Hi
A warm welcome to all of the new ladies and gentlemen who have joined us today and just recently. I'm really sorry you find yourselves here, I so wish I had met you elsewhere.
I've been here around 4 years, about a year and a half after my diagnosis. I wish I had known about this group earlier to enjoy the friendship and camaraderie that runs rampant here. I could have done with emotional help then, I was 57, looking forward to a future in retirement and spending more time with my family.
My diagnosis was a shock, just as it is with all of you. I didn't think I would see my 60th birthday and now I'm 62. I was diagnosed with a spinal problem 5 months later and before I was 59 I was in a wheelchair and going around in a daze.
I've now learned to live with my cancer and found my enthusiasm for gardening again. I can't do much because of pain, serious pain but that's the way it is.
Some of you are having problems with your partners/husbands not coping well. Please try to hang in there because it's not easy for them either, yet certainly there's no excuse for walking out. In sickness and in health?
I hope that in the short time you have been here you have the beginnings of understanding the nature of the group. Support is what it's about, and of course, friendship, a helping hand and all those things that you want to hear, no negativity towards anyone, positivity always. Also being there when hard decisions have to be made,, and offering a shoulder to someone.
Maybe I'm rambling on a little bit, sorry if I am I look forward to getting to know you all tomorrow and in the future.
Tvman xx
PS don't blame yourselves for a breakdown in a relationship, that's for new and old friends by the way.
