MACLAND - THE ONLY PLACE YOU CANT BUY A BURGER - But by god you get so much more and its free !
My life has changed for the better, and I am apprehensive about returning to work tomorrow, although it is on reduced hours. I have been sat in bubble for so long, protected and trying to heal my wounds and sort my head out from the shock of having cancer.
I joined back in August when I was diagnosed with Cervical Cancer, the Hospital James Cook in Middlesbrough told me about your site alongs with Joe's Trust. I logged onto both and found MacMillan was the one for me.
I joined, was scared but hopeful and didn't realise the full extent of what was about to change my life forever.
When I was diagnosed, nobody knows unless you have been through it, the fear you go through and the unanswered questions you have running around your head, at a speed that Nigel Mansell would be proud of. But with aprehension I logged on and found a room full of people with funny avatars and typing so quick I couldn't keep up.
This started the change, I got to know some very special people who I would like to say a big thank you, without your help those first scary days, I would have logged out and not come back. Instead you helped me so much that I now have a cyber dad - mal, and two mums, sol and blackbun thankyou. My friend Trudy thank you too, you made me laugh and have a smililar sense of humour to me and we hit it off straight away, thank you too.
I started to chat back and have made so many friends and giggled so much (which sometimes hurt with my scars) but was a god send. The best thing I got out of this is to help others who are new and are feeling down. I started to forget about my problems and tried to cheer them up.
The advice I received on here through the group sections (mine being the Cervical Cancer group, and unexpectedly the bladder group) and my fellow inmates have been invaluable, and I feel that looking on the internet can cause more harm than good. So don't google it Macland it, its the place to be!
I have blogged along the way and you can read them if you wish: Back home after successful op, Hhy diddle diddle dawns had a piddle, and finally The yellow brick road helped me cope with cancer.
The blog on the yellow brick road was my darkest days, terrified I logged onto Google to look up on information in the early hours of the morning, as I couldnt sleep. The google home page came up with the Wizard of Oz around the double OO's.
I looked at it and thougt of my childhood memories of the Wizard of Oz and of Dorothy skipping along the yellow brick road with her friends she collected along the way.
WOW it hit me like a brick, why don't i do that. I am Dorothy skipping along and my friends and family can join in and pick a character. Ste my partner was my first port of call who cried those first few days and couldnt understand why i didn't cry, so he was named the tin man. Within hours me and my daughter set up a group on facebook. By the end of the day we had loads of characters, some made up which was a giggle. If you do read my blog that I copied and pasted onto this site, you will see the love and support I received was very helpful and to know people were routing for me.
As the story goes Dorothy wakes up in her bed and it has all been a bad dream., Well guess what I have reached that point now, I am waking up tomorrow, going back to work back where i started before. It was a bad dream but one that has changed me as a person forever.
So my Macland frineds, I will not be on as much but I will endeavour to keep on the site and help others who have helped me. Thank you to you all.
AND REMEMBER THIS - MACLAND IS THE ONLY PLACE YOU CANT BUY A BURGER - BUT ONE THAT WILL HELP YOU THROUGH THE DARK AND SCARY DAYS AND NIGHTS.
