I have neglected my blog for several months due to ill health, but today I realised how much I missed it. Cancer is all consuming, and a lot of things had to be put aside to concentrate on getting better and coping with the treatment. I found the chemotherapy absolutely brutal and it wiped me out for almost four months, during which time I could barely stand with a hosepipe, let alone dig or plant or hoe.

It is now a year since I first realised something was wrong, and I am very much better, more optimistic, and am grateful that I was one of the lucky ones who were diagnosed early, received incredible care from our wonderful NHS, and live to fight another day. I stepped into another world I didn’t know existed, A sort of parallel universe where everyone I met had cancer of one sort or another, and there were so many of them! But my lasting impression will always be the joy and laughter and care I received from the Oncology nurses, who were simply the most wonderful people I have ever met.

As often happens, it turned out that a lot of them were gardeners and picked my feeble brains for tips and ideas about their own little patches of dirt. Turns out that gardening really is therapeutic, not only for the patient, but the staff as well. One or two of them have become friends and have swapped plants and seeds. The Cheltenham Maggie’s centre was truly inspirational, and a lesson in how human beings with unimaginable problems and trauma, can be helped to cope with just a cuppa and some loving and caring words.

Just saying these things helps with my recovery. I have learned to talk about it. I hope you don’t mind. Half the battle with cancer is in your head. You have to unburden yourself and bare your soul. My garden will now, once again, become my happy place where I can be close to nature, talk to my plants, get the moderate exercise I need to keep healthy, and appreciate how lucky I am.

Now then, back to the weeding!