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
