Ding dong....

Tomorrow morning at 11.30 am we are getting married!  What a rollercoaster time we have had:

Chapter 1

I met Sheena, and we hit it off immediately. In the same February that we met, we were hit by 'Beast from the East' and we were snowed in together for a week. That year also saw very hot weather - so with extreme winter and a hot summer, a lot of the dog training Sheena does had to be cancelled. She also had a major back problem and was unable to work, and suffered from vertigo (which thanks to a neat trick we managed to cure!). 

Chapter 2

It was October of the same year that we met - 2018. Things were going really well. I went to Australia to visit my son, but Sheena couldn't come as she'd lost so much work time due to the reasons above. And it's a good thing too or she'd have missed her mammogram that identified stage 2, grade 3, breast cancer. (More here.)

From October 2018 on we spent a lot of time in Ipswich hospital, with Sheena losing her hair during chemo, radiotherapy, breast surgery and herceptin injections that finally finished in January 2020.

Chapter 3

One month after Sheena's final cancer treatment, I was diagnosed with bowel cancer.   So it was back to Ipswich hospital. By this time I'd moved into Sheena's house permanently, which is just as well as she has had to care for me through radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgery. Sheena was in and out same day for her surgery, mine meant I had to stay in for seven days to make sure that the 'mechanics' of my insides, including my brand new stoma (named Ripley) were OK. I haven't been to work since March 2020.

We had lockdown, and we built a pond. Sheena again couldn't work fully due to Covid restrictions, but she started online dog training classes. 

Chapter 4

Starts tomorrow! We shall be married then go on a short honeymoon in the Midlands. Hopefully I will finish my treatment (scan last Thursday, let's hope all good), and I  am optimistic that I can back to work in August. Chapter 4 is the start of a great future, we've certainly worked for it!

Useful links:

• Our full cancer journeys
• Building our pond
• Bowel Cancer UK
• Breast Cancer Now

Coming soon... wedding pictures.