Adios Amigo

This has come around extremely quickly. Tomorrow morning at 6am I'll be hopping on a flight to Colombia. My current feelings are a mixture of excitement and apprehension. Landing alone in a Spanish speaking country with zero knowledge of the language was probably not my finest idea. However I'm sure once I've found the hostel and met some other travellers I will feel much more relaxed. 

So I have decided to keep writing this blog as a travel blog during the time I'm away. For newbies stumbling across this actually wanting to know about chemo club and all that encompasses it, just scroll down until you pass all the post chemo shenanigans and you'll eventually get to the good stuff. The rest is largely for friends and family wanting to know what I'm up to during my trip. 

Upon my return in 3 months time I promise to post a picture of my hair, no matter what state it is in. So you can all have a good laugh. Adios for now!! 

Finito.

4 years later and I have FINALLY completely my degree. The exams are over. I'm free. If I'm being honest, I'm no longer too bothered about what degree classification I get. My exams were really difficult, and I found that trying to teach yourself (and memorise) things that you were taught well over a year ago is not easy. So I've lowered my expectations, and I'm just happy to have got to the end and proud that I have managed to do so without losing all of my dignity. Number of times cried in the library: 2. Dignity halved.

What irony?

A week today I will be sitting my first exam. At this exact moment I'll probably be leaving the exam wondering how many minutes/seconds I should give myself off before cracking on with preparation for the next exam. What joker decided it would be funny to squeeze the first 3 exams into 5 days? And over a weekend as well... Inhumane behaviour if you ask me!

But this is where the 'irony' kicks in. Exam number one is of course on 'cancer biology'. I feel like having had cancer should give me a head start but I suspect in reality it won't get me any bonus points. Sure, I know about the aches and pains of living with cancer, but unfortunately I don't know any more than my course mates about the biological basis of the disease. Damn. Thanks for nothing cancer.

Stephen's Story

I would like to dedicate this post to a young man who is 1000x times braver than I ever was and has achieved an incredible amount over the course of his illness. I'm sure many of you have heard about Stephen, as he has attracted a lot of media attention over the past few weeks, but for those of you who haven't, take a look at his just giving page and dig deep! (link below)

https://www.justgiving.com/stephen-sutton-tct

I can't even imagine how this kid has been battling cancer for 3 years, as I found 6 months of chemo quite enough. The positivity he exuberates is unbelievable and has put a lot in perspective for me and no doubt for many thousands of others as well. So far he has raised over 2.5million pounds for teenage cancer trust by telling his story, and in doing so has broken the justgiving record. Amazing!

stephensstory.co.uk

The final push

Exam season is upon us and the pre-exam panic has set in. 4 exams in 11 days, with my birthday sandwiched right in the middle is not ideal, however I am going to make the best of a bad situation. I've always been one of those people who doesn't handle exams well and have always under performed as a result. I'll ask myself questions like 'will I forget everything' or 'what if I don't pass'. But I've been learning to check myself when those thoughts creep up on me. At the end of the day... So what?? I'll do my absolute best, and that's all I can do. And regardless of my results I still have 90 days in South America to look forward to!

P.s. I've realised I forgot to write a post a few weeks ago following my most recent pet-ct scan. It was clear!! The utter relief I felt was overwhelming. Finally an exam period devoid of illness and the doors to travelling completely open. Hurrah!

Work hard, play hard.

6 months on, and I think it's fair to say that I'm more than making up for lost time. I've moved back to Birmingham and am spending my days in the library and some of my evenings in a variety of bars, pubs and clubs. My short hair is finally looking intentional and getting much more positive comments than my long curly hair ever did! I'm feeling so much happier now that I have exams to work towards and travelling to look forward to. I no longer feel defined by the fact that I had cancer - if anything it feels more like a blip in my life.  

Spreading my wings..

I've been dreaming about it for over a year, perhaps even longer, and finally I've taken the plunge (or at least my bank balance has) and booked flights to South America this summer. And yes, I am going to bore you with the details. I'll be jetting off in June (after completing my final year exams) and returning, hopefully intact, 3 glorious months later.

I'm meeting my gorgeous friend Aya out there and together we will be exploring Colombia, Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Easter Island and Argentina. Obviously Brazil is very high up on my bucket list of places to go but with the World Cup there this summer the prices will be sky high so that will have to wait.

This trip will be one of the most spontaneous and unplanned things I have ever done and I am 99% certain that I will return home with an extremely bad case of the travel bug (definition: the urge to travel). If I hadn't fallen ill over the past year I had planned to do a big 6+ months travelling around the world, and I am so happy that I still have the opportunity to explore somewhere completely alien to me.

Now all I need to do is learn Spanish...

p.s. many months ago one of my blog posts included a picture of my lovely friend Shel at Machu Picchu (having completed the strenuous inca trail) holding up a piece of paper saying 'fuck you cancer'. When she sent me that picture I hoped that I would one day be able to do the same trail and post a similar picture... AND I WILL!!!!