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 list of all the things I enjoyed, that I could still do in a wheelchair. Happily, it was a long list. The catch was that initially, I couldn’t sit up. I can now, for about three hours at a time. I’m even beginning to find some advantages. I’d fancied doing story time for kids for some years. Now I’m clearly a retired pirate, and working on the stories I’ll tell.
I haven’t got to the point where I’m glad this all happened, but yes, there are some upsides. So I raised a glass to my surgeon, and all the other people who helped me beat cancer.
