“What have you done to feel proud?”

Those first chinks of light that permeate the dark cloak of the night sky usually get me stirring and ready to meet the day head on once more.

I’ve always been an early riser, way before the spectre of leukaemia came to haunt my being, I have always been susceptible to a rush of adrenaline as I contemplate what the day might bring. 

Recovery from treatment is an ongoing process that takes many forms and shows no signs of abating even as I head towards my fifth year since diagnosis. 

Exercise has become my daily reason to be proud of achieving a goal that has been logged in my training diary. 

They are very personal goals , usually based around cycling mileages or particular hills I want to climb.. I never get phased when a far better rider comes bombing past me and disappears over the horizon out of view a few moments later. 

I feel no sense of competition with others, my personal achievements are exactly that, individual and personal to me, not for sharing with peers. 

I think that each day we are given a new opportunity to do something that we haven’t done before it should be embraced as exactly that , a new and positive chance to change and move our own personal health debate on. 

Small steps can be sought out and achieved in whatever form that takes. It doesn’t have to be exercise it can be to read a book , write a story , paint a picture in many ways what interests and drives us forwards to have done something to make us feel proud on that given day is all that matters. 

Reflection is a massive part of the journey back to life I believe very strongly,if I can reflect and consider the next move forward that in itself is another reason to feel proud. 

Dwelling on what you can’t do or find difficult won’t help you achieve anything.. Focus on what is possible and achievable at this time can open a world of new and exciting possibilities. 

Some people may aspire to athletic excellence, want to be that poster image that we all see day to day . Many will have no interest in that at all and will be happy getting back to work or whatever vision of the way forward works for them, ultimately what makes you feel proud is unique. 

“If you ever get a second chance at anything in life, you have to go all out” 

Lance Armstrong 

BIOPIC TIMELINE 

March 2016 Diagnosed with Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.. 

Relapse February 2018. 

Accepted onto a trial for CAR T-Cell therapy at UCLH. 

July 2020 

In remission for two years. 

My journey back to life continues..