I was prepared possibly to have a 50% of my life back, my life is almost as normal as it was when I was fit and healthy.
Fantastic.
Yes I’ve lost weight, yes my eating is not as it was, I don’t want food. I have to keep an eye on what I’m eating. I get a little bit more tired maybe, but I’ve got into the habit of having an afternoon siesta. I do a lot, I’ve continued my walking. I do cliff path walking, I can walk up to about three hours. I cycle up to about twenty miles. I swim. I’ve never pushed myself. I was not driven to do these things. It was a gradual process. You can’t push, you can’t drive. You have to listen and I know this is a cliché but truly if you do stop your body tells you exactly what to do. And I’ve listened to that implicitly. And to what my medical team has advised me, and what I know is right for me in there, in my head.
So could you summarise sort of how you’re feeling about life now?
I’m delighted to be alive. It’s been an extraordinary, extraordinary experience from the minute I was diagnosed, right through my process of treatment, whether it’s surgery, chemotherapy, the will, the need to survive, it’s been extraordinary and along that route I’ve had extraordinary people in my life, both professionals and others. They’ve always been there but you’re more aware of them. It’s been very difficult at times; it’s not been an easy road. But you get there. I got there because I wanted to get there.
I needed to get there. I’m so delighted and happy, I thank God every day I’m alive and I mean that sincerely. I don’t take it for granted. I try to tweak my life a bit more efficiently.
I think a little bit more what I can do or can’t do, for example I’m a great lover of Egypt, I did a lot of sub aqua diving in the Red Sea. I went, returned there in December last year for a holiday. I did not risk taking that risk of diving. I’m thinking just a little bit more carefully of how I risk things in my life.
