About Me

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I'm Carole, living in London, happily married and mum to two amazing boys.I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Rectal Cancer in April 2010. Surgery took place in November 2010 and I now have a permanent colostomy...Spinal mets were then diagnosed in October 2011...In January 2012 I was told of further spread to the hip area (multiple lesions)..My life expectancy is now 6-9 months. Walk alongside me on the last part of my experience with this..

Wednesday 24 August 2011

Thanks Cancer :)



I 'met' Shents last year on a Cancer forum (Cancer Chat - which is connected to Cancer Research UK) and we developed a cyber friendship via this forum which then developed into much more. We are both part of a gang of five who got together in the cyber world and built good friendships, communicating via the forum and email..... The five are Shents, Tony, Rose, David and me....sadly David and Rose are no longer with us and our plans of getting all of us together didn't materialise :(

On Saturday Shents and I finally got around to getting together in London for the day - along with her two totally gorgeous children (a 10 yr old and 7 yr old) plus Dj and we all spent the day getting to know each other and exploring London (in the pissing rain - lol) !

Those of you who know me well will know that I'm not good at meeting new people - but this didn't seem to apply to Shents as I already felt we knew each other pretty well. I had this idea of what she'd be like (in real life rather than cyber life) and it was spot on - she is the most lovely lady, warm, funny, kind and I just know that we'll be friends for life now.

The children all got on really well, Dj and the 10 yr old spent the day chatting non stop about 'things' (when I asked what they'd talked about this was the answer 'things, just everything really') .
Her 7 yr old daughter is a gem, the kind of little girl anyone would be proud to call theirs - she's beautiful, bright, funny and confident. The 10 yr old is also a blogger and I've followed his blog for a while now so felt I 'knew' him already - he's a totally lovely lad, handsome, amusing, intelligent, mischievous and again a total credit to his mum (and dad of course) :)

We spent the morning in the Princess Diana memorial park in Kensington Gardens then moved on to Knightsbridge to get some lunch.
Then the weather decided to let us down and the skies opened up on us for a few hours :( None of us had rain jackets or umbrellas because the weather reports had said 'dry, sunny and warm all day' for London ........mental note: do NOT trust the BBC weather reports in future......

Anyway, after sheltering in the doorway of M&S food store for a while we jumped into a black cab and headed for Trafalgar Square to take refuge in an art gallery. Our cab driver seemed to forget we were actually in the cab for a while and this had us all in fits of giggles when he suddenly snapped out of his trance and realised we were all there....
After the Art gallery we headed out into the Square and managed to take some quick photo's - despite the rain we had some fun there....









Then we decided to head off for a coffee and cakes where we all managed to dry off for a while. After that we hit the shops where bits and pieces were purchased to remind the children of their trip to London that day.



Before we knew it, it was time for their train back to Suffolk (where they were spending some time before going back up North later in the week).....the day flew past and it felt like as soon as they'd arrived it was time to say goodbye again. Lots of hugs, promises to meet up again really soon (hopefully next time in Matlock with another one of our cyber buddies) and then headed back home - tired but happy.

Dj said 'I had a really nice day today' and that simple sentence sums it up perfectly. I really enjoyed meeting them all and it was a really nice day :)

Thank you Shents for your lovely company, lots of laughter and fun, and for making it possible for us to finally get together - and thank you cancer for bringing us together. Without you entering my life I would never have met Shents and for that I take my hat off to you...

Shents has a blog about her journey with Breast cancer called 'Keep yer hair on' (in my blog list on the left)....she rightly points out that despite it being a dreadful period she would never have found the people who've walked this journey with her, had it not been for cancer...

It's not often we have the opportunity to say 'Thank you Cancer' but for me, this is the perfect reason.

So today, no 'F&*k you' cancer statements...... just a simple 'Thank you' will suffice :)






11 comments:

  1. Great photos of what sounds as though it was a great day! So glad you've finally met up with Shents. Here's to Matlock (and I might even forgive you not coming to Gloucestershire again yet!!) xx

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  2. Gloucestershire is gorgeous - but had to think of Dizzie cat this year.
    Plus think you had more than enough going on during this summer hols without dealing with house invaders :)
    However, next year you'll be all settled and ready for me - who knows, maybe I'll do a spring break instead eh...
    I know I'm always welcome so I'll just invite myself :)

    Much luv and hope you're under less stress now xxx

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  3. Lovely story Carole, I'm so pleased you met up with Shents, and it's also nice to see what she looks like, I know you'll read this Shents, and i've often wondered who's behind Oor Wullie lol, so it's nice to see a face to go with the name,
    Lynn x

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  4. Such lovely happy smiley faces! The weather was appalling, wasn't it, but nothing could dampen your obvious enjoyment and fun. So pleased for you. xx

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  5. Carole, I am so happy for you. A beautiful story. I am not really surprised that you found it so easy to enjoy each others company. Interesting that the children got on well also.
    Thanks for sharing your lovely story.

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  6. Carole - this is a lovely account of our special day! I keep looking at the photos and having a smile - and I laughed a lot when you reminded me of that taxi ride.

    I struggle to get my head around the fact that cancer has done something 'good.' But you're right - it has. I would probably NEVER have EVER come across you in my life had it not been for cancer - spending time chatting about 'things' with you as if we'd known each other for years was great - I just wish we could have had more time on the day to chat some more.

    As for the kids playing together/chatting together so well - that was just great too...:-)))

    Tom and Lizzie positively 'glowed' when I read out what you'd written about them :-) So here are some things for you to read out to your gorgeous young boy, Dj.

    I thought - He was also a handsome young lad - gentle, intelligent, thoughtful, considerate and witty with a lovely smile.
    Tom thought - 'Dj was a really canny lad - dead chatty and funny.' (Canny means nice!)

    Lizzie, meanwhile, is busy practicing her cockney accent for when we meet up again. She sounds like a very bad artful dodger!

    Already looking forward to the next time we meet up.

    xxx

    Oh and Lynn - lol - Oor Wullie is a bit of a hero of mine - My nana used to keep all the oor Wullie and Broons for me from the Sunday Post behind her cushion for when I came to visit, and I'd also get the annuals every Christmas. I think I looked a bit like him when my hair started coming out last year, hence the pic!

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  7. If you make it to Matlock, any room for a little-un to bring a Bakewell tart and share a cuppa! I'm about an hour away.

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  8. Hi Fiona....yummmm, *love* Bakewells. I'm sure we can all squeeze up and make a bit of room for you :)

    I didn't realise you were that close to Matlock...

    xx

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  9. Glad you had a lovely day despite the rain. Your sunny faces made up for the damp weather.
    PS, when did DJ become so tall!

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  10. Hi Sis,

    That's the problem with kids, you buy them clothes and shoes etc and they just grow out of them...I've tried not feeding him but it doesn't seem to work :))

    xx

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  11. Hi Carole, I read this account on face book.....It is great to see the pics...It is clear that you had a great time, and like you said, it is good to get a 'positive' from 'c'.
    Cancer has introduced me to some lovely people in cyber space, and my life is richer for having met such strong warm people, full of love and joy!
    Hope that you have a great time in Matlock!

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