Silver Linings

Hi Puddock my silver lining . The older  I got  the more stuck in  my ways I was, I have  always had a wonderful  family all my life and good friends from my school and work days and a few others aswell but not many and I was happy with that. Getting my diagnosis I knew it would affect some friendships as my time in healthcare had shown me and I did lose some as I thought I would and it got me thinking about my friends, my good friends, and I realised the last good friend I made was 14 years ago. Since getting cancer not only have I met far more people than I ever thought I would, I have been very lucky to be able to call 9 of them very good friends, wonderful people I would never had met but for having cancer. 

Eddie xx 

Hi Kate. As our chat in another thread may have prompted your post thought I would post mine. The biggest silver lining for me, strange as it sounds, is the empowerment the journey has given me.

And, on the subject of amazing wildlife stories (this is long before my cancer and a bit squeamish): we were out walking in Nidderdale in Yorkshire when we saw a small rabbit running across the field towards us. We then realised it was being chased by another animal (possibly a weasel). The other animal caught the rabbit and dispatched it literally in front of us before realising it had an audience and running away. We walked on hoping the ‘weasel’ would go back for its dinner. Never seen anything like it since.

Also before knowing I was ill. I walked into the forest at the back of the Stourhead Estate, heading for Alfred’s Tower, when I noticed what I at first took to be three small/medium dogs up ahead but some distance away. I was trying to figure out the breed and looking for the owner when I noticed a much larger shape watching over the three others. This was Mummy Boar so, as you might expect, I stopped to keep a safe distance and watched them forage until Mummy Boar led her litter back into the forest and away from the path. Wild boar in Wiltshire!

Can’t walk far or over rough ground now but the silver lining is that the front garden attracts a lot of birds and the re-wilding project that my rear garden has become deer seem to like. Also came across a slow worm and lizard whilst doing a little bit of tidying up. Seems like nature is coming to me now I can”t immerse myself in it as much as previously.

All the best.

Tom

They do say 'the best things come to those who wait.' !!

Well I was sitting stopped  at the traffic lights in my van on a perfectly straight road .  when this Mercedes ran straight into the back of me at a decent speed with a family of 3 on board  , fortunately I didn't hit the car in front . This prompted action to get my neck checked out over the next few weeks , I had major surgery having a neck dissection , in other words removing everything from my neck and replacing it with parts from my leg. Now you might say that was unlucky but they removed 33 lymph nodes 2/3 of them were cancerous plus they suspected there were two more sites and they could not get them margins etc . I had been told probably a month earlier that I was cancer free . So you never can tell . All the Best Minmax