The Macmillan 'Understanding Brain Tumours' booklet Sarah had given me represented safe reading material, so it was time to start cautiously learning more. Brain tumours can be primary, like mine or secondary, where cancer somewhere else in the body has metastasised and grown in the brain. There are over 120 types of brain tumour, and... Continue Reading →
Gathering pace
On the morning of the appointment with the Neurosurgeon, we dropped the kids off with my ever helpful parents, and drove to the clinic in silence. What was there to say? I was bricking it and couldn't think straight enough for chatting. We arrived early and booked in. A TV in the waiting room was... Continue Reading →
Brain tumour playlist
The night before the first appointment with the neurosurgeon was a sleepless one. The first two songs on this list played in my mind on a loop. I decided that my subconscious was using music to process my feelings about all this business, and keeping a record of my persistent earworms over this period would... Continue Reading →
Aftermath II
Once out of hospital, a microscopically thin veneer of normality settled over life. I focussed my worry on mundane things like how to get all the necessary school uniform, new shoes etc for the kids when I couldn't drive and was pretty much too scared to go out in case I keeled over. Not knowing... Continue Reading →
The kindness of strangers. And everyone else.
This post has been the most difficult to write so far. Not because of the bad stuff, but because of the good stuff. It's completely overwhelming and I really don't have the words or even structure to do justice to the feelings involved. You'll see that from the rambling and lack of any sort of... Continue Reading →