It’s 218 days since I first walked along the corridor to the Macmillan Day Case Unit at The Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre. 214 days since I was admitted to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital with neutropenic sepsis. A day since I last walked along the corridor to the Macmillan Day Case Unit. InContinue reading “Day 218”
Tag Archives: writing
it is what it is
It’s been a while. A while of not writing. A while of having nothing to say. Except certain phrases: Don’t get cancer. It’ll be fine. It is what it is. I say them often. On a loop. Not to the same people. I seem to reserve Don’t get cancer for friends. People my age, orContinue reading “it is what it is”
Illness: A Narrative in Four Parts, Part Two
My four-part hybrid essay is a piece of memoir that explores my experience of being diagnosed with, and living with, multiple sclerosis. In part two: I’m moved from the emergency receiving unit to the skin ward (because there’s a bed in the skin ward); I have to break bad news to loved ones; I spendContinue reading “Illness: A Narrative in Four Parts, Part Two”
Illness: A Narrative in Four Parts
I’m a fiction writer. It’s what makes me happy. But sometimes I write fact. A case in point is an essay I’ve written for my doctoral project entitled Illness: A Narrative in Four Parts. My essay is being serialised this week in the brilliant medical humanities journal, The Polyphony. If you’re interested in following along,Continue reading “Illness: A Narrative in Four Parts”
Filling the Days
A friend sent me a message yesterday to ask if I could offer any tips on “the craft of keeping to a routine and filling your days whilst maintaining good well-being in all its forms” during this difficult time. I presume her reason for asking me is that in March 2007 I found myself inContinue reading “Filling the Days”
Sunshine Scot 