Mumsnet like me. Mumsnet! (see link below) This has perked me up considerably. This and the fact that I’ve held off on the gin for the last ten days; it’s not called Mother’s Ruin for nothing.
You may have been brought to this place because of a guest blog post I did for Mumsnet, in which case thank you – more importantly though – welcome. I started this blog about a year ago, mainly to keep people informed after my diagnosis. I thought rather than having to keep answering the same old questions I’d pop it all down on here. It worked. Now I’m coming up to the first anniversary of the blog and am proud to say it’s doing unexpectedly well. This cheers me immensely and let’s face it we’re due a more light hearted entry now, I’ve dragged you all through the mill with me lately.
I’m off sick today. It’s my first sick day since being off long term with the cancer crap. I’ve got a cold, a nasty one. My head is thick (no change there then), my nose is running and sore, I’m sneezing ridiculously, not sleeping, feeling starving and in a general fug and I’m bloody reveling in the normality of it. Yes I feel rubbish but it’s not related to the cancer in any way shape or form, I am, simply, a bit under the weather.
After packing the boys off to school and providing the decorators with tea I whacked the heating up, dosed myself up on over the counter meds (which I’d spent a fortune on yesterday when the cold hit), snuggled in to bed and watched Bridesmaids. I wouldn’t say it was blissful, but it wasn’t bad.
I have naturally made comparisons between the months of cancer sick days and this one and I think I’ve pinpointed the difference. This cold isn’t life changing. This day off isn’t indicative of several more months of being off. This isn’t long-term illness. This cold is normal. Ah, normal, there we go again. Have you seen that meme? What’s normal, Mummy? Oh, just a setting on the dryer, honey.
The timing of the cold was good, I’ll give it that. It meant I had the opportunity to get another blog written to keep the Mumsnet embers glowing and to capitalise on this wonderful opportunity. You see, it turns out this little blog is becoming quite popular. I knew people read it – people I knew – but then as I kept an eye on the figures I noticed that more people were reading it than I knew, which meant people weren’t reading it just because they were my friends. I find this concept quite tricky to comprehend, especially as so often writing it seems like a selfish act because let’s face it I’m just blah blah blah about myself most of the time. Yet when comments are posted they help me to know I’m not alone but also people are telling me that the blog helps them feel less lonely.
A couple of days ago I was chatting to a friend about the Mumsnet thing and what a surprise it was. I said that if the blog helped even one person then I would be happy, and I truly feel that. Whilst it is still therapy for me (and no doubt always will be) I hope that it will become useful not just to women like me, but to lots of people. My friend said the most lovely thing to me about it, she said; ‘Your writing saves people for another day’. I nearly cried. And it might be true, I suppose, but you know what? It’s saved me too.
2016 is going to be a year of better things; I can feel it. Today I am off sick with a cold. Today I can lie in bed, feel sorry for myself and watch films. Today is a day for counting my blessings, and there are many to count.
Here's the link to the Mumsnet blog:
http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/guest_posts/2547131-Guest-post-My-cancers-gone-but-depression-has-taken-its-place?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Bloggers%2015116&utm_content=Bloggers%2015116+CID_f18d02488b16861b95dc8979c2ae6b75&utm_source=newsletters&utm_term=My%20cancer%20has%20been%20replaced%20by%20depression
And here I am:
https://instagram.com/baldybitesback/
https://twitter.com/Baldybitesback
You may have been brought to this place because of a guest blog post I did for Mumsnet, in which case thank you – more importantly though – welcome. I started this blog about a year ago, mainly to keep people informed after my diagnosis. I thought rather than having to keep answering the same old questions I’d pop it all down on here. It worked. Now I’m coming up to the first anniversary of the blog and am proud to say it’s doing unexpectedly well. This cheers me immensely and let’s face it we’re due a more light hearted entry now, I’ve dragged you all through the mill with me lately.
I’m off sick today. It’s my first sick day since being off long term with the cancer crap. I’ve got a cold, a nasty one. My head is thick (no change there then), my nose is running and sore, I’m sneezing ridiculously, not sleeping, feeling starving and in a general fug and I’m bloody reveling in the normality of it. Yes I feel rubbish but it’s not related to the cancer in any way shape or form, I am, simply, a bit under the weather.
After packing the boys off to school and providing the decorators with tea I whacked the heating up, dosed myself up on over the counter meds (which I’d spent a fortune on yesterday when the cold hit), snuggled in to bed and watched Bridesmaids. I wouldn’t say it was blissful, but it wasn’t bad.
I have naturally made comparisons between the months of cancer sick days and this one and I think I’ve pinpointed the difference. This cold isn’t life changing. This day off isn’t indicative of several more months of being off. This isn’t long-term illness. This cold is normal. Ah, normal, there we go again. Have you seen that meme? What’s normal, Mummy? Oh, just a setting on the dryer, honey.
The timing of the cold was good, I’ll give it that. It meant I had the opportunity to get another blog written to keep the Mumsnet embers glowing and to capitalise on this wonderful opportunity. You see, it turns out this little blog is becoming quite popular. I knew people read it – people I knew – but then as I kept an eye on the figures I noticed that more people were reading it than I knew, which meant people weren’t reading it just because they were my friends. I find this concept quite tricky to comprehend, especially as so often writing it seems like a selfish act because let’s face it I’m just blah blah blah about myself most of the time. Yet when comments are posted they help me to know I’m not alone but also people are telling me that the blog helps them feel less lonely.
A couple of days ago I was chatting to a friend about the Mumsnet thing and what a surprise it was. I said that if the blog helped even one person then I would be happy, and I truly feel that. Whilst it is still therapy for me (and no doubt always will be) I hope that it will become useful not just to women like me, but to lots of people. My friend said the most lovely thing to me about it, she said; ‘Your writing saves people for another day’. I nearly cried. And it might be true, I suppose, but you know what? It’s saved me too.
2016 is going to be a year of better things; I can feel it. Today I am off sick with a cold. Today I can lie in bed, feel sorry for myself and watch films. Today is a day for counting my blessings, and there are many to count.
Here's the link to the Mumsnet blog:
http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/guest_posts/2547131-Guest-post-My-cancers-gone-but-depression-has-taken-its-place?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Bloggers%2015116&utm_content=Bloggers%2015116+CID_f18d02488b16861b95dc8979c2ae6b75&utm_source=newsletters&utm_term=My%20cancer%20has%20been%20replaced%20by%20depression
And here I am:
https://instagram.com/baldybitesback/
https://twitter.com/Baldybitesback