It is hard to believe that Spring is here. I do not think Mother Nature got the memo today as the heating was on this morning.
I said that 2025 was going to be a special year, and even though there have been personal challenges this year, some tougher than others, I still stick by that statement.
For me, my outlook on life is all about taking ownership, not letting outside forces, dominate or control you. When that happens, I keep thinking about the serenity prayer, something I try to live by every day:
“When one door closes, another one opens.”
That may sound like a cheesy comment, but there is some truth in that. In my case one door, has not just been shut but it has been nailed shut and had a lock added it to with the combination sequence thrown away.
Almost 11 years, I was told that I had a form of Thyroid Cancer, which was linked to the “Chernobyl” nuclear explosion.
It took me a long while to get to grip with that, the idea of dodgy particles in the air, flying across the sea or in the food chain and decided that I was “it.” They must have run out of “Lucky White Heather” that day.
Being told you have cancer is something you never want to hear, but everyone deals with it in their own way. Thankfully, the numbers that come through the other end smiling are on the increase.
But I know fine well that despite that level of optimism, the result is not always a happy one. Still a bit to go, but at least it is moving in the right direction.
The journey is mega tough, or should I say hell, where in most cases, those people’s survival is reliant on the success of medical science.
The outcome is not always a happy one, I would say heartbreaking. You hear many of those stories on the TV, but you also hear about the efforts of scientists and individuals determined at beating this disease.
I remember being told at the time of my diagnosis that my cancer was not “life threating” as the cells were all contained in the one place. Even though it is a scary thing to deal with, but I remained positive.
I had cancer, but it did not have me. However, I still had to undergo two operations and adjust to new life-changing habits. After the first one, I still managed to complete my final assessment and earn my degree. The first one in the family. Start the way you mean to continue etc.
With the ops out of the road, there was the matter of spending time in a lead lined room for 24 hours for “radium treatment”. It was anything but painless.
I remember checking in to the Cancer Ward, feeling an absolute fraud, seeing patients whose bodies who savaged by Chemotherapy, escorted via the waiting room into a private room for a “chat” with medical people.
Then there I was, sitting in the same waiting room, looking like there is nothing wrong with me.
I was assured by the nurses that whilst the operations did the job, this was an insurance policy to make sure that the Cancer did not have an encore performance.
My life had changed, but I had this attitude that I” had Cancer but it did not have me,” and if I had to make changes then so be it.
In my case as I spent time adapting to these changes, putting them to the test I decided that the only way I was going to get through this was to try and see the funny side of things.
Like the radium treatment, where I had to carry a card with me for three months as it made me “radioactive” and might set off alarms. I thought I would put this temporary “superpower” to the test.
When discharged from the hospital, I had my “nuclear” card in my hand headed the nearest Asda, walking in and out of the entrance seeing if it would have an effect.
Unfortunately, the alarms did not flinch once.
During this period, there was plenty of soul searching and I needed to find out more about my condition. I always felt that when it comes to health-related matters, “know your enemy.” And if you can throw in humour – even better.
Humour, when applied in the right way, it can be a powerful weapon.
This was the basis of my e book (available as a free download on this site) which originally started out as additions to my blog, “The Thyroid Diaries,” which was my way of giving something back to those who might find themselves on a similar journey to me.
Now 11 years have passed since the diagnosis and thankfully, I am now in a position where I can finally close the book on this chapter of my life, following my discharge from the Thyroid Cancer clinic.
This therefore is an epilogue to the story, I have a set morning routine, being more respectively to my personal grooming process, taking tablets “my power pills” to replace the missing Thyroids.
And going back to the idea of “taking ownership,” my outlook on life has changed, as has been my determination to take advantage and be the best version of myself I can be. And there are signs there that I am moving in the right direction.
I am four stones lighter, and I even invested in a set of dance shoes, for the first time in forty odd years.
And with still plenty of months to go, I am planning to get the writing back on track, with the release of a new novel next year along with a relaunch of my Butlins Books and ongoing exciting plans on the broadcasting front.
So, I have a managed to press the reset button and ready for those new set of challenges, and as I am “over 21” there will be some health ones thrown in there as well.
But after what happened 11 years ago, I can handle anything.