What a difference a year makes

Tomorrow it will be a year to the day that I began the long journey of discovery of my lung cancer, followed by treatment and seemingly cure. The 9th of September has been stamped upon my brain ever since. It was the day that I went to see the doctor - not my doctor as he was on holiday - about my hacking cough.

I kept a personal diary right from the start and only abandoned it when I received my diagnosis and decided to share it with everybody. Here's the entry for 9th September:

Appointment with the doctor - very thorough but rather inhuman. Gave me a card and told me to go to the hospital for chest Xray which I did that afternoon. Also gave me Amoxicillin for 5 days. Shocked - because card for hospital said “smokers cough”. Attended the Xray clinic early pm - very quick - back at work in the afternoon. I felt a bit reassured - and I’d had the nightmare the night before where I was dying so anything must be better than that.

What a difference a year makes!