“It’s when you reach the end of things that you want to go back” – The Wrong Side of Goodbye by Michael Connelly

You have cancer.

I heard those words in 2009.

The paradigm shifted. Instinctively I knew my world, my life, my persona, my perspective would never be the same.

And, oddly, surrounded by doctors, nurses, and family, I felt very alone.

Scared.

Some people accept this diagnosis with fatalistic resignation.

Not me. It ricocheted through my consciousness and set my soul on fire.

I experienced real fear.

An operation to remove the cancer and seven years of treatment have left me cancer free. One of the lucky survivors.

Some experiences dramatically change us and from that moment we perceive life differently.

As a result of my experience I gained a personal and honest empathy for those suffering with life threatening health issues that would not have been possible before.

“Everything is relative and that’s what makes it so bloody complicated” – The Bat by Jo Nesbo