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My mum’s story
My mum, Charlie, jumped on a plane to South Africa as soon as she heard the news of my cancer. We picked her up on the 19th August 2019 from O. R. Tambo airport then went and had lunch. It was so lovely to have mum over here and for her to finally see some of South Africa, despite the fact we had a major operation looming. I had my operation on 22nd August and she was by my side every step of the way. It doesn’t matter how old you are, having your mum there is priceless. After a week in hospital, I came home and we were able…
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And breathe….
I realised that I didn’t do my update on my blog! This week has been a whirlwind since getting my PET scan results because we are travelling the week and I have so much to get ready! Anyway, my PET scan didn’t show anything new and ominous and in the words of my oncologist “It’s very, very good!” which is the best news ever! My husband and I were talking about the differences in how we feel – the waiting zone and the good news zone – it’s literally two separate worlds! That surge of relief and happiness is quickly followed by complete exhaustion from the anxiety! No matter how…
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But I don’t want to go there…
Where is there? It’s the future, even just a few weeks ahead gives me palpitations. My husband I had a feedback session with my daughter’s psychologist this week. She was talking about Arabella’s schooling and how there’s a good high school called bla bla in bla bla near where we live….it was only chit chat but I secretly sat there wanting to cry. I cannot deal with the future because, I am scared I may not be there and I have worked so hard to live in the present moment, but that doesn’t mean that the future doesn’t pop up though! I had to calm my thoughts and recenter –…
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Why?
Why? Why? Why? How many times have you asked yourself this question? It’s not an exclusive question to someone who has or has had cancer. If the voice in your head was a real person, you would look at them like they were completely fucking mad! I read that in The Untethered Soul, by Michael Singer, a great read by the way. My ‘whys’ used to be so much simpler, although at the time they seemed so significant. Many whys will go away or can be solved by actions, my ‘cancer why’ is forever present. So, when I was diagnosed, I asked myself why? Why me? What did I…
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Cancer and exercise
So, you had cancer and want to start exercising, this post is a no frills look at the benefits of exercise post cancer. Whether you were fit before or not, makes no difference, cancer came and went, and we have evolved, we are not the same physically or mentally. I say hit that reset button and find the routine that works for you. I got together with Tommy, a colon cancer survivor (read his story here) to give you a glimpse of his workouts and my own, and talk about how exercise helps us cope with those lovely post-cancer issues such as anxiety, depression and muscle loss (there’s a long…
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Understanding ‘mets’
When we talk about cancer, we use stages to determine where the cancer cells have traveled. When I was first told that I had cancer, the doctor said I had a tumour in my bowel and the cancer had traveled to my liver and maybe my lung (can’t remember which one now and it hadn’t, thank goodness) so bascially my cancer had mestastasized, quite simply put, it had spread from the primary source (my bowel/colon) through lymphatic nodes and to other organs. So, when people with cancer talk about mets (also known as lesions) or in my case liver mets, they are saying a form of tumour in another organ.…
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Benj’s story
‘Benjamin Anthony Millard, our son, Abigail and Stephanie’s brother, was a husband, stepdad, grandson, nephew, cousin and friend. We all loved him…we all love him. Where do you start a loved one’s cancer story, when the story was so short and the outcome was so poor, but that was Benj’s journey with cancer. So the start, as with every one, is the day Benj discovered he had cancer, and the end came less than eight months later when he lost his life to bowel cancer. Pre-diagnosis So rewind a little, pre-diagnosis, and meet Benj. He was 6’ 2”, he ate healthily and well, he went to the gym every day,…
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Consistency and the Two Big C’s
We all know that consistency is key and that most our results in fitness and nutrition come from this consistency but how do we stay consistent when life keeps throwing us curve balls? I have struggled with consistency in fitness and have been guilty of program hopping (you should see all the PDF’s in my iBooks folder) even though I would tell myself ‘Just stick to something Jo! ‘ After the birth of my daughter, I had a period (2016) of consistency with the BBG program and lost my baby weight. I was also running and committed enough to run a half marathon. Even in 2017 after I settled back…
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Infection and liver abscess – I know, I know, last yukky post!
I wanted to get this post done and dusted so that I can start writing about more joyful topics! I touched on my infection in the last post. Infection is a reminder that even when surgery is over, there are still risks lurking! After returning home, I’d say about a week or so in, I started to feel ‘off’, I knew I would be fatigued post liver surgery but as usual my body was trying to send me a message and intuitively I knew something wasn’t right. I also had pain on my back around the right rib cage, painkillers were not working. I had my follow up with Prof.…
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Nobody Said It Would Be Easy
Following the birth of her eldest daughter in 2013, Laura Stephenson gave birth to twin girls on April 25th 2017. There was huge excitement among all the family, her mother, her two sisters, in-laws and of course myself, her dad. Two identical girls that arrived amidst lots of questions:- Are there twins in the family , how do you feed two at the same time, do they both sleep at the same time, will Mum and Dad get any more sleep, the need for a twin pram, can we fit 3 car seats in the back of the car. Lots of questions all based around the twins. In the middle…
