my illness, made the people I love. Also, as a woman, one of the most horrible aspects, is it robs your looks and confidence. Looking through pictures from the last 12 months, I have gone through a metamorphosis and feel unrecognizable to the person I was. 

Nothing prepares you for the physical side affects from the many different medicines you take. Three months of intensive chemotherapy was grueling. Steroids and four difference poisons intravenously pumped in to my body fortnightly (including one that has big writing on a sticker “LETHAL IF SWALLOWED”. Sickness, hair loss, collapsed veins, personality and mood changes, weight gain from steroids, tiredness. Also knowing that if you come in contact with anyone who has even the smallest infection, it may end up killing you.

In comparison, the three and a half weeks daily radiotherapy would be a stroll in the park I was told. Not so. Clamped to a table in a draconian style mask, a mouth and throat so ulcerated and painful I could barely talk, let alone eat and drink for over a month – despite the gallons of liquid morphine I consumed daily. Third degree burns on my neck. Tiredness that is so debilitating that walking from the bed to the sofa felt like running a marathon.

The mental side affects are also pretty horrific. That feeling of complete loneliness and solitude. the feeling of dread, depression - shock that your own body has turned against you and is trying to kill you, anxiety and panic attacks. 

These are the Negatives. But lets look at the positives – of which there are many! :)

Used correctly cancer is like having a crystal ball. Giving you insight in to the present and the future that would not have been possible before. Giving you a strength that you would never have know about before. Giving you positivity that is fresher than you have ever known. Giving you a love and respect for the most important things in your life and an overwhelming gratitude for every day that comes along.

You discover who your real friends are. The people who love and care enough about you to be in your life, for better or for worse. There are people that drop you at the first opportunity. There are friends whose silence is deafening, but that works just fine for me. Because the pockets of love and support I have received, from the most unlikely or unknown sources has been overwhelming. Thank you so much – all of you! (you know who you are).

And then there is my family. I don’t underestimate how tough it has been on them. Especially my mum. She has been unwavering in her support. Daily skyping, weekly visits, words of support and encouragement. In fact, its her stoical “no nonsense” attitude, that I have adopted in life and that I truly believe got me through this. Love you beyond any words for that mum. 

Finally the biggest thanks of all goes to a person who – not for the first time, has been there to pick up the pieces of my life. Chris Hampshire has not only been the best friend that anyone could ask for – he is not only my boss in a job I love and feel privileged to have. He most importantly has been my rock for the last 8 months and I would not have got through this without him. His kindness is unrivalled. His empathy is overwhelming and I will be eternally grateful to have such a wonderful human being in my life. 

2015 was tough. The toughest infact. But 2016 is going to be different. It already feels different, with so many wonderful and positive things going on around me. I’m taking a couple of weeks out and returning to my spiritual home Mexico, to heal and to mark the end of a horrific chapter in my life. And when I return, I know I am gonna be mentally (if not physically) stronger than I have ever been before. 

I cant wait for what lies ahead! And if you are still reading this – “A VERY HAPPY IF NOT BELATED NEW YEAR TO YOU”!

Much love. HLG x