One Step At A Time

Chapter 8 — The Seizure

2026-05-14T09:21:19Z

We arrived at Thornbury Hospital just before seven in the morning. It didn't feel like a hospital. Not in the way I'd come to know hospitals over the preceding weeks. We were shown quickly into a private room — comfortable, calm, more ...(read more)

Chapter 7 — The Night Before

2026-05-14T08:45:49Z

The information about the Gamma Knife procedure arrived over the following days, and the whole thing began to feel increasingly surreal. Sheffield's own hospital couldn't accommodate the procedure in their schedule. When that happens, the tre...(read more)

Chapter 6 — The Wobbles

2026-05-14T08:40:33Z

I'd been asked consistently, throughout every medical appointment, about my balance and my strength. And consistently I'd batted the question away. I'd had sciatica before all of this started. A bad shoulder. I'd even booked myself a ...(read more)

Chapter 5 — The Plan

2026-05-14T08:22:35Z

Wednesday and Thursday passed in a blur. Following the advice of people around me, I spent much of those two days doing things that felt simultaneously necessary and surreal. I sorted out a Lasting Power of Attorney. I updated my will. I built a docu...(read more)

Chapter 4 — Day Two

2026-05-14T07:59:53Z

After the shock of day one, and the MRI that never happened, we were back at Castle Hill the following morning. We took the kids to school at the normal time. Nothing unusual, nothing alarming — just a regular school run. At that point they kne...(read more)

Chapter 3 — The Phone Call

2026-05-13T10:27:39Z

It was a Monday. I was at work. I'd felt wobbly for a few days. My balance had been off and I'd noticed a struggle with driving that I'd been quietly ignoring. That morning, typing had become a real challenge — my left hand wasn't cooperating i...(read more)

Chapter 2 — The Ultrasound

2026-05-13T09:37:21Z

The appointment came through for the 1st of March 2026. A Sunday. Five o'clock in the afternoon. I play football on Sunday evenings at half past six, which meant my primary concern — and I say this with full awareness of how it sounds in hindsi...(read more)

Chapter 1 — The Lump

2026-05-13T08:08:04Z

It started with a lump. I'd been on a weekend walking trip with colleagues in the Lake District in September 2025, attempting something called the Buttermere Round. Twenty of us, varying degrees of fitness, united by good intentions and the kind of o...(read more)