Pete Bate

This past few weeks have included quite a few new - and old - experiences. One was my first visit to a maxillofacial consultant. A what? I hear you gasp. It's basically the person you go and see when your dentist is stumped. I mentioned in my last post that I'd had some pain in the socket where a molar had been yanked a couple of years ago due to my cancer treatment. My normal dentist took a phone photo of the weird bony growth spreading in the gap. She sent this off and, before I knew it, I...

At hospital for the outcome of my latest scan, I realise it's at least the 15th time over the past three and a half years we've sat in the waiting room expecting such results. It's still hard to express my feelings in the run-up to these appointments; an anxiety that bubbles subconsciously rather than in the front of my brain. But as we head up the A38 on results morning, questions are simmering. Will the latest CT show my cancer has been kept in its corner? Or will the cancer have quietly...

I've slowly realised that there's a difference between living with cancer and living with cancer. It seems possible to do both in one month, one week, or one day even. Last week, Lisa and I headed to Sorrento to celebrate, in advance, of our 30th wedding anniversary (yes, we did get married aged 12, thanks!). It's the first time we've had a week away together - sans kids - for almost two years. A lot has happened in that period. It's hard to explain the impact an unexpected terminal diagnosis...