A very Merry Christmas to both my readers. Two years ago, Christmas felt like whistling in the dark. The tumour in my thigh was so painful that I spent most of my time lying on the couch. Radiotherapy left me so nauseous that initially, I was eating about as much as the cat. I couldn’t organise or prepare much of anything. You know the Beatles song, “I get by with…
I’m not American and we don’t eat a special meal today, but I do like the custom of stopping to be grateful once a year. Actually, I try to notice things to be grateful for all year, but Thanksgiving brings it into sharper focus. I don’t think it will surprise anyone that I’m thankful to be alive. If I’d had no treatment for the cancer at all, I think they’d…
We have a new boss around here. She’s called Luna, and she’s two years old. Her previous staff had to leave the island and move to a flat in a city, which is no life for a cat accustomed to freedom in Garafia. So here she is. She’s different from Chai, of course. She’ll accept being stroked and even purr, but she doesn’t like being picked up and won’t snuggle,…
There’s no way I could work 40 hours a week. I can’t sit for more than a couple of hours together, and I don’t have normal stamina – I doubt that I ever will. But I don’t want to sit in a corner and rust. I’d love to work part-time, preferably something creative that gets me out of the house and meeting people. I want to sell my books and…
Between Christmas and New Year, I had a panel of specialists assess my degree of disability. I’d already had my application for a disabled parking permit turned down. A report from my surgeon saying, “I had to cut her leg off,” was insufficient; I needed that particular piece of paper. Well now I’ve got the magic document and I can apply again. There’s more. This means I pay reduced sales…
One year ago today I was wheeled down to the operating theatre without knowing how many legs I’d have when I woke up. The surgeons spent about 6 hours trying to save my left leg, but the cancer had eaten too far into the bone and they had to amputate, right at the top. So I’ve had a year to come to terms with it. I started by making a…