Climbing hills are tough, but within my limits, I make the effort and always enjoy the end product, the views and the feeling of accomplishment.  The lead picture is a before and after, 2018 and June 2024.  Some things are different including dress choice, the weather and my hair colour! Believe it or not, at 68 years old, I’m fitter on the 2024 version! 

In some ways, my diagnosis and subsequent tests and checks were much easier than the treatment, particularly the surgeries.  My first one was really tough with an 18 day stay and at times, I felt quite vulnernable and worried about how this would change my life.  The second and third were easier surgeries to recover from, but those thoughts persisted.  Despite being weakend after all of them, I felt a sense of achievement that I had gotten treatment to reduce my tumour bulk and would be able to get on with my life.  Sometimes you gotta climb that hill twice (or three or more times!). 

Of course, the metaphoric hill is often stressful, my decision to retire was a huge hill. But I do this now! 

It’s been 14 years since my third surgery and I’m fitter now than I was before I was diagnosed. I’m still vulnerable though, I won’t deny that.  But for each “hill” that I climb, I always feel a sense of accomplishment whether it’s a metaphoric hill or a real one. Of course, the real ones give you a different buzz, the views for example make you feel alive (and not ill).