I was recently contacted by a website called Care Across and asked if I would write a piece for their website about why I blog. Apparently they had seen this blog and wanted me to write a piece for them. They are an online community for cancer patients and caregivers around the world.
Was quite taken aback when I got the email from them actually but also chuffed that someone had taken notice of what I write - guess it shows that there is actually someone out there reading what I write!!
Anyway, got an email from them this morning to say the piece is now up on their website
Feels a bit surreal writing a blog about a blog about myself but there you go. Really am pleased with the way its turned out and was very happy to have the chance to talk about why I do all this.
If it hadn't been for having womb cancer then none of this would have happened. They say that cancer changes your life - and it sure has mine, mostly not for the good but I have been lucky to meet some wonderful people over the past 6 years, most of them online and some that I have had the pleasure to then meet in real life (and some that I am hopeful I will get to meet one day).
Anyway, I hope you like the article and will share it around and maybe even pop over and check out my other blogs.
Take care. xx
Sunday, 22 May 2016
Thursday, 25 February 2016
Black Dog Days.
Sorry I've not been writing recently. I know I promised at the beginning of the year that I would try and post a bit more regularly but its proving to be easier said than done.
Those of you that have know me for some time will know that I was diagnosed with cancer at the very end of 2009. I had surgery (a hysterectomy) followed by chemotherapy and then radiotherapy - all of which have unfortunately left me with a host of long term side effects that mean my quality of life is not very good.
I am stuck in the flat most of the time and rarely go out. The physical issues are not helped by the cognitive issues that I also have which means that inevitably I suffer with severe depression from time to time.
I've been on a bit of a downer since before Xmas and thought I was coming out of it a week or so back but seem to be going down again.
I don't fight it anymore; I've learnt to let it roll over me and not fight it. Easier said than done I know, but recognising its coming on can make all the difference to how it affects me.
The fact that I don't have to function out of the flat, in the real world makes it easier although sometimes when the sun is shining I wish I could drag myself down the stairs and go for a walk down to the beach.
It's hard to make people understand how hard it is to live with depression. I know what I am going through is nowhere near as bad as what some people have to deal with but it still affects my life in ways that I never thought it would.
Being diagnosed with cancer was something I never expected to happen to me; but I did expect after the treatment was over that my life would get back to normal (whatever normal is!!) but things have gotten worse, not better.
People assume that because I no longer have cancer that everything is ok, but its not and they find it very difficult to accept that. Telling me I look ok doesn't mean that I am.
I don't want any sympathy - just a bit of understanding that's all.
Those of you that have know me for some time will know that I was diagnosed with cancer at the very end of 2009. I had surgery (a hysterectomy) followed by chemotherapy and then radiotherapy - all of which have unfortunately left me with a host of long term side effects that mean my quality of life is not very good.
I am stuck in the flat most of the time and rarely go out. The physical issues are not helped by the cognitive issues that I also have which means that inevitably I suffer with severe depression from time to time.
I've been on a bit of a downer since before Xmas and thought I was coming out of it a week or so back but seem to be going down again.
I don't fight it anymore; I've learnt to let it roll over me and not fight it. Easier said than done I know, but recognising its coming on can make all the difference to how it affects me.
The fact that I don't have to function out of the flat, in the real world makes it easier although sometimes when the sun is shining I wish I could drag myself down the stairs and go for a walk down to the beach.
It's hard to make people understand how hard it is to live with depression. I know what I am going through is nowhere near as bad as what some people have to deal with but it still affects my life in ways that I never thought it would.
Being diagnosed with cancer was something I never expected to happen to me; but I did expect after the treatment was over that my life would get back to normal (whatever normal is!!) but things have gotten worse, not better.
People assume that because I no longer have cancer that everything is ok, but its not and they find it very difficult to accept that. Telling me I look ok doesn't mean that I am.
I don't want any sympathy - just a bit of understanding that's all.
Sunday, 10 January 2016
Here's to 2016!
Before Christmas 2015 I promised myself that I was going to post here on a regular basis and would start in the New Year.
Yea well, now you know why I don't make NY's resolutions!!!!
Anyway, its only 10th January so I guess I can catch up and try and keep up a regular posting habit!
So what am I going to find to blog about? Well, allsorts really. As some of you may know if you've been following my somewhat erratic blog posts over the years, I was diagnosed with womb cancer in late Dec. 2009 and although I am now technically 5 1/2 years cancer free I have been left with serious long term side effects from the treatment. So there might be a fair bit of talk about that.
I also help to raise funds for various good causes and charities by making and selling handmade jewellery and other stuff and I donate items to charities and charitable events etc.
On top of that I also run a national not for profit womb cancer support and awareness organisation called Womb Cancer Support UK
I love music of all kinds; I'm interested in lots of different stuff and I love living on my island off the west coast of Scotland.
So hopefully there will be lots to talk about over the coming months.
I'm aiming to post every week but please don't hold me to that.
See you next week - fingers crossed! xx
Yea well, now you know why I don't make NY's resolutions!!!!
Anyway, its only 10th January so I guess I can catch up and try and keep up a regular posting habit!
So what am I going to find to blog about? Well, allsorts really. As some of you may know if you've been following my somewhat erratic blog posts over the years, I was diagnosed with womb cancer in late Dec. 2009 and although I am now technically 5 1/2 years cancer free I have been left with serious long term side effects from the treatment. So there might be a fair bit of talk about that.
I also help to raise funds for various good causes and charities by making and selling handmade jewellery and other stuff and I donate items to charities and charitable events etc.
On top of that I also run a national not for profit womb cancer support and awareness organisation called Womb Cancer Support UK
I love music of all kinds; I'm interested in lots of different stuff and I love living on my island off the west coast of Scotland.
So hopefully there will be lots to talk about over the coming months.
I'm aiming to post every week but please don't hold me to that.
See you next week - fingers crossed! xx
Tuesday, 30 June 2015
Peach Postcard Update
In the last blog post I told you about the Peach Postcard Project that I have launched to help raise awareness of womb cancer.
Well, there have been some lovely postcards arriving and you can see them here on the Womb Cancer Support UK website http://wombcancersupportuk.weebly.com/peach-postcard-project.html
The project is open until he end of July so, if you have not yet submitted your postcard then please do so. We really do need to raise as much awareness of this cancer as possible.
It's the 4th most common cancer in women in UK yet there is very little awareness and no national awareness campaign.
Please share the link around and invite all your friends - I want to make this a global event as cancer doesn't respect boundaries and affects everyone.
Well, there have been some lovely postcards arriving and you can see them here on the Womb Cancer Support UK website http://wombcancersupportuk.weebly.com/peach-postcard-project.html
The project is open until he end of July so, if you have not yet submitted your postcard then please do so. We really do need to raise as much awareness of this cancer as possible.
It's the 4th most common cancer in women in UK yet there is very little awareness and no national awareness campaign.
Please share the link around and invite all your friends - I want to make this a global event as cancer doesn't respect boundaries and affects everyone.
Thursday, 4 June 2015
The Peach Postcard Project
As some of you may know I was diagnosed with womb cancer right at the end of 2009 and had a hysterectomy, followed by chemotherapy and then radiotherapy.
Womb cancer is the 4th most common cancer in women in UK yet there is very little awareness of it; I had never heard of it and neither had many of the women who come to Womb Cancer Support UK (WCSUK) which is the national support organisation I started in April 2011.
There is no national awareness campaign and apparently no plans for one either so its left to patients and survivors to do what we can to raise awareness.
WCSUK has done a lot of work over the past 4 years, not only supporting women who have been diagnosed but also in trying to raise awareness.
At the beginning of May this year I launched The Peach Postcard Project It aims to use art and social media to raise awareness.
So far there have been 18 postcards submitted and the word is getting around about the project. Yesterday I sent a link to a lovely blog post talking about the project so hopefully there will soon be some more postcards arriving in the post.
Please join the project and help raise awareness of this cancer. According to CRUK almost 9,000 women each year in UK are diagnosed with womb cancer, that works out at 26 women each day. Women who are Mothers, Sisters, Daughters, Wives, Aunts and Grandmothers.
Womb cancer is the 4th most common cancer in women in UK yet there is very little awareness of it; I had never heard of it and neither had many of the women who come to Womb Cancer Support UK (WCSUK) which is the national support organisation I started in April 2011.
There is no national awareness campaign and apparently no plans for one either so its left to patients and survivors to do what we can to raise awareness.
WCSUK has done a lot of work over the past 4 years, not only supporting women who have been diagnosed but also in trying to raise awareness.
At the beginning of May this year I launched The Peach Postcard Project It aims to use art and social media to raise awareness.
So far there have been 18 postcards submitted and the word is getting around about the project. Yesterday I sent a link to a lovely blog post talking about the project so hopefully there will soon be some more postcards arriving in the post.
Please join the project and help raise awareness of this cancer. According to CRUK almost 9,000 women each year in UK are diagnosed with womb cancer, that works out at 26 women each day. Women who are Mothers, Sisters, Daughters, Wives, Aunts and Grandmothers.
Friday, 29 May 2015
City life is not for me!
Recently had a couple of days on the mainland in Glasgow. Thought it would be nice to have a wee break so we decided to book a room in a hotel in the city centre for a couple of days.
Now as some of you will know my health isn't too good so we rarely go off island these days; just too much to manage but I figured we could do with a break so we went for it.
By the time we had got the bus into town, waited for the ferry and then crossed to the mainland, struggled up from the ferry terminal to the railway station to wait for the train (which was departing from the far end of the station due to station redevelopments) I was shattered!! Didn't help that there were no seats to sit on whilst we waited!!
Anyway, things went from bad to worse. The hotel room was cramped - not good for anyone with limited mobility. We couldn't change room as they were fully booked. The hotel was right beside the main railway station (Glasgow Central) and our room overlooked the main road and every time a bus went past, which approx. every 30 seconds, the whole room vibrated.
After we had checked in we went for a short walk around.
Reality check time - what did people do before I-pods and mobile phones??
So many people charging around, not looking where they are going, staring into tiny machines that seem to control their lives!
Crossing roads, walking into and out of shops, no one talking to anyone else apart from those of them who are talking so loudly into their mobile phone that everyone can hear them - apart from those who have their I-pad earphones plugged into their ears!!!!
Maybe living on this wee island for the past 13 years has meant that I've become accustomed to the slower way of life - things move very slowly here at times but it just seemed like people were charging about like the white rabbit from Alice In Wonderland - you could almost hearing them screaming "I'm late, I'm late!"
Sadly the weather turned wet and windy and the forecast for the day of our return didn't look to good and as the ferries are prone be called off at the slightest gust of wind we made the decision to come home a day early.
To be honest, I think it will be a long time before I go back there. To busy; too much traffic; too noisy and full of people rushing about who don't even have the time to say excuse me or sorry when they barge into you when they were the ones who were charging about staring at their mobile phone!!
Much prefer the slower pace of life here on the island; where you can get on the bus and the driver knows your name; you can walk around town and stop and chat to people you know and where you can go into a proper cafe and get a decent cup of real coffee.
Yes, you can keep your city life and the hustle and bustle - its the quiet life for me!
Now as some of you will know my health isn't too good so we rarely go off island these days; just too much to manage but I figured we could do with a break so we went for it.
By the time we had got the bus into town, waited for the ferry and then crossed to the mainland, struggled up from the ferry terminal to the railway station to wait for the train (which was departing from the far end of the station due to station redevelopments) I was shattered!! Didn't help that there were no seats to sit on whilst we waited!!
Anyway, things went from bad to worse. The hotel room was cramped - not good for anyone with limited mobility. We couldn't change room as they were fully booked. The hotel was right beside the main railway station (Glasgow Central) and our room overlooked the main road and every time a bus went past, which approx. every 30 seconds, the whole room vibrated.
After we had checked in we went for a short walk around.
Reality check time - what did people do before I-pods and mobile phones??
So many people charging around, not looking where they are going, staring into tiny machines that seem to control their lives!
Crossing roads, walking into and out of shops, no one talking to anyone else apart from those of them who are talking so loudly into their mobile phone that everyone can hear them - apart from those who have their I-pad earphones plugged into their ears!!!!
Maybe living on this wee island for the past 13 years has meant that I've become accustomed to the slower way of life - things move very slowly here at times but it just seemed like people were charging about like the white rabbit from Alice In Wonderland - you could almost hearing them screaming "I'm late, I'm late!"
Sadly the weather turned wet and windy and the forecast for the day of our return didn't look to good and as the ferries are prone be called off at the slightest gust of wind we made the decision to come home a day early.
To be honest, I think it will be a long time before I go back there. To busy; too much traffic; too noisy and full of people rushing about who don't even have the time to say excuse me or sorry when they barge into you when they were the ones who were charging about staring at their mobile phone!!
Much prefer the slower pace of life here on the island; where you can get on the bus and the driver knows your name; you can walk around town and stop and chat to people you know and where you can go into a proper cafe and get a decent cup of real coffee.
Yes, you can keep your city life and the hustle and bustle - its the quiet life for me!
Monday, 18 May 2015
Play Time!!
Decided to have a go with the juicer today so found a couple of large carrots and peeled and chopped them up and then put them through the juicer.
Have to say the amount of juice that I ended up with was about 1 tbs -which proves my point about juicing being a very expensive habit. I would have needed about a kilo of carrots to get a glass full of juice!!
So I was left with a pile of carrot mush! Didn't want to throw it away so transferred it to the smoothie maker and added an apple, some melon and some orange juice!
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Tasted nice but just have to hope that it doesn't go through me too quickly!!!!! Ho hum!!!
Have to say the amount of juice that I ended up with was about 1 tbs -which proves my point about juicing being a very expensive habit. I would have needed about a kilo of carrots to get a glass full of juice!!
So I was left with a pile of carrot mush! Didn't want to throw it away so transferred it to the smoothie maker and added an apple, some melon and some orange juice!
.jpg)
Tasted nice but just have to hope that it doesn't go through me too quickly!!!!! Ho hum!!!
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