Let's rewind, back to the end of June. I had just finished my last Law exam (thank GOODNESS for that), and I was sitting in the atrium of the ExCel Centre in London eating my lunch and poring over my new copy of The Desire Map (an amazing workbook, by the way - highly recommended). I was ready to start my new life, free from the demands of Uni. When I got home later that day, though, things had become a lot more complicated.
Our Dad had just been taken into hospital, quite urgently it seemed. We went up there to see him, and I started thinking something was afoot when he was in a special ward and although he was in an NHS hospital, he had a whole room to himself.
It took a little over a week for us to find out what was wrong. I think, with hindsight, the not-knowing was worse than the knowing. It's horrific to know that there's something big and something bad but you don't know what it is. He had been diagnosed with AML - a type of leukemia.
I realise, this is quite a bombshell to drop out there into the blogosphere. I also realise our vision for this blog is for it to be uplifting, vibrant and fun. That's why we've left it until now to start writing again. We needed to take a little break to get ourselves back on track, and now that we've done that, we're ready to get going again and start writing about all the new things we have been learning about.
A diagnosis of cancer is completely and utterly terrifying. But, it can also be an opportunity to take stock and remember what's important. Dad is doing well in hospital at the moment. He's really positive, and so are we. I know that this event has got me thinking about all the bigger things in life. It's got me really examining all my excuses for not doing things. I know I can always cite a million reasons not to do something: I'm too tired, I've not got enough time, I haven't got enough money, I'm not pretty enough etc etc. But what's happened since June is that I've started noticing when I'm giving those excuses and then trying my hardest to realise that they're not real. We've got to do the things we want and need to do. Don't let the excuses get in the way.
We're going to use the blog to share with you all the interesting things we learn on this journey. We've already learned lots about nutrition (something that's really important for sufferers of AML). We're learning more about holistic wellbeing too - Western medicine is great but there is a lot to be said about other forms of healing in conjunction with it. We're also continuing to learn lots of great non-health related stuff too. Sarah's investigating History of Art for her Uni course, and I am investigating several different avenues for my post-Uni job / further study. So we will keep ploughing onwards, keeping the creativity and ideas flowing and staying strong and positive. There's lots to be done!
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| Kind of unrelated photo... but here are my friends and I at our Graduation Ceremony :) |
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