An eventful start to the year....

Sometime around Christmas - I can't remember for sure exactly when - I noticed a lump on my neck.  As you do I assumed it was a temporary thing and ignored it.  Into January it hadn't gone and I actually began to see it in the mirror so I decided to visit my GP simply so he could say "it's perfectly ok - nothing to worry about" or words to that effect.  Unfortunately his opening question was "is there a history of cancer in your family?"

Two months on and three operations later I am about to start my treatment proper to get shot of a tumour I have somewhere at the back of my tongue.  I will be having radiotherapy 5 days a week for six weeks and a dose of chemo on the first day and another sometime towards the end.  To say I am apprehensive would be putting it mildly but I take comfort from being treated at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London - the specialists in cancer care in the UK.  The preparatory work that I have been through so far at the Royal Marsden together with treatment at The Essex County Hospital and The Oaks Hospital in Colchester has shown me that healthcare in the UK is alive and well and I could not have been better looked after thus far.

Also, if good wishes alone were a cure for this thing then I would be home and dry already.  I have been truly humbled by the good wishes of friends and family and from people I barely know.  Actually, from people I don't know, as well!  I have seen human nature at its absolute best.

Anyway, tomorrow I start my journey and I am conscious that today is the last day of normality for me with nothing ever being quite the same again.  Having said that, a positive mental attitude is being adopted here so let battle commence!