Thank the Lord for my work. Genuinely. Honestly. I couldn’t have been signed off and stayed sane. Even working through the fog of chemo is better than endless Jeremy Kyle and Cash in the Attic
But in particular, thank the Lord for work. I started a new job in January and was lucky enough to find myself surrounded by brilliant, fun, motivated, interested colleagues who are all about pulling in the same direction. Even better I have a wonderful fabulous team. I’m the Lieutenant to a truly inspirational Captain. She’s highly intelligent, very quick, fair, kind, straight up, supportive and very hard working. I never hear her complain and she is a very fine yardstick to measure myself against. She hired me in part to take over from her in the medium term yet my illness hasn’t phased her one little bit. She’s awe inspiring. And the team members are also wonderful. Highly intelligent, motivated, great at their jobs and nice people too. Then there’s the work. Top calibre. Incredibly interesting. Fast moving. Great clients. Household names. Cutting edge.
In truth, this is what I have been working my butt off to do. Damned if I’m going to give it up – even temporarily – just because of Genghis.
Also thank the Lord for Facebook. Yes I admit I’m addicted. But as I’ve mentioned before, the online communities I’m in have been an amazing support. It’s also a wonderful way to tell people how I’m getting on without the pressure of sending and responding to individual emails. I’m not lazy but I am tired, so effort sparing measures are very useful at the moment.
Other things that have helped keep me sane:
– texts, cards and emails that don’t demand a reply. I love knowing the support is out there without the pressure to write back.
– gifts. The amount of support shown by a well though out gift is unbelievable. Flowers are lovely as they cheer the place up. Food is always welcome. But the best things have been those where the giver has truly empathised and thought through their gift.
– organising. I’m a huge planner and Genghis is a bugger for putting the kibosh on things. But I’ve still been able to plan my kids’ birthdays, holidays for next year and other fun things. A dash of the normal me. Hoorah.
– those wonderful people who take the load off aka my “staff”. Our nanny. Our housekeeper. Our gardener. My secretary. Ocado.
– conversations about anything other than Genghis.
– the sunshine.
– my iPad.
– my husband. Love and adore him.