Category Archives: Uncategorized

Lying in bed wide awake again!. Exactly 2 years ago I did the grand tour of northwest hospitals. The scary reality was that I had survived a life threatening brain haemorrhage caused by my tumour, but at that time I hadn’t realised just what a close call it was. To be honest, I have neverContinue reading “Just another day?”

The COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on life is unprecedented. It’s natural to feel anxious, after all, we have no previous reference point for this, we don’t know how we should react at this time — and maybe this makes us feel a bit panicked.  But keeping your emotions in check is more important than ever rightContinue reading “Let it go…”

It often appears that no goal is ever possible without meeting with a ton of obstacles and challenges along the way. I’ve read about many people who’ve had a dream, but whose plans were thrown into chaos. It seems to me that adopting a positive attitude toward failed plans is an important quality; successful peopleContinue reading “When plans have to change…”

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to share my thoughts in this blog. I was hoping to recount my experiences in order, but feel this is a good time to drop in a random post, which actually calls on a lot of my previous experiences. So I guess these coping mechanisms have becomeContinue reading “When life gives you lemons… or a pandemic!”

14th October 2019… It was a wet, windy, cloudy morning after the night that Storm Callum had battered parts of the UK. As we travelled north on the motorway, there were plenty of flooded fields to be seen, but no nerves. There was no way that this would go ahead in this weather. I hadContinue reading “Reach for the skies!”

It was around 3 weeks after my surgery. Another beautifully sunny afternoon. Another day of me missing out on doing the things I loved, as Neil had gone out on a club bike ride and I was stay in the garden, resting… When he got home, Neil left his bike in the garden, and IContinue reading “Enjoy the journey”

Those first few weeks were a mix of doing whatever I could do work on my balance, and sleeping. I was still very much reliant on others, as I my vision wasn’t recovered enough to drive, and mum was still coming round to help with housework and cooking. It was about 3 weeks after myContinue reading “The ‘Other’ Diagnosis”

Whilst the rest of the country was watching Harry and Megan’s royal wedding, I was sat in the treatment room of our local hospital having my stitches and staples removed. I thought that it might have been painful, but actually having a head that was half numb on this occasion had its benefits. Having theContinue reading “Dream Believe Achieve”

I’ve always been the kind of person who likes plans and lists. What had frustrated me so much during this experience was that there were so many ‘unknowns’ I couldn’t make any realistic plans. My life was effectively on hold. But in spite of this, before my surgery I had written a list of goals.Continue reading “Mission Accomplished!”

I’d spent many years working with children who had special educational needs. I’d spent years studying autism, deafness and deaf awareness, dyslexia, dyspraxia, sensory processing disorders… Nothing, however, could prepare me for the world I now found myself in. My tinnitus at times was debilitating. Yet I was profoundly deaf. In the safety of myContinue reading “My new world”