Lying awake in the heat at 2.30am. An unusual 28C at night in the UK. I’m glad of it in the day as it disguises my induced menopausal sweats when everyone else is sweating. I look like I’ve been swimming or just come out of the shower in the days following my hormone injection. I…

There are things that are hard to articulate about this process of attempting to save one’s own life. The major one is the slip slide of reality. If you can be bothered to read on, this is going to be pretty trippy and you will probably abandon me, dear Reader, thinking I have slipped off…

I have often wondered if I could survive without my creative endeavours. As a child I was constantly, restlessly making something. I remember my mother’s understandable reluctance when I would go to her asking if I could cut up some old dress of hers to make a bag or lavender pillows. I still regret cutting…

It’s been a bad week so far. And it’s only Tuesday. Maybe the worst week since my diagnosis. I’m on my second trip to A&E in three days, coinciding unfortunately with my family being away. Last night, on my fourth day of extreme side effects from the drugs and persistent weakness, I felt more lost…