Just a year ago

A year ago today, I had just arrived in the hospital ward and was waiting to be admitted. It had been a horrible morning as I packed my bag and said goodbye to my dogs, quite convinced I'd never see them again. I may not be remembering correctly, but it seems to me that the weather was foggy and miserable - or maybe that was just the mood I was in. I so desperately did not want surgery but knew it had to be done or I had no chance of survival.

And this year, what have I been doing today? Well, I went to buy paint for the development project. Have you ever lifted a 15 litre tub of paint? Have you any idea how heavy it is?! I am amazed that I've shifted 30 litres of paint today without needing help. I couldn't have done that for months before my visit to hospital and, even a couple of months ago, I think that might have been a difficult task for me to achieve. I am thrilled that I was able to do not only that today, but I also visited a friend this morning before heading off to buy the paint and, guess what! I'm not even slightly tired.

So, now, I'm going to turn my mind to marking assignments. Always best to do that when you're feeling relatively wide awake, I think.

Even though I'm experiencing my improvement, I can't believe how much different this Christmas has been from last.

The thing that got me through those few days last year, I think, were my neighbour's words when I told her how scared I was. "Look at it this way; either you'll wake up after the operation and wonder what all the fuss was about, or you won't wake up, so you won't know anything about it anyway."

A bit like the rest of life, really...