The surprise!

Gee, I look like my mom in this photo.  Although I suppose that I look like her anyway, but it stands out more here.  I’ll get more into this in a minute, I need to fill you in on other stuff.  First off, the weather is busy being Ottawa winter grey and gloomy, so it’s not encouraging in the slightest.  Dark when you wake up, overcast during the day, dark early… no wonder Jerry doesn’t want to be away from people and cuddles!  He’s perfectly happy to sit on a lap and be stroked when he’s not rampaging around playing with his toy!  Don didn’t sleep too well last night; according to him, he ‘missed his cue’ to go to bed and was awake for hours watching… yes, you guessed it!  He napped a little this morning, but I hope he’ll get a better rest tonight.  Although it’s Saturday, and that means… 🏒 and tomorrow is 🏈 so I’ll just dive into a book somewhere.

Yesterday I went in to the hospital to do my blood transfusion.  There was a mixup… I got there and called for a porter and a wheelchair, as I was out of breath just crossing the sidewalk and entering the building.  I waited for 30 minutes, nobody.  Meanwhile, I called the transfusion unit to say that I was in the building, waiting for a wheelchair and would be up as soon as one came.  I finally walked up to the area, and was so out of breath!!  (Oddly enough, my oxygen level was still 95%) They got me in and I recovered, then I got my 2 units of blood.  There was a voicemail from the nurse asking where I was about the same time as I left a message saying I was waiting for a chair!  😆 I got home late enough that all I wanted to do was just sleep; I ate a bit and went to bed.  I feel a little stronger today, and I haven’t been running out of air; I’m also hooked up to my infusion and I’m getting hydration.  My (Guyanese) support worker came over and she’s making dinner (stewed chicken and patchoi) and she brought some polourie because she thought I’d like a “taste of home culture.”  So very kind of her!

And now… THE SURPRISE!!!  Last summer I was approached by the lovely Stephanie, who coordinates the grant application process in which I participate, and asked if I’d be willing to talk to a reporter from the UK Guardian newspaper who was doing an article on people who were living with terminal conditions.  I agreed, and I spoke with the reporter via Zoom for a 30-minute conversation, and a 2-hour photo shoot in my friend Paul’s garden.  It touches on the lives of people from around the world, and we were asked what we’d like to share with others since our diagnosis.  Honestly, I don’t like to consider that I’m “terminal” and I find all kinds of ways to push that into the background.  As you know, I’m willing to talk about the lessons I’ve learnt and any advice that I can provide to help, but I’m so not ready to join my ancestors yet.  Anyway, here is the final article, published in the Guardian today, January 27 2024, and as of 10am GMT it was the second most read/downloaded article in the paper.  I’m honoured to share it with you, and humbled that I was even considered worth listening to!  The photographer was awesome, and I love this picture that they selected.  Here’s the link:

Guardian article https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/jan/27/advice-from-30-people-who-really-started-living-when-they-found-out-they-were-dying

I hope you enjoy it and that it is as meaningful to you as it is to me.  I didn’t say anything as I wasn’t sure if I’d make the final piece, and when I knew I did, I just wanted to spring it on everyone as a fun thing (plus I was expecting this a few months ago and I had no updates, so no point talking about it, right?)  Good night!