Out with the old

So, 2008 is almost upon us. It is, I have decided, going to be a much better year than 2006 or 2007.

I am already beginning to make my list of New Year Resolutions...

1. Although I suppose I'll have to keep going to have regular hospital check-ups, I am going to try to stop dwelling on them as they approach. I realised today that I start to become anxious around four weeks ahead of each visit and, by the day of the visit itself, I can feel my blood pressure soaring. This has to stop. It is not good for me.
2. I shall continue exercising - and maybe in 2008 I'll move beyond walking and into swimming, too, though, given how much I have always hated swimming, this may be an exercise too far. We'll see...
3. In February, my holiday cottage business will open and I am determined to make a success of it, though I expect to make a loss in the first two years or so - it would be nice to break even, though.
4. I will not take on too much work, particularly if it doesn't pay very well. Life is too short to spend time on work that makes you resentful. If there's one thing I've learnt in 2007, it's to make sure to do things that I want to do. There may come a point when I have to take a contract I hate for a while, if only to be able to pay the bills, but I have no intention of working full time ever again.
5. Tell the world about my biggest lesson of the last two years, namely, if you suspect something's wrong with your health and your doctors don't seem to be listening, don't simply accept what they tell you - they can and do make mistakes (as my medical team has confessed about my case). Don't be afraid to make a fuss! A cancer diagnosis doesn't have to be the end of the world, but it could be if your medical team doesn't recognise it early enough. I look back on my experiences and often think that if I hadn't been articulate, bloody minded and unwilling to take the first diagnosis I was given, I could have ended up being one of those "too late" statistics. So, give yourself the best chance you can - insist on a second, third or even fourth opinion if you have to, but don't simply lie down and die through lack of confidence.