One year on

 One year on from my diagnosis I received from the meeting I had with Prof.Winter. To say I expected what he had to say was an understatement, yes I realised it was cancer and on my tongue. What I didn't expect was the options or lack of them and the complexity of what I would go through.

1. Chemo not going to work

2. Radiotherapy I couldn't have as I had already had it in my neck and a potential major risk of blowing up my carotid artery

3. Immunotherapy - they were going to check but weren't expected it to be an option

4. Robotic surgery - They didn't believe this would work as the tumour was large and in a complicated place - but referred me to the Marsden

It came down to "open surgery" and I have covered most of this already in this blog, it is still fresh in my memory, arduous at best for want of a better word!

But the real light bulb moment was the "if you do nothing, we can provide palliative care and you may last a year". Having had cancer before you do realise you are no longer immortal, but this really hit home - one year, 12 months, 365 days, 8760 hours - it suddenly does not sound that long, especially when you still have loads to do.

I chose the option to stay in this world, have the surgery, put my trust in the surgical team and once through it see what lies ahead.

I had the operation in June 2025, to all intents and purposes it has been a success, I am still here, it plays through my mind everyday, but far more positive now than back in June - how long do I have who knows, in fact who knows how long any of us have, but what I do know is that I will fight everyday to be here, to enjoy and help my family, watch them grow into the amazing people that they are