Pet Therapy and Courage

Pet Therapy is a powerful thing - here is a picture of my schnauzer Winnie who takes her duties very seriously....

Thanks to my bloggees for all your lovely comments on last blog - I sense the demand is growing for Vincent in nurse's uniform so think that will have to be the focus of the "Christmas Special" blog..

Hello to any Dynamo bloggees (thanks to Chris for persuading Media Square that I am not "porn" and that the blog could play a role in educating people about breast cancer) - here is a bit of education...

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but (apart from the obvious checks and regular mammograms etc) if (like me) you ever have a mammogram which is slightly "dodgy" (in that it shows some calcifications for example) find the top breast surgeon in your City and get a second opinion. Although I insisted on a biopsy (which was clear) I think that if I had bothered to seek out the top breast surgeon in Cape Town she would have kept me under much closer observation and caught the cancer at an earlier stage. Early stage cancer usually needs minor surgery and radiotherapy - mine got to stage two and needed major surgery + a year of unpleasant treatments...

Some people have said to me that I have a lot of "courage" - I have been reflecting on this as I don't see myself as a particularly brave person (I still hate needles!). If somebody had said to me in August that by the end of the year I would have lost a breast and all my hair I would have freaked - but somehow (mainly through the love of family and friends) you cope... When I was first diagnosed I did start having thoughts like "I am 55, have had a wonderful life - maybe I will just have to let go..." but the will to live is very strong and it didn't take me long to decide to fight this thing and hang around for another 30 years or so - to be honest I always fancied being an eccentric old English lady ;-)

On a lighter note I bought some tiny jeans yesterday - its fun being a thin person for once - as my son said to me all I need is a feather headress and a gold bikini and I will be ready for my "comeback" tour a la Kylie... maybe I won't go for the world tour but I will certainly be ready for a damn good party once the treatments have finished! Talking of which I am going under (chemo) for the third time on Wednesday at 9.30am so think of me...

Love to all bloggees and keep those comments coming - they mean a lot to me
janet xxxxxxxxxxxxxx