WORLD BOOK NIGHT

An amazing night has passed and it was called World Book Night. It was a giving of 1million books. But it was no ordinary book. It had been printed for free and been distributed for free for one purpose; giving people the enjoyment of reading.  In order to do this 20,000 people were required to become ‘book givers’. There were 25 books to choose from and on that list was one of my favourites; Fingersmith by Sarah Walters. But before I was given any books I had to apply to become a ‘book giver’. To be considered, a short paragraph of why I chose the book and who was going to receive the book had to be written. My answer was that I had done a lot of academic reading through university. It made it hard to read something just for the enjoyment of reading. I thought that this would be a great opportunity to get my friends who were in similar situation reading something great. But I didn’t want to stop there I wanted to give the book to people who had helped me along the way, the nurses at the Chemo clinic, the nurses at the doctors surgery and a few people I know who haven’t read a book in a while.

Each book contains a unique number which when registered into the World Book Night website can be traced to show where that particular book has travelled. The idea is to pass the book on once you have read it and registered it. Then the person who you have passed the book onto will hopefully do the same. Hopefully passing it on again and again will give more people the chance of reading a great book. So maybe in a years time, ten years time, the book could have circled the globe! Who knows where it could end up!

Here are just a few people I gave my books to:

HANA

LINDA

LINDA

HELENE

JAI

LOUISE 

THE PERTH ROAD GANG - NATASHA, ADAM, KATE AND HAYLEY

HOLLY

MY FIRST TATOO

I have made my decision… I have decided to have Radiotherapy. I was nervous at the prospect of having this treatment as I knew it could lead to other more serious cancers. Also I did not know enough about Radiotherapy to feel happy with what I was going to put myself through. There was only one thing for it I had to start talking to people and start researching. I had to make a decision that I would be comfortable with. Though at the start the more advice I seeked the more confused I got but by talking to different people I realised my condition in a way was unique, like no other. Although someone may be diagnosed with the same disease their bodies react differently, you could say individually, to the treatment. I had to feel confident about my decision, to feel that I had understood my next step and knew what it would entail. This was a hard decision but when it came down to it I had to have faith in my Doctors opinion.

The first stage of Radiotherapy was to get a tattoo! Well three in fact. This would show where the radio beam would be directed. Now don’t start getting ideas. They are not massive arrows or treasure map crosses but tiny dots no bigger than a pin prick on my chest and under my arms. They help the Radiographers to position me in the exact same way for every treatment. My treatment takes place Monday to Friday everyday except for weekends. The treatment will last one month, which is 22 sessions of Radiotherapy. I am 14 session in so not long now!!!

Getting the little tattoo’s made me think about how my treatments had changed me and more noticeably how it has changed my body and skin. Though I have lost my hair (which is starting to come back as you can see from the photo) and gained a bit of weight these things will gradually go back to normal but there are changes that will be permanently with me. My three little dots got me thinking about how all our bodies tell stories through Scars, birth marks, tattoo’s, scratches and burns. Each are etched by time. They show your personal stories some good, some bad, some funny and probably some we would much rather forget. I do not quite know what I think about my marks yet but I know I am not the same person as I was a few months ago.

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