One Life, Live it ....

The title is the catch phrase of the Land Rover Owners clubs and is used with good reason, here is my own Land rover looking over Afganistan from the Pamir Highway on a grand adventure

It is now 14 years since my first post and about 12 years since my all clear, thankfully I have been fit and well ever since that time. I only occasionally dip into this blog to clarify that I am still around and doing well, principally for those that read the story and wonder how the ending went.

To summarise the main points

• My family are all well, Poppy and Holly my two daughters are "all grown up" one just finishing her university studies and one is a trainee lawyer, so the thing I was most concerned about - not being around for them growing up has passed by happily.  Of course we are still close and there are still dramas and support needed but I am very happy to have been around for the last 14 years for them.
• In part influenced by my cancer journey I stopped work when I thought i could afford it, at 57, and since that time I have balanced time at home with time touring the world in my Land Rover with Lee my wife and a number of other friends.  I still occasionally do a little bit of consulting work from time to time to keep me interested but I am really mostly retired.
• My Land Rover travels are documented on the website www.celtic-rover.com, the enjoyment of writing which I discovered during this adventure with cancer carried over to my travelling so I have enjoyed sharing my impressions of different parts of the world with my little group of followers.
• As can happen after my all clear I did have a bit of a slump, there is a kind of survivors syndrome where you are concerned that every little symptom means that the cancer is back but that fades with time.  I did get too fond of drinking and had to take steps, with a lot of help, to resolve that so now I am sober and all the better for it and the friends I made on that journey
• I try to stay fit with regular running with a small group of friends, I need the group to push me along and for the social side of things as I am not a person who naturally likes exercise, but i have found myself enjoying it more than I could have imagined.

Today I am back in Edinburgh under lockdown like everyone else, I am very grateful to be here and to be with my family, it was a bit touch and go getting out of Argentina in time but I made it and now my only challenge is building up a routine and catching up with long overlooked tasks like updating and compiling this blog.  So far we are all well and no one I know personally has been affected by the Corona Virus and I hope that continues and the lock down strategy works for all our sakes.

So keep up hope if you are reading this as a new member of the cancer community, at least in some cases life goes on and we can grab it with both hands and sincere gratitude that we were one of the lucky ones.....

Gerry

Still here

I promised to occasionally update the blog just to let folks who read it later know that I am still around, I used to hate those blogs that just stopped when I was doing my research.  Oddly I was back at the Western General Cancer Centre today as Lee's Uncle is not very well and is in there for some treatment to help him be more comfortable.  This followed on from a chat on Friday with my friend Howard who is working his way through the early stages of a journey with a brain tumour, but in fine form and wondering if his chemo will slow him down on a 28mile run this weekend !

So all is well with us, it is 10 years since my cancer diagnosis on the 20th of Feb 2006 and then we had a dance with Hodgkins until Aug 7th 2007 when I got the all clear that stuck, the one in Oct 2006 turned out to be a false dawn.

I am in good shape physically, I do moderate amount of running with regular half marathons and have stopped drinking, so feel better than in the past, and much better than in the middle of chemo.  The girls have all grown up Poppy in New York for the year as part of her Glasgow based law degree and Holly driving around in the last year of school with an offer to uni under her belt so getting more independent by the day.  Lee has picked up an MBA from the Queen and is very happy with her work, even joining me in thinking about giving up full time work in a few years time.

My current project is to build an overland adventure camper based on a land rover platform and head off traveling and travel writing around the world, the company will be called Celtic Rover and I hope to start a blog and website about the travels in the next weeks.

I wish any of you who read this as a part of researching the path through your own situation all the strength and humour you will need to deal with your own journey, keep it in the day and be kind to yourself and the people around you.

Gerry

Update Feb 2015

Still here and still doing well

Snowy Christmas all is well.

Enjoying the snow in Scotland

Just a short update to say I have passed the 2.5 year point cancer free with no concerns and my next checkup will take me past the 3 year mark since the treatment. All is well with me and the family and life is good.

As my friend Jim used to say

Keep smiling

Gerry

Still rolling along

Just a quick update to assure the readers of this blog that I have happily passed my two year check ups and am still all clear of the dreaded cancer!

Life is pottering along pretty smoothly and at a slower pace than the frenetic tendencies I had before the rude interruption of my disease. Phisically I am in moderate shape, still right on my target weight helped by long walks with our new dog Herclues a dalmation who drags me around the part two or more times each day. My work is going well, the economic recession hits all of us to some extent and we are not immune but compared to the average we are doing well and winning market share so its enough to keep me busy but not enough to cause real worry and stress which is helped by working in a very friendly and competent team. I do spend about one day a week working from home and two or three days each week in Munich or other European cities so I have a good variaty in my job.

Holly and Poppy are growing up quickly now at 14 and nearly 11 they are becoming independant, confident and capable day by day, and they still talk to us which is a bonus! In fact this week we heard that Poppy has won a writing contest for under 18 year old kids in Scotland with a piece about how my illness affected her and changed her view on life, it was a really nice piece so we are going to the prizegiving this week in the scottish parliment.

Lee is busy as usual but not as bad as she has been, some new help in her team has helped spread the load and her little spin out company is going well, my next computer task is to run her accounts for the month. My car collection is stabilised now with the Aston and the MG getting regular use, we did the dream rides thing again this year and raised 2500 pounds for various charities last week alone.

So I hope you all are keeping as well as can be, enjoying the days when we are still here and keeping your friends and family high up the priority list as we all should.

Cheers

Gerry

Merry Christmas to one and all

I am happy to report that all is well in Edinburgh this Christmas, we have had the normal Christmas that we dream of. We went to Ireland just ahead of Christmas for a few days and had a really nice time with my mum and brothers and sister. On sunday morning a lot of us plus multiple dogs walked for an hour along the costal path in Bangor had a nice breakfast in the Cafe and walked all the way back, kids throwing sticks, dogs swimming in the sea and gentle chatting - I even ran in to my teenage best friend Greg Donegan as we walked, he too was visiting his mum with his family for that weekend. I said to Lee that this was a Lou Reed day the moments you capture in your mind to sustain you through trouble in future. We were all happy and all well and none of the immediate family were unwell (though Lees dad had died earlier in the year and my uncle Harry has had a tough time recently, but is now on the mend). Unfortunatly we all got the flu in Ireland and so have had to take turns to nurse each other through Christmas and walking the dog Hercules but that has been fine.

So wonderful relaxing and unseasonably warm and still days have passed in a happy blur, long lists of things we should have done with the holiday lie undone as we actually chill out and enjoy the season. Over the next days we will try to get some clearing out done, go to Lees mum in Aberdeen and visit friends Avril and Duncan in Inverness before returning to Edinburgh in time for a nice new year party with a good bunch of friends. I may even get the chance to take the Aston for a long drive by myself up to Inverness via most of Scotland on my own, I am sure I can find a way along the coast the wrong way round for 10 hours or so!

So to those of you who stumble on this blog as part of your adventure into the world of cancer have hope, and value every moment, I have no idea how long my luck will last, but I know now how lucky I am since my illness, and I am happy with "the whole package" as a good friend of mine put it. We are even starting to make plans into the future, our holiday in Jordan was a great success and gave the kids a great sense of history, plans for the summer are for a safari in Tanzania, as the Bedouin taught us "ishna Allah" or god willing, or fate willing. For Lee it will be her first time back in Africa since just before we met (she worked in Kenya)

I know that it is random luck that I am still here to write this, and that many good people who faced the same challenge with courage, wit and humour much greater than mine are not here so I am a little awesome at being, so far, a survior, but thats the way it works, not on merit, not on courage, not on ability, not on worth but on luck. The cruelty of that is a lasting reinforcement of my personal non belief in a specific person oriented god, reinforced by the tailwagging devotion of our dog, who in that system "does not count" I still strongly believe in some connecting life force which draws us to the good even in bad situations, but believe less and less in the formulae of conventional religion founding in unaltered teachings of a bygone age. However faith is without doubt a great support to those who are lucky enough to have it so I do not disrespect its value to very many in troubled times, and the well intentioned and beliving people of these communities do really great and honourable things to help others, but sometimes you believe, and sometimes you do not, personally, without disrespect of those that do.

So its late on boxing day, kids are asleep, Lee is reading her book and all is well in the world. My best wishes to you and those you love, sleep well, safe and healthy now and in the coming year. If adversity comes your way I wish you courage to endure what must be endured and the strenght to overcome what can be overcome.

Happy New Year to you all

Gerry