It's been a while. . .

The truth is that having managed to jump off the merry-go-round once, I am now back on it again! The problems with my lung turned out to be radiation damage, not the best of news but not cancer either. However, now I am waiting to find out if I have skin mets! It's all go here isn't it???

I have been struggling with awful pain over the last few months due to a combination of things - soreness as a result of the original treatment, broken ribs and the icing the cake of course was contracting shingles on my treatment site. I've been taking  anti-inflammatory drugs but they just weren't helping so I am currently on an escalating dose of Gabapentin with Amitriptyline. During a trip to the doctor for a progress report I casually mentioned that I have a couple of patches of persistent eczema.  He took a good long look at them and pronounced that he's pretty sure that they are cancer! Now I am waiting for some tests to find out if it's common or garden skin cancer or skin mets.

Meanwhile I am planning some interesting things for 2012, regardless of the outcome of the tests! I have enrolled on a jewellery making course at the local college, something I've done on and off over the years but never actually taken lessons in it. I am looking forward to starting the classes next month.

Next on the list is to try and kick start my dancing by attempting a couple of hours of gentle practise each week. I'll never be able to return to how things were before diagnosis but it would be nice to be able to do something.

In May I'll be celebrating a milestone birthday and I've decided that just this once I am going to have a party to celebrate. It'll be a very modest affair - a meal out in a restaurant with my closest family. I've chosen to celebrate it for three reasons; it's a milestone, it coincides with the first anniversary of when I finished active treatment and lastly because I am grateful for the fact that I am actually here to do so!

2011 was a tough year and there were times when I never thought I get to the end of it all. Anything I do in 2012 is therefore going to be much easier by comparison!

So here's to a much better year!