A Year.

Dear All,

It has been a year since I was diagnosed.

I had planned to write at length, envisioning this day and the need to put it all into words and, in so doing, put it to rest. But now that I am here, I realise that I cannot begin to capture in a single blog posting what this past year has been like for me. I cannot convey in a few paragraphs what it has felt like to have your life turned upside down and to find yourself thrust into the fight of your life. The fight for your life.

And then I realise that I have the most beautiful patchwork quilt of single blog postings to capture my journey so far. One need only to read this blog, from its very first entry to this one, to begin to understand the emotions that I have and continue to experience, the physical battles that I face and continue to encounter, the mental goals that I seek and continue to strive for... This blog is my voice, my narrative, my story. But it is also my comfort, my booster, my connection. It is the home of my troops, housing the love and support of so many wonderful, wonderful people. So, I believe that my "year in review" cannot be expressed in a more genuine, honest and open fashion than in the very entries that make up this blog.

I have cried a lot today. But I want you all to know that despite the tears and all the reasons for which I cry, I am happy and grateful about so much, and consider myself lucky in ways that, a year ago, eluded me. While I hope that you all will never ever have to experience the heartache of this marathon of mine, I hope that you will have the chance to feel what it is like to have people support you in ways that surprise you, touch you, move you... and that allow you to believe, even in the hardest of times, that anything is possible.

Hugs to all.