tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22337194101072888502024-03-13T16:53:30.909+00:00Agenthood and SubmissionvilleJackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.comBlogger212125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-74188191154998061662023-05-15T15:33:00.000+01:002023-05-15T15:33:38.068+01:00On the Move<p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Hello, oh lovely readers who kept me company here for many, many years, not least, through the darker days. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">You know, after my tumultuous news of the secondary cancer reversal, ie the stuff of dreams with bells on, I got a bit stuck. I published the odd post going forward but somehow it felt as though the blog had turned into something about living with cancer, and that wasn't true anymore. If I've ever got close to 'Writers' Block' - I ain't really got time for that - it was then. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">So, roll on a few pretty dormant years, as far as blogging is concerned, and I've discovered Substack. This place to host a blog type newsletter has become my new home and I'm exceedingly happy to say, it is now boasting my very first post: <a href="https://jackiebuxton969.substack.com/p/nice-news?sd=pf ">Nice News</a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGHtoaTgPLnp9L8ID1JeAIJThtEg9HH2ox8DZzQkPwQhRfG5nosIrXxCHByJ5AjbrxcvA0AWRfyRie_yl8BVcLSsTbBcTbmz4vGV1MDu0ED5rqax0Z8HU-P-K57zEHxwh06e-Aq57XTlTQGs06SHR-lgOXHwnb6nwC21Ff7m6QoZiZG8VfRzMwcdjdnQ/s602/Jackie%20Buxton%20try%20for%20slack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="539" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGHtoaTgPLnp9L8ID1JeAIJThtEg9HH2ox8DZzQkPwQhRfG5nosIrXxCHByJ5AjbrxcvA0AWRfyRie_yl8BVcLSsTbBcTbmz4vGV1MDu0ED5rqax0Z8HU-P-K57zEHxwh06e-Aq57XTlTQGs06SHR-lgOXHwnb6nwC21Ff7m6QoZiZG8VfRzMwcdjdnQ/w105-h117/Jackie%20Buxton%20try%20for%20slack.jpg" width="105" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">I would LOVE to see you again. If you'd like to read the odd post, read every one and/or even subscribe (for free), and anything in between, then please click: <a href="https://jackiebuxton969.substack.com/p/nice-news?sd=pf ">Nice News</a> to pop on over. I'll be waiting with some custard biscuits (yes, they exist, they are THE BEST, maybe I'll post the recipe on Substack some day...) and a steaming hot cuppa. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Dum de dum de dum... drums fingers... <a href="https://jackiebuxton969.substack.com/p/nice-news?sd=pf ">Nice News</a> 😊<br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p>Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-25520232798786464802021-01-05T14:58:00.001+00:002021-01-05T14:58:51.571+00:00Persistent Acts of Kindness<p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">‘At least we won’t forget it!’</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">‘Imagine the stories for our grandchildren!’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">You know, I love the human spirit in these situations,
searching for the humour and positive. In truth – and please stay with me as I
gloss over the fact that 2021 hasn’t exactly begun to a deluge of parties and
hugs and burning of masks – 2020 will be the year we remember for <s>all the
wrong</s> many of the wrong reasons. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">There are heaps of us lucky enough (and this isn’t to forget
those who’ve been hit so terribly hard) to have a list of things that have been
an ‘improvement’ on pre-Covid life or, if that’s stretching it too far, a
decent alternative. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">One of the positives I’ve heard talked about far and wide is
the receipt of random acts of kindness, those people with enormous hearts, ‘paying it
forward’. It's that wonderful gesture from which the giver receives nothing concrete
– the fabulous mood lifting power of a sense of wholesome well-being notwithstanding.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">This happened to me totally unexpectedly at the end of last
year. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">My increasingly poor hearing has become more of an issue in
recent years which you <i>may</i> have noticed in my increasing blog posts on
this theme. I am also incredibly lucky. My type of hearing loss responds to hearing
aids and mine are so good, that I can almost forget my hearing is so poor. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Until that is, I take them out. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">An occasion where I am reminded that I am very hard of
hearing is when I need to absolutely, and categorically, wake up. Combine the poor
hearing with being an incredibly deep sleeper, and a broke-the-mould night owl (my
life’s mission is addressing this: <a href="https://jackiebuxton.blogspot.com/2019/08/trying-to-sleep.html">more about that here</a>) and it presents a problem when I have an early flight, class, appointment, or
even simply an over-spilling to-do list. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Luckily, my lark of a husband can be relied upon to shake me
awake at any point post 6am. Earlier? Not a problem. If he’s not awake already,
this alarm radio thing apparently clicks on to some dreary news channel and does
the job. Personally, I can’t imagine a worse way to wake from peaceful
slumbers, but that’s ok, because I can’t hear it anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also can’t hear any clock. No, not the
analogue ones with the bells either – I’ve tried them all. I certainly can’t
hear my phone. That long list of tones and chimes you can set to bring you back
from Slumberdom? I’ve tested each and every one without aids. At the absolute
best, providing the volume is on max, there is the odd sound I can register as
a sort of faint rattle. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">That ain’t gonna work.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The closest I’d come to success was setting my Garmin watch
to shake me awake and certainly, in a light sleep, I will notice my wrist being
pummelled by my watch. But I’m oblivious in a deep sleep and thus this method
is also not reliable for me. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Hence the problem, which is not an unusual one: if I can’t
rely on something to wake me up when my human alarm clock isn’t available, I
have Early Flight Syndrome every time. I wake several times in a panic, only to
see the hands of the clock having inched forward since the last eruption into Wakedom.
Off I return to my slumbers, only to repeat the process every half hour or so.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k3JkYS2ve7A/X_R4DMnoGdI/AAAAAAAALFI/ZRzomjKQ1b0-WGBfCWUuEUySfuJ0ih6QQCLcBGAsYHQ/s481/FB%2Bpost%2Bre%2Balarms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="251" data-original-width="481" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k3JkYS2ve7A/X_R4DMnoGdI/AAAAAAAALFI/ZRzomjKQ1b0-WGBfCWUuEUySfuJ0ih6QQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/FB%2Bpost%2Bre%2Balarms.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">So, I decided to investigate. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jackie.buxton.39/posts/4963556990328589">I posted on Facebook</a> about this dilemma. Did anybody know of any alarm capable
of waking this normally deep sleeping, poor hearer? So many people took the
time to reply, often sending me links to various potential solutions, and I’d
like to thank them first of all for that. You know we love to diss us humans
but most people really are so very kind and helpful and that came through loud
and clear – excuse the pun - in response to my slightly off the wall question. <o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Alas, many of the suggestions I’d already tried to no avail,
but something piqued my interest. Following a very amusing comment by one
friend who, it would appear, had been bi-passed when the cycadean rhythms were
being handed out, and any of the other stuff that wakes a person, I looked into
the <a href="https://www.rnidconnevans.co.uk/product/26801260/40CLWAKED/Wake--n--Shake-Dynamite-Alarm-Clock-with-bed-shaker">Wake ’n’ Shake Dynamite </a>(!) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">This alarm clock booms out at a rude 95 decibels. The
pneumatic drill is 120 decibels. A 110-decibel sound is the loudest an
audiologist will play when testing your hearing (and only then if it's very poor). If you need a sound to be
louder than 90 decibels for it to register, your hearing, at least in relation to that particular
tone, is classed as profoundly deaf. I have a few sounds that I can hear at 95 decibels.
But I wasn’t sure whether I had enough to hear the alarm alone. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">There’s more. The clock has a funny little
paddle attached which you stick under your pillow - it’s soft, no Princess and
the Pea here - and that, well, as my amusing non-sleeping, incredibly helpful
friend assured, ‘makes the earth move’. Excellent. And then, just so you can
tick all boxes, there’s also a strobe light to join in the party. <o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X-WjGBPQtFQ/X_R4AuS4owI/AAAAAAAALFE/CEXWjdHDOasmhbJmIqpzJpzrP9L79Ap8gCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Clock%2Bfor%2BActs%2Bof%2BKindness%2Bblog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1556" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X-WjGBPQtFQ/X_R4AuS4owI/AAAAAAAALFE/CEXWjdHDOasmhbJmIqpzJpzrP9L79Ap8gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Clock%2Bfor%2BActs%2Bof%2BKindness%2Bblog.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">This could be life changing. It's not cheap*, around the
£40 mark when I was looking. But it was certainly going on my Christmas List. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Enter a fellow writer who I can’t profess to know very well
at all. We are Facebook writing friends but have never met. A message popped up
saying that this writer had <a href="https://karensworld-writer.co.uk/?s=Wake+n+Shake">tested this alarm clock for her blog</a> and that if I could make use of it, it
was mine. She wanted no money and wouldn’t even let me pay the postage. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Not only was I ridiculously excited to have potentially
found the answer to my Early Flight Syndrome but I was also overcome with the
kindness of people: how the ugliness of human nature often makes it to the fore
of the news, and is repeated ad infinitum over the day, but there are random
acts of kindness happening all day, every day, all over the world. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">And this isn’t the first time this has happened to me in
lockdown. Eleanor, I’m looking at you!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">2020? The horrors are well documented and ongoing. They can’t
be ignored, and they will be on the list to tell the grandchildren. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">But the positive? Alongside the innate human ability to find
a smattering of the good, positive and even humorous in a situation? The
kindness of strangers! The love and power of community! This also needs to be
sung from the rooftops. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Thank you, everyone. And may 2021 bring us more positives
than negatives to tell the next generation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Oh, The Wake ’n’ Shake! Does is work? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Let’s just say: the earth moves.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">*The <a href="https://rnid.org.uk/">RNID</a> (recently returned to their original name after ten years as Action on Hearing Loss) provides help in purchasing technology to assist with hearing loss. <a href="https://benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/AboutYou">Find out more, here</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">In non-COVID-19 times (temporarily closed), The National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) lend this type of technology out for your children to <a href="https://www.ndcs.org.uk/information-and-support/technology-for-deaf-children-and-young-people/technology-test-drive/ ">try before you buy</a>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The Wake ‘n’ Shake Dynamite Alarm is widely available. <a href="https://www.rnidconnevans.co.uk/product/26801260/40CLWAKED/Wake--n--Shake-Dynamite-Alarm-Clock-with-bed-shaker">This links you to its listing in the RNID online shop</a></span><o:p></o:p></p>Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-51130894903530606192020-06-16T19:48:00.001+01:002020-06-19T11:06:02.311+01:00Behind The Mask<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">On a sun-kissed afternoon in our garden a few weeks ago, the
four of us were toasting the hubby’s Big Birthday with three other screens - thanks
to that technology which the world has embraced like a lo-alcohol beer. Zoom! A necessary and viable alternative to a hug and a coffee, but not our first
choice of communication in </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">normal circumstances</span></i><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">.</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> There were the siblings
and families dressed up, with fizz and glasses in hand and the hubby’s
parents, their faces we’d not seen for over eight weeks, squeezed around their
iPad screen, communicating as easily as if it were a 70s </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">rotary</span> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">telephone. And
yet prior to March of this year, the only ‘zoom’ any of us would recall was in
an exclamation bubble on a page in the Beano.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Obviously, I couldn’t hear what anyone was saying but
nonetheless, it was a touching moment and one of the many great ones from the
madness of 2020 which will stay with me. We were celebrating together. We were all
a bit giddy for many reasons, not least the bizarre nature of partying
Covid-style. It was a moment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's funny how we adapt. Indeed, I find it heart-warming and
emboldening how humans seem to be able to adapt to most things, given time. It
gives me confidence in times of stress that we can get through the difficulties
that present themselves to us all in their many and varied ways: we’ve been
here before. We can do this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And I remain optimistic that the world will reach the other
side of this pandemic, dust itself down and even retain some of the positives
of the experience. That said, I realise it’s easy for me to say this. I am
fortunate, my experience of Covid-19 thus far, has been so much easier than it
has been for many others. I am very conscious of that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But there is one aspect of Covid-19 life which has been particularly
troubling me, and seeking updates on the wearing of masks and other face
coverings, has become my new obsession.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">People have different views on the effectiveness of home-made
and non-surgical grade face coverings, but that’s for another day, and
certainly for somebody better briefed on the matter than I am. What is clear,
is that from 15 June when the wearing of face coverings on public transport became mandatory in England (recommended in the rest of the UK) covering our mouth
and nose is going to be part of our ‘new normal’ routine for at least the next
few months. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1viuCKA45iI/XukNmIIuVtI/AAAAAAAAK2Y/3nRDHzheqmUMQ2oaiJclt85YyKDtOuLYgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Blog%2Bface%2Bcoverings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="587" data-original-width="618" height="302" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1viuCKA45iI/XukNmIIuVtI/AAAAAAAAK2Y/3nRDHzheqmUMQ2oaiJclt85YyKDtOuLYgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Blog%2Bface%2Bcoverings.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/sci-tech/swiss-develop-first-see-through-mask/45824518?fbclid=IwAR1nKIn0Z0wsAc4gjenyZKxlzuJwlyQWA9rLTXtSv4jnYHfy-0NHkxXatwU" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A surgical version. Please can these </span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/sci-tech/swiss-develop-first-see-through-mask/45824518?fbclid=IwAR1nKIn0Z0wsAc4gjenyZKxlzuJwlyQWA9rLTXtSv4jnYHfy-0NHkxXatwU" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">be rolled out everywhere</span></a></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are inherent difficulties in communication when we
cover our faces, not least for the 1 in 6 of us who are hard of hearing. For
those of us who use lipreading either with, or instead of, poor hearing,
communicating with someone whose mouth is covered becomes at best a one-way
street. Fabulous as my hearing aids are, they don’t work on their own. I cannot
begin to communicate when I can’t also see somebody’s lips, and to a lesser
extent, their whole face. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’m minded to tell you about the time I travelled from York to
London instead of Newark on a fantastically crowded train, only becoming aware
it was the wrong train when I found somebody sitting in my reserved seat. Oh no
they weren’t. It wasn’t an enormous hardship once I’d sorted out onward travel and
alerted those waiting for me, and had the assurance that I would receive a full
refund. But the situation was solely down to the fact that the platform screen
hadn’t updated, coupled with Tannoy announcements being as much use to me as
someone talking with a sock in their mouth, from the next village. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v5T1uVAGJGY/Xuj7Wr8MezI/AAAAAAAAK1c/AISUXWdUPckkgdyswTtY4zsifKLIQ47iwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Blog%2Bface%2Bcoverings%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="254" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v5T1uVAGJGY/Xuj7Wr8MezI/AAAAAAAAK1c/AISUXWdUPckkgdyswTtY4zsifKLIQ47iwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Blog%2Bface%2Bcoverings%2B2.jpg" width="236" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.just-smile.uk/?fbclid=IwAR3vlK8krkCS2SJShdig_LcCCyBBjRf99-SVlmGPLTmcE2fdWIpQWXguhHA"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Lipreading-friendly masks for sale. <br />Lots of different patterns</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">More seriously, if you are faced with that type of scenario
every time you leave the house, it adds another layer of stress, at the very
least. Add to that the terribly depressing feeling of being none the wiser
after having a humiliating conversation with a friendly fellow passenger, or
member of staff, or anybody with whom you come into contact who leaves the
scene thinking you are either rude, or stupid, or both, and you’ll see how situations
where you run the risk of not hearing are no fun at all. Sometimes staying home
seems a lot easier. And this is one of the reasons why isolation and loneliness
for people with hearing difficulties is a very real threat. None more so than
now. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But read on, because this is a much more positive post than
it started out a few weeks ago. There are solutions to the covered mouth predicament;
we just have to know they are there and be encouraged to use them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Those wonderful people at <a href="https://actiononhearingloss.org.uk/coronavirus-response/campaigning-and-influencing-during-the-covid-19-coronavirus-crisis/">Action on Hearing Loss</a> have been successful in their campaign that
face coverings should not be mandatory for anybody ‘travelling with or
providing assistance to someone who relies on lipreading to communicate.’ </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://actiononhearingloss.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/latest-press-releases/charity-celebrates-win-on-government-guidance-for-mandatory-face-coverings-on-public-transport-for-those-who-lip-read/">This is great news</a> on an individual communication level. You can read m</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">ore about </span><a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/592/part/2/made" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">the legislation here.</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vi0YZhf4tOs/XukO5LamFzI/AAAAAAAAK2o/9mFNeSEcLYwL8aoiHU6cchv_Vg5cM_PJgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Blog%2Bface%2Bcoverings%2B7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="349" data-original-width="520" height="211" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vi0YZhf4tOs/XukO5LamFzI/AAAAAAAAK2o/9mFNeSEcLYwL8aoiHU6cchv_Vg5cM_PJgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Blog%2Bface%2Bcoverings%2B7.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://connect-hear.com/knowledge-base/diy-mask-patterns-with-clear-panel-for-deaf-hard-of-hearing/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Written and visual instructions for making </span></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://connect-hear.com/knowledge-base/diy-mask-patterns-with-clear-panel-for-deaf-hard-of-hearing/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"></a><a href="https://connect-hear.com/knowledge-base/diy-mask-patterns-with-clear-panel-for-deaf-hard-of-hearing/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">your own mask, here. Fun designs, too</span></a></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then there are the wider circles. I am so happy to report
that some fabulous individuals and organisations have set themselves the task
of inventing an alternative mask that shows the lips and mouth. Indeed, as one sign
language interpreter described: so you can see the smile. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LhCqkCGxPas/XukGAQKZ8GI/AAAAAAAAK2I/_-KJjiWED4smuROrqQo33rTArRdr2DmCQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Blog%2Bface%2Bcoverings%2B6%2BDom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="702" height="132" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LhCqkCGxPas/XukGAQKZ8GI/AAAAAAAAK2I/_-KJjiWED4smuROrqQo33rTArRdr2DmCQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Blog%2Bface%2Bcoverings%2B6%2BDom.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyTUtcBVf6g&feature=youtu.be">How to make a transparent face mask, </a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyTUtcBVf6g&feature=youtu.be">brilliantly, simply demonstrated</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A transparent mask isn’t perfect. It will need demisting,
for example (but cloth masks get hot and sticky, too). I’m also not sure
whether the sensitive issue of, how shall we call this, the potential unsavoury
display of what comes out of all our mouths – let’s just leave that one there –
has been solved, but it’s enormous progress in the right direction and if nothing
else, a transparent covering could be worn for short periods, when communication
with others was imperative. And the more we embrace the early prototypes, the
more time and investment will be put into more usable, long-term versions going forward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">With the designs available, the hard part is done. Now we need
to encourage everyone to commit to this kind of face covering, even those with
20/20 hearing, please! After all, the wearing of any face covering during the
pandemic is about helping the other person, not ourselves. If we all buy or
make masks which show the mouth where remotely possible, this potential crisis for
lipreaders will be largely averted.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rw1UxVBUUw0/XukQJbbQb5I/AAAAAAAAK24/kWEITeevEZcCGVfw0QiL2ggdOHZR6C_-wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Blog%2Bface%2Bcoverings%2B3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="416" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rw1UxVBUUw0/XukQJbbQb5I/AAAAAAAAK24/kWEITeevEZcCGVfw0QiL2ggdOHZR6C_-wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Blog%2Bface%2Bcoverings%2B3.jpg" width="276" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEWVOEaYlUM" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Instructions are in sign language.<br />A bit more technical, but worth a look</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">You know, these transparent masks take a bit of getting used
to. But then, the traditional cloth masks and scarves generally look a little odd to me at the moment. I can’t help thinking that once we get used to a partially
transparent mask, that we might all prefer to see people’s mouths and more of their
faces and the ‘music and the dance’ that shows the real meaning when we speak. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">After all, if we can embrace birthday celebrations crowded
around small screens with three generations hundreds of miles apart, I am
pretty confident we can adapt to transparent face coverings. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thanks for visiting the blog. Do let me know of any face covering creations or stellar purchases. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy face coverings to you all😊</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Click on the captions in the selection of pictures in this post for links to just a few of the to-purchase, home-made and more technical options already out there.</span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p>
<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Update! </span></o:p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Due to a fabulous response to the post - so much enthusiasm for transparent masks, thanks so much! - I've been looking for other places to buy transparent masks, and <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/802078707/transparent-vinyl-protecting-mask-with?">found loads at Etsy</a> </span><br />
<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></span></o:p>
<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Don't forget <a href="https://www.just-smile.uk/">Just Smile</a>, the fabulous wife and husband team who make all their masks (currently - they've been inundated!) and as mentioned above. </span></span></o:p><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">An enormous thank you to the very kind people who have listened to my fears and sent various articles and links. I, we, appreciate you, appreciating our plight!</span></o:p><br />
<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></div>
</div>
Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-68896597227818674212020-06-07T17:00:00.000+01:002020-06-08T12:04:56.188+01:00Covid Stories<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One of my students said that she was
struggling to make any progress with her novel as it was set in the current day
and everything had changed. I felt for her. My current story is set (slightly) in the past, so
this wasn’t something I’d given much thought to, previously.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">When you consider it, even describing a contemporary scene
as ‘every day’ as walking down the street would bear no resemblance in a balmy
summer scene of 2020 to one you may have written, or read, last year. The wearing of
face coverings on public transport will be either mandatory or encouraged across
the UK in a few days’ time and I see no reason why people will remove their
masks before proceeding on foot to their destination. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Once walking, whether people
opt for the two metre dance, bouncing </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">like leprechauns </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">from pavement to kerb and even into the
road to keep their distance from potential contamination, or
the head down swagger of those confident that it would take more than a chance
brush with a Covid-19 carrying stranger to become infected by it - and all those in
between - it’s safe to say that moving from one place to another is going to
look very different in this third decade of the new millennium. And for the foreseeable future at least. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Add to that the
lack of any physical contact - even some eye contact seems to have been
tarnished with the brush of extreme caution - silent restaurants, well-spaced
queues with no sniff of any barging, boarded up businesses that even
furloughing couldn’t save and cinemas still advertising pre-Easter films, and
it’s fair to say that without addressing the post-Covid-19 setting, the story
could look oddly dated, even bizarre. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was musing this when I came across a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jun/01/no-pubs-no-kissing-no-flying-how-covid-19-is-forcing-authors-to-change-their-novels">brilliant article in the Guardian</a> where different authors give their views on how to deal with the <i>Covid-19 In Fiction</i> dilemma. They talk more of the plot itself and the challenges, for
example, of the consequences of love at first sight, indeed a quickie down the
side street, with masks and two metre distances in place. Hmmm. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It’s a thought-provoking article and I certainly don’t have the answers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But I do know I’m not ready, or willing, to jump into a
covered faces, worried street of Covid-19 affected stories for my late-night
reads. I tend to read fiction and although I do opt for gritty reality over
fantasy, I also want to spend time in another world. In short, I won’t be
opting to read a novel set in a pandemic any time soon, and the film of that
name as far as I’m concerned, can safely be stored away until any grandchildren
ask us what it was really like. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Does this mean that everything I read from here on in will
need to be set in the past, or will writers decide their story can manage without
this nod to reality? I mean, how interesting is a snapshot of a street full of people
adhering to the rules? I don’t think there’s an awful lot you can do with a
picture of people in masks, once it’s been duly noted for continuity purposes.
It feels a bit like pointing out that the people walking down the road have
skin on their faces, or need to open their mouths to eat. And yet not to
embrace our current climate, would seem out of sorts, too - a whopping great
elephant in the room. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Dear readers, writers, this question has me flummoxed! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">How much reference to Covid-19 would you want, how much would
you need, to be included in a story that took place post spring 2020? Is this
something you’re currently addressing or even reading right now? Perhaps the
wearing of masks and keeping of good social distance is already adding to the
plot you’re writing or the story you’re reading. I’m really interested in your
take on this. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Please do share your thoughts!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Meanwhile, I hope this post reaches you all safe and well
and managing to navigate the madness and sadness of the Covid-19 world. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">*Footnote! Interestingly, when I did my spellcheck, it didn’t
recognise ‘Covid-19’ – I wonder how long it will
take to get with the 2020 programme…?</span></div>
</div>
Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-89193971895845615342020-02-20T13:56:00.000+00:002020-02-22T14:00:31.662+00:00Nothing Happened<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ten years ago today, I was kindly informed by Facebook, I
posted my first blog post. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was a timely notice as I’ve been all of a dither
regarding my blog lately – do people still read this kind of blog, or have we
moved on to other forms of communication? Have a I lost all of my fabulous
readers through inactivity? I wouldn’t blame you. Is it worth putting up
with the rampant spamming which never used to get through, and shouldn’t get
through, but now does? But most of all, if this <a href="https://www.menieres.org.uk/">Menieres lark</a> insists on
continuing (over fifteen months now, very tired of the time sap, I’ll be
honest) will I ever be able to create the time to write a blog post again?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I wondered if I should knock it on the head. It’s been fun.
We’ve had a good innings, me and the blog, but maybe it’s time to move on for
both of us. A definite split. No animosity, no bad blood, just time to call it
a day and move on to new pastures green.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But then the unexpected happened. I needed to tell people
and I didn’t know how.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was actually late December and the further it has moved
into the new year, and goodness, don’t tell me we’re half way though February
already, the more stressed I’ve become about getting the message out. At first
I wasn’t so worried. I kind of thought people had forgotten. Not in an uncaring
way you understand, but in the way all our lives move on and other concerns
squeeze the older ones out, particularly if everything seems to be ok, tickety
boo, not a cause for concern. I knew that should things become a concern, all
you lovely people would jump to my attention. I know this because you’ve done
it before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But I’ve learnt that just because people don’t speak about
these things, doesn’t mean they don’t worry. And If I’m not worried, I feel
incredibly guilty if you are. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Confused? It’s complicated. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The fact is, I woke up on 19<sup>th</sup> December 2019 with
a two and three quarter year old secondary cancer diagnosis. On 20<sup>th</sup>
December, with no miracle, no pioneering treatment, no magic spell, I woke up <i>without</i>
secondary cancer. Gone. No more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Those fabulous medical people had held a Multi-disciplinary
Team Meeting (MDT) and decided I didn’t have secondary cancer.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eTkthPnuQII/XlEznp6kEMI/AAAAAAAAKsU/UlTg3O8HJ3EzmIaBcgTzkI4G-qsqj1szQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/blog%2B237%2BNothing%2BHappened.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eTkthPnuQII/XlEznp6kEMI/AAAAAAAAKsU/UlTg3O8HJ3EzmIaBcgTzkI4G-qsqj1szQCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/blog%2B237%2BNothing%2BHappened.jpg" width="191" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I know! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But the diagnosis wasn’t a mistake all along, a cruel quirk
of fate to make me appreciate life. I already did, honest. I do, I really do! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">No, indeed, if you scanned my body tomorrow not knowing any
of my history, the diagnosis would be the same as it was back in March 2017. You’d
still say this was a body which had one noticeable area of bone metastases in
the spine, and further spots in the pelvis. Just the same. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And that’s exactly the point. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Over the thirty-three months since diagnosis, evidenced in
every scan and blood test taken since then, nothing happened. Nothing changed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It should have done. My treatment for secondary cancer has
always been conservative. Let’s not go straight back in with chemo and
radiotherapy, it was decided, because it all looks very calm and stable. So
let’s tweak the existing maintenance hormone therapy I’d been taking following
primary cancer, and introduce a pretty side effect free (zilch side effects for
me, actually 😊) bone hardening treatment, and keep
monitoring the situation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Those clever people monitored. Each follow up scan appointment
was the same: no change. The areas in question were the same as in the first
scan. Nothing got bigger, but crucially, nothing got smaller, either. It didn’t
mean the treatment wasn’t working; it didn’t mean it was working. It meant nothing:
nothing was happening.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">You have a funny body (!) I was told, more than once. Does
this mean I might be a good stat? I asked. If my funny body was showing no new cancer
and no ‘growing’ cancer, dare I think I might be one of the incredibly lucky
ones who really could live for another twenty years post diagnosis of secondary
cancer?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Nobody, understandably, wanted to go there. Cancer is a
fickle, devious beast that learns and re-invents itself in its quest to beat our
also incredibly clever body and treatments, and, faced with this, making such
bold assertions based on a hunch and unusual scans really would be foolish. It
could come back to haunt us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But I clung on to it. I liked to believe that I could be a good
stat. It helped me get up in the morning and get through the day. It helped me live
a ‘normal’ life, have my ups and downs, get stressed even – to me, getting
stressed on a small scale is to be rejoiced. If you can fret about the small
stuff, then I think it’s a sign that you haven’t got too much of the big stuff
to worry about. I recognised my secondary cancer diagnosis had quickly morphed
into something that didn’t bother me too much for the moment – ironically the
Menieres disease had more of an impact on my everyday life – even if the niggle
was always there that one day this would probably change. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I held on to the dream that if I could live for years, I might
still be around for the time when secondary cancer, whilst unlikely to be curable
in the near future, could be managed indefinitely. Medication which is so mind-blowingly
clever it can learn faster than cancer does, and thus always stays one step
ahead of the mutations, is coming. It will happen, I believe, as long as we
continue to fund its development of course, <a href="https://jackiebuxton.blogspot.com/2017/12/just-treatment.html">but that’s another story</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I allowed myself to think I had a very good chance I would
be the happy beneficiary of this new kind of treatment, whilst still very
mindful that oh, so many people aren’t as lucky.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But I wasn’t expecting this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">All of a sudden there was talk of MDT meetings and consensus
of opinion and having got enough evidence together to categorically agree that,
Mrs Buxton, this is not, in fact, secondary cancer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Not secondary cancer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Nothing happened: nothing changed, nothing reacted. Cancer
cells would have got bigger or smaller, they wouldn’t have stayed the same for
so long. Everything still evident on the scan is benign. It’s just that funny
body of mine. I shall repeat: I do not have secondary cancer - because I still
have to keep telling myself. In fact, despite the initial euphoria and a good
few glasses of fizz, it’s taken weeks for this new state of affairs to really
sink in. I still get very jumpy when I receive letters from the hospital in
those tell-tale envelopes, that they will open to reveal a letter of apology:
it was Jackie Buckstone, not Jackie Buxton. Secondary cancer diagnosis reinstated. As
you were.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I also don’t feel unbridled joy. I feel joy, happiness and
relief for me and my loved ones, lots of that. And I know I am the luckiest
girl alive. Alive! But I feel great sadness, and a certain amount of guilt, for
those who aren’t in my position. I wish I really could wave that magic wand. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I also wish I could have told everyone who’s been such a
massive support to me, in person. I am sorry I haven’t managed that. I’ve felt
so guilty about it and that’s when I thought I would use my blog again. It’s
very complicated to explain and not something you can suddenly drop into the
conversation if you happen to bump into someone mid chores. Without explanation,
people might have thought badly of the NHS. Please don’t do that. They did
everything right. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Meanwhile, I hope my story may give hope. A reversed decision
is not unheard of but very unusual and it would be irresponsible of me to pretend
otherwise. However, I read more and more of people living longer and better
quality lives with secondary cancer and there is much excitement about the
pioneering new treatments which we can already almost touch. The best us
ordinary mortals can do is support cancer charities (<a href="https://breastcancernow.org/">Breast Cancer Now</a> and <a href="https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/">Cancer Research UK</a> are two of my favourites) wherever we can. So much of the care for people with cancer,
and of the research into improved care and treatments is funded through charitable
giving. <a href="https://www.breastcancerhaven.org.uk/the-yorkshire-haven">The Haven</a>, a charity very close my heart, is entirely funded through fundraising, and this
is not unusual. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’d like to finish with an enormous, heartfelt thank you to
everyone who’s carried me through my ‘funny’ body’s latest chapter of life. To
all intents and purposes, I lived with the knowledge that I had secondary
cancer for almost three years and I wish I’d known before the diagnosis that I would
still enjoy a life of so much love and laughter. I still believe that everything
else is fluff and noise. I’ll finish this blog as I finished my first post after
<a href="https://jackiebuxton.blogspot.com/2014/01/pebbles.html">my primary diagnosis</a> and the first post following <a href="https://jackiebuxton.blogspot.com/2017/05/entering-new-world.html">my secondary diagnosis</a>:
love really is what makes the world go around, or should be, anyway. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here’s to a happy - and as healthy as possible - next chapter
for all of us 😊 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br /></div>
Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-59755344244836503602019-09-01T16:55:00.001+01:002019-09-01T19:40:22.401+01:00Running, Writing, Sleeping and Retreating<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W8xdPxabmU4/XWvjW8kLHoI/AAAAAAAAKiQ/4CHX_JAi3SkAkvjOEp6U-BZ_Z9hUySb1ACLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2B234%2BScroll%2BFree%2Boptions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="574" data-original-width="820" height="224" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W8xdPxabmU4/XWvjW8kLHoI/AAAAAAAAKiQ/4CHX_JAi3SkAkvjOEp6U-BZ_Z9hUySb1ACLcBGAs/s320/Blog%2B234%2BScroll%2BFree%2Boptions.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.rsph.org.uk/about-us/news/go-scroll-free-this-september-and-save-100-hours-of-your-life.html">It starts today!</a> No emailing, no social media, no screens
(unless it’s *directly* related to that small matter of the full manuscript of
my second novel going to its first Beta readers in eight tiny days’ time – that’s
ok, right?!?) after 8pm and for the entire month of September. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I keep thinking this is a bad month for me to be switching
off. I have a gaggle of birthdays, not least several ending in '0', a wedding, a
hen night, a Great North Run, our very own Welly Wanging event (more to come on
that one) and the nest emptying again after a quite precious three months of having
a noisy house once more. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fYiA6-Sr4Ro/XWvl1IoYOYI/AAAAAAAAKjI/Zb7-A2Yn0O4lth_sKy-h7HR9dic-AEfLACEwYBhgL/s1600/Tatras%2BLodge%2BView%2BThro%2BSwing.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fYiA6-Sr4Ro/XWvl1IoYOYI/AAAAAAAAKjI/Zb7-A2Yn0O4lth_sKy-h7HR9dic-AEfLACEwYBhgL/s320/Tatras%2BLodge%2BView%2BThro%2BSwing.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But I also have a heap of preparation to do to get ready for
teaching again in October, including my exciting new venture into </span><a href="https://www.jackiebuxton.com/writing-retreats/4594698449" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">writing retreats</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">editing contracts, the inevitable stack of revisions to be
made to that book following its first read outside of my study walls (did I
mention it’s going to my fabulous readers in eight tiny days’ time…?) not to
mention the other to-do’s of the loosely called ‘Day Job’. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pkKUiiY5Pao/XWvl03l6pGI/AAAAAAAAKjE/cI6Skk6rANQcVhtOrpkz3rkYAtFSz9lbQCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_0253.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pkKUiiY5Pao/XWvl03l6pGI/AAAAAAAAKjE/cI6Skk6rANQcVhtOrpkz3rkYAtFSz9lbQCEwYBhgL/s320/IMG_0253.JPG" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If I’m going to be
able to participate as fully as I hope in the above antics, and still go to bed
the same day I got up, then I have to commit to the big Switch Off for </span><a href="https://www.rsph.org.uk/our-work/campaigns/scroll-free-september.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Scroll Free September</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">; September
is </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">exactly</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> the right month to be Scroll Free, Screen Free after dark.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So I should probably put it out there now, that if you see me
hanging around on social media after dusk, you have every right to ignore me, indeed you
must. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3FnY_RckWJU/XWvjWr53vaI/AAAAAAAAKiM/AlOYc7q1J5giVmu2YKGPJQwPUlvB7SRNgCLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2B234%2BScroll%2BFree%2Bstats%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="808" height="151" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3FnY_RckWJU/XWvjWr53vaI/AAAAAAAAKiM/AlOYc7q1J5giVmu2YKGPJQwPUlvB7SRNgCLcBGAs/s320/Blog%2B234%2BScroll%2BFree%2Bstats%2B2.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And it’s not too late to join me, <a href="https://www.rsph.org.uk/our-work/campaigns/scroll-free-september.html">click here to find out more!</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C74rPQmAQCA/XWvgp9xqVBI/AAAAAAAAKh4/caBgSYW9miwh6-vxLVJ8mJRN-pyChG33wCLcBGAs/s1600/pic%2Bfor%2Bjustgiving.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">One last thing before I set my Do Not Disturb on my phone
for 8pm (It’s already set for 10pm except, ahem, I override it oh, probably
every other night) if you have emerged from the summer with any spare pennies
lying around, could I ask you to consider the <a href="https://www.breastcancerhaven.org.uk/Pages/Category/our-services">Haven</a> as a fabulously necessary
but non-government funded charity to take them off your hands? </span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iSi3fDSY8vk/XWvhf0MG96I/AAAAAAAAKiE/zFbRdT2bEDk2gGW9VjHO9zxqjDvIQWOCQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Great%2BNorth%2BRun%2Bpage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="774" data-original-width="872" height="355" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iSi3fDSY8vk/XWvhf0MG96I/AAAAAAAAKiE/zFbRdT2bEDk2gGW9VjHO9zxqjDvIQWOCQCEwYBhgL/s400/Great%2BNorth%2BRun%2Bpage.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">My daughter, not
what you’d call the biggest fan of running, and I are <a href="https://www.greatrun.org/great-north-run">embarking on the Great North Run </a>on Sunday 8<sup>th</sup> and <a href="https://www.breastcancerhaven.org.uk/fundraisers/jackies-great-north-run">this link should explain why</a> this is
quite a big deal for me these days, for both physical and emotional reasons. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">On a lighter note, I’m excited about introducing my daughter to the happy sounds and atmosphere of the wonderful supporters who line every step
of the Great North Run route, not least the top quality buskers, the stirring steel
bands and the home owners who buy in shed loads of oranges to hand out to needy
runners as they trudge past because, well, just because they want to support
the endeavour. There’s so much anger and disappointment in the country at the
moment and events like these just remind me that beyond the rubbish of everyday
trials and stresses, I fervently believe that human beings are really excruciatingly
nice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C74rPQmAQCA/XWvgp9xqVBI/AAAAAAAAKh4/caBgSYW9miwh6-vxLVJ8mJRN-pyChG33wCLcBGAs/s1600/pic%2Bfor%2Bjustgiving.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you are able to sponsor me, please click here for the <a href="https://www.breastcancerhaven.org.uk/fundraisers/jackies-great-north-run">fundraising page for the Haven cancer charity.</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C74rPQmAQCA/XWvgp9xqVBI/AAAAAAAAKh4/caBgSYW9miwh6-vxLVJ8mJRN-pyChG33wCLcBGAs/s1600/pic%2Bfor%2Bjustgiving.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1479" data-original-width="1600" height="184" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C74rPQmAQCA/XWvgp9xqVBI/AAAAAAAAKh4/caBgSYW9miwh6-vxLVJ8mJRN-pyChG33wCLcBGAs/s200/pic%2Bfor%2Bjustgiving.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Meanwhile, have a fabulous September and do let me know if you’re
<a href="https://www.rsph.org.uk/about-us/news/go-scroll-free-this-september-and-save-100-hours-of-your-life.html">Scroll Free</a>, too. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">We can be together in spirit, albeit not online. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<br /></div>
Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-29782158685298267412019-08-20T19:42:00.000+01:002019-08-21T23:10:33.275+01:00Switching Off September<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<h3 style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mnw1YBfR6_4/XVwn7Yo9h0I/AAAAAAAAKZY/7sPJpJZSXqYfdwF0nJierAr_R5WBA2CAwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Blog%2B234%2BReview.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="653" height="282" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mnw1YBfR6_4/XVwn7Yo9h0I/AAAAAAAAKZY/7sPJpJZSXqYfdwF0nJierAr_R5WBA2CAwCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Blog%2B234%2BReview.jpg" width="320" /></a><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So
here’s the plan <a href="https://jackiebuxton.blogspot.com/2019/08/trying-to-sleep.html">I mentioned here</a>. I can’t guarantee it will add years to our lives, but then, I can’t
say it won’t, either.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What
if we all decided to switch off our technology at the same time? What if we all
had a pact: a realistic deadline where we stopped sending emails etc.at say, 8pm?
And to make it easier, we stopped looking at them at 8pm, too. The whole correspondence
shebang could start again next morning, of course. We could continue using travel
time to answer and send emails perhaps, but with the frisson of excitement that
after say, 12 hours of frenzied activity on the networks, it would all then stop.
Freeze.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ok,
I realise in this global economy that one woman’s 8pm is another man’s
breakfast but we have to start somewhere, huh?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I
know it’s only a dream. Some people wouldn’t like it, and it wouldn’t work if
everybody didn’t sign up, I suppose. But perhaps if there was a significant
groundswell, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">those who didn’t like the idea might, nonetheless, be open to the
concept and accepting of the fact that fewer emails would be landing at night.
Hey, they might even start to enjoy it, too.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Enter: Scroll Free September!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.rsph.org.uk/our-work/campaigns/scroll-free-september.html">#ScrollFreeSeptember</a>,
the brainchild of the <a href="http://www.rsph.org.uk/">Royal Society for Public Healt</a>h (RSPH) is about to enter
its second year of encouraging people to take a month off social media, or
rather, to do less of it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ea_jHAN4MIs/XVwyn-qQAAI/AAAAAAAAKZ8/s8_hyChjS9o16szGf-Rx_1FP17AB1_pLQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Blog%2B234%2BScroll%2BFree%2Boptions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="574" data-original-width="820" height="224" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ea_jHAN4MIs/XVwyn-qQAAI/AAAAAAAAKZ8/s8_hyChjS9o16szGf-Rx_1FP17AB1_pLQCEwYBhgL/s320/Blog%2B234%2BScroll%2BFree%2Boptions.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The key is to sign up to the option that is
most relevant to you, and then sit back and enjoy a time rich September, musing
how much calmer life would be if we could keep up this healthier relationship
with our phones going forward. I’ve signed up to Night Owl, no surprise there,
but have added in my own, ‘Correspondence Curfew’. In short, my Scroll Free
September commitment is: Scroll and Email Free Evenings, and I can't wait.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Day
light hours? I’m going to reply to all correspondence as quickly as possible
whilst employing a monumental effort not to begin my missive with being sorry
for the delay. I shall respond with friendliness and professionalism but I will
not, I repeat, <i>not </i>apologise. You see, by apologising, we’re implying we’ve
done something wrong. But looking after our health, and not putting (albeit unintentional)
burden on other people’s health, is a good thing and should be rejoiced. What
I’m hoping is that people will lower their expectations of me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in turn, I will lower my expectations of
them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We’ll
still love each other. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dMw262dnMf8/XVwynx4tl_I/AAAAAAAAKZ4/n9rP5yZZ-3sj_x46T3hp1HbsFRmO0NybACEwYBhgL/s1600/Blog%2B234%2BScroll%2BFree%2Bstats%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="808" height="187" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dMw262dnMf8/XVwynx4tl_I/AAAAAAAAKZ4/n9rP5yZZ-3sj_x46T3hp1HbsFRmO0NybACEwYBhgL/s400/Blog%2B234%2BScroll%2BFree%2Bstats%2B2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In
fact, maybe we’ll love each other just a tiny bit more now we’re liberated of brain
fog and showered in sleep. Will you join me? Will you endeavour to be less
responsive, to keep people waiting and smile while you do it? Will you vow not
to apologise for a tardy response to communication?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Oh,
this is the most rebellious I've been for a long time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Perhaps
you’re streets ahead of me on this one, already living long and uninterrupted
evenings, the phone switched off way more often than it's on? If so, I'd love to hear
from you. Tell me how you do it! And how it’s received?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Or
maybe late night to-do list ticking is not your particular tipple, but
scrolling - and in bed (please, no. Just no!) - is something you know you do
but with that slightly nauseous feeling of discomfort I spoke of in my first
post. There’s a place for you in Scroll Free
September, too😊 More info here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xqTjFWQww7U/XVwyn-oVSBI/AAAAAAAAKZ0/d_02ja1qK5IohYsSrRTy_I4DR1kmv5BzwCLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2B234%2BScroll%2BFree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="837" data-original-width="1221" height="219" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xqTjFWQww7U/XVwyn-oVSBI/AAAAAAAAKZ0/d_02ja1qK5IohYsSrRTy_I4DR1kmv5BzwCLcBGAs/s320/Blog%2B234%2BScroll%2BFree.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I
think Scroll Free September is a wonderful concept. It focuses much of its attention on the potential benefits to young people – and I know my children are on
Instagram until late at night and try as I might, they show no signs of
stopping – but I think all ages are guilty of an unhealthy dependence on our
phones. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’m not preaching. I’m guilty. I just want to live a long and healthy
life and I want other people to be alive to do that with me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.rsph.org.uk/our-work/campaigns/scroll-free-september.html">Will you join me? </a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</h3>
</div>
Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-79755213379597535752019-08-14T16:42:00.001+01:002019-08-15T22:18:50.220+01:00Trying to Sleep<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-81rCf1xC9CY/XVQjFPFN9xI/AAAAAAAAKTc/uV8LndSfntoo19xeDSPKxjYx6FjPT7aOQCLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2B234%2BWhy%2BWe%2BSleep%2Bcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="476" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-81rCf1xC9CY/XVQjFPFN9xI/AAAAAAAAKTc/uV8LndSfntoo19xeDSPKxjYx6FjPT7aOQCLcBGAs/s320/Blog%2B234%2BWhy%2BWe%2BSleep%2Bcover.jpg" width="211" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was writing a review of the fantastically fascinating, engaging and entertaining (I liked this book) <a href="linkhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34466963-why-we-sleep">Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker</a> and realised
that as I typed, I had that sludgy, slightly nauseous feeling of discomfort, commonly
known as: someone is trying to tell me something.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’m pushing
it on that old sleep thing again. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Again.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Maybe a sequel to Tea & Chemo should be
the trials and tribulations of getting enough sleep? Although I fear the book
would be very short and very repetitive, here's the blurb: she wants to
sleep, she knows she should sleep but she finds it so very difficult to go to
bed. And repeat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The bottom
line is, I want it all, but I just can’t squeeze it all in. And the truth is
that when I skimp on the sleep, I can.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">When I
examine my work, it’s the wealth of correspondence which weighs me down. I am always
in debt and never, ever get to the bottom of my RSVPs before the next deluge
soaks my day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I remember
the headline a year ago about paying employees for correspondence outside of
office hours because researchers had discovered that people were spending their
travel time to and from work, and more time once they’d got through their own
front door, catching up on emails.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">No sh**
Sherlock. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">How many
of us have a love/hate relationship with our phone? True, it makes me smile
when a message comes in. It's useful always having my camera with me and iPlayer and books on Audible streamed into my hearing aids have accompanied me on many a hot-foot to an appointment. But what started out for all of us as a <i>great use
of time </i>as the train transported us to our destination <i>- </i>flying through emails, reports, links and 'pre-reading' for tomorrow's meeting just a few short hours away - has only lengthened our working day. And I don’t like that part
one single bit.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Worse, when
in the news yesterday we hear that a group of MPs are urging the government to
look into the <a href="https://www.driving.co.uk/news/drivers-banned-using-hands-free-mobile-phones-mps-argue/">effect of hands-free phoning on our driving</a>, there’s an instant backlash of people saying they can’t manage their job without using
the phone in the car. The fact is, we can’t work from the
next life, either, and more’s the sobering point, work would seem much less of
a priority if we were coping with having killed or injured somebody because we
lost concentration at the wheel. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Nonetheless, the truth is that in the world we
live in, some jobs wouldn’t be viable without people being able to communicate
from behind the wheel. End of. We have built a society which relies on people working at
work, before work, after work and travelling to and from work. And unless this
is forced to unilaterally shift, I can’t see that this state of affairs is going to change for the better any time soon, as we continue careering forward in
this ever increasingly techno future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RK94JmhIdCc/XVQmW7jOdnI/AAAAAAAAKVk/lKNDoTM4CUYZeCQNuvWodj3O1F52I8XJwCLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2B234%2BFloppy%2Bdisk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RK94JmhIdCc/XVQmW7jOdnI/AAAAAAAAKVk/lKNDoTM4CUYZeCQNuvWodj3O1F52I8XJwCLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2B234%2BFloppy%2Bdisk.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The problem
is the speed of it all, isn’t it. I remember the good old days of freelance
copywriting, when I had to tootle off to the post office three days before my
deadline, with a floppy disk and a hard copy of the writing in question, all
packed up ready to trundle off to the destination of my assignment. For the
following week, while I awaited its delivery and the typed letter in return, I could
Do Something Else. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">These days,
ticking off the to-do list doesn’t shorten it, does it? Because once we
respond, the reply comes back, and quickly, generally, because we’re all caught
in the same trap: get it done before it builds up! And so the circle continues.
If we are to break the circle, it is going to have to be a conscious decision
to snap it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And what
if we did snap it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have a
plan. A real plan. And it starts in September. It’s not just a plan for me but
one for everybody. We have to sign up emotionally and physically, but it’s
free. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vIqc4cDyfqg/XVQjFIDXO3I/AAAAAAAAKTg/eaIO7jTFTJALGhA-HRscVWs8bjakBTHpQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Blog%2B234%2BReview.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="653" height="352" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vIqc4cDyfqg/XVQjFIDXO3I/AAAAAAAAKTg/eaIO7jTFTJALGhA-HRscVWs8bjakBTHpQCEwYBhgL/s400/Blog%2B234%2BReview.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Join me? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">More information in my next post </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">😊</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Meanwhile,
here’s that review. If you routinely go to bed after midnight and wake only a
few small hours later, <a href="https://www.blogger.com/[https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2797527438]">you need to read this book</a>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div>
<br /></div>
Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-51957774187164451912019-07-30T06:00:00.000+01:002019-07-30T09:44:49.916+01:00Give It Some Welly<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l3wWYAyd2C8/XT-D_JZfH4I/AAAAAAAAKPY/bbMNcJrW6VgUhLqanoTMPDWnjEUiV8jcACLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2BYCR%2Bcricket%2Bbat%2B%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="679" height="212" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l3wWYAyd2C8/XT-D_JZfH4I/AAAAAAAAKPY/bbMNcJrW6VgUhLqanoTMPDWnjEUiV8jcACLcBGAs/s320/Blog%2BYCR%2Bcricket%2Bbat%2B%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’ve been very quiet of late. I’ve either been fastened to
my desk in a writing/ editing/ teaching frenzy or struck down by a parade of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9ni%C3%A8re's_disease">menieres attacks</a> which stop me so firmly in my tracks, I’m left having to unstick my feet, heave
myself back into my chair and type like a second world war typing school
graduate (I’m reading the fabulous, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/dear-mrs-bird/aj-pearce/9781509853922">Dear Mrs Bird</a>, at the moment, which is where that image came from) to try to crawl back to
where I’d been before the debilitating vertigo struck. Before I’d been practically
carried out of the café at Waitrose by the person with whom I’d been having the
meeting before <i>it struck</i>, that is, with the help of three members of
staff, as well as the store manager and health and safety officer greeting me
at the exit because these things have to be documented. Still, the bijoux crew
of touchingly compassionate helpers waved me off me with a rather beautiful and
very expensive bouquet of flowers which went a long way to erasing the
humiliation of a shop full of customers thinking I’d had ten-too-many by 3pm. I’m
afraid this has been the general picture of my life since the beginning of the
year and my blog and social media have taken a hit.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--U7EwmHNkrs/XT-BF1ULX4I/AAAAAAAAKOA/ugcdRujVWAcVKcr7iSaJFpHnW7ixcGblgCEwYBhgL/s1600/Blog%2BYCR%2BAbil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="640" height="212" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--U7EwmHNkrs/XT-BF1ULX4I/AAAAAAAAKOA/ugcdRujVWAcVKcr7iSaJFpHnW7ixcGblgCEwYBhgL/s320/Blog%2BYCR%2BAbil.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">However, I had the most perfect of motivating, energising blogging
tonics last week when I was asked if I’d attend the Yorkshire Cancer Research’s
<a href="https://yorkshirecancerresearch.org.uk/news/yorkshire-traditions-go-head-to-head-to-give-cancer-the-boot?fbclid=IwAR28woPxggXpaILOLJ5s1aI0CtUis3URf7q574fjIa0gMuWuvCcd2NvX70I">Give It Some Welly event </a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://yorkshirecancerresearch.org.uk/news/yorkshire-traditions-go-head-to-head-to-give-cancer-the-boot?fbclid=IwAR28woPxggXpaILOLJ5s1aI0CtUis3URf7q574fjIa0gMuWuvCcd2NvX70I">in Leeds town centre</a>. This was to mark the 10-day countdown
to <a href="https://www.yorkshire.com/inspiration/features/yorkshire-day">Yorkshire Day</a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.yorkshire.com/inspiration/features/yorkshire-day"> on 1 August</a>, a highly appropriate occasion to launch <a href="https://yorkshirecancerresearch.org.uk/welly/">Give It Some Welly</a>, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yorkshire Cancer Research’s (YCR) first ever region wide
fundraising campaign.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was more than happy to help in my small way, and very
excited to throw miniature wellies at a target with Adil Rashid, the Yorkshire
and England World Cup cricketing hero because yes, it’s not widely known, but I
am a massive cricket fan. Of course I am. My Dad used to take me to Trent
Bridge in the Derek Randall days when he would come out early on to the pitch
and show off his fielding brilliance and his equally legendary sense of humour.
What’s not to love!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kPD-AMQBpzE/XT-GSUGZXuI/AAAAAAAAKPk/3kA9fBAMq3kSs5Bq56BPv93eCCjx5_a1ACLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2BYCR%2BHarry%2BG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kPD-AMQBpzE/XT-GSUGZXuI/AAAAAAAAKPk/3kA9fBAMq3kSs5Bq56BPv93eCCjx5_a1ACLcBGAs/s320/Blog%2BYCR%2BHarry%2BG.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I also got to meet another legend from my childhood: Harry
Gration, a thoroughly down to earth, non-super-starry superstar who was as
excited as I was to meet Adil Rashid and as interested as I was in Yorkshire
Cancer Research’s campaign.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But then it got a bit more serious. I was shocked, really
shocked to hear that Yorkshire has one of the highest incidence and mortality rates in the
country. It slapped me around the face a bit, I’ll be honest. It made me even
more grateful to be one of the lucky ones who survived an, ‘it’s very fast
growing’ cancer. It was the type of breast cancer that had it been thirty years
ago, I’d have been relying far too heavily on a welly-load of luck to have
survived. Pre the wonder drug of <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Herceptin/">Herceptin (Trastuzumab)</a> which has been available
on the NHS only since 2006, all the cards would have been in cancer’s hands. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Herceptin and the myriad of new drugs and pioneering
treatments which have raised the odds of cancer survival significantly over the
past few decades, are the result of research. Without research, they wouldn’t exist.
And without funding, there is no research. If we want survival rates to keep on
improving, research will need funding. And that is one of the aims of the <a href="https://yorkshirecancerresearch.org.uk/welly/">Give It Some Welly</a> campaign.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Awareness of the importance of taking up screening opportunities
is another tool in the armoury to bring down cancer deaths. Take-up is
disappointingly low in many parts of the region and yet it could alert us to a cancer
forming way before a lump might have forced us to the doctor’s. Whilst early
detection won’t stop us getting cancer, it might stop us dying from it. Generally,
the earlier cancer is caught, the higher the chance of survival. As somebody who’s
gone through cancer treatment and the mental turmoil of dicing with death, trust
me, if I receive a letter to attend or make an appointment for screening, it’s
done before it’s even made it to my to-do list.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This isn’t a competition, but the thing is, if higher
survival rates are achievable elsewhere in the country, then of course they’re
achievable here. YCR needs to raise 10 million pounds every year for the next
ten to reach its £100 million target. Fundraising starts on Thursday 1 August
and Yorkshire peeps, it needs us!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rILL6qpkiMA/XT-GS4NnkkI/AAAAAAAAKPo/G27jTh-U13gjdIJwJNv9AETZhLQBohibwCLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2BYCR%2BWelly%2BWanging%2B%25282%2529.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="1600" height="141" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rILL6qpkiMA/XT-GS4NnkkI/AAAAAAAAKPo/G27jTh-U13gjdIJwJNv9AETZhLQBohibwCLcBGAs/s400/Blog%2BYCR%2BWelly%2BWanging%2B%25282%2529.bmp" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The wonderful thin</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">g about <a href="https://yorkshirecancerresearch.org.uk/welly/">this campaign</a> is that it’s so easy
and cheap, if not, free, to take part. Anything goes, however loosely themed
around a welly you want to make your fundraising event: decorate your wellies, arrange
flowers in them, wear them to work or don’t wear them to work (if you’re a
farmer) wang them, convert them, build a tower out of them, it really doesn’t
matter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have to say, my heart is in wanging them but I think I’m going
to struggle to sort my wellies out before 1 August. However, if you see me and
hopefully a small but perfectly formed crowd in a field in our North Yorkshire village
some time in August, hopelessly (in my case – discus and shot never were my forte)
tossing wellies in a vague direction and cheering and laughing hysterically, it
might just be part of the campaign. Come and join us! And/or why not set up
your own fundraiser?? You can find <a href="https://yorkshirecancerresearch.org.uk/welly/">all the information you need, here.</a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy welly wanging! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And don’t forget, please donate when you can, and attend those
screening appointments. You know it makes sense 😊 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br /></div>
Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-7693444966599075592019-04-04T15:00:00.000+01:002019-04-04T17:34:50.722+01:00Dealing with Pain<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j2y_5E4tfsU/XGggyVX5BoI/AAAAAAAAELQ/fAwG1NuvokAmJfasyAiJubXggiRiI9qfACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/YCR%2Bmy%2Bpromo%2Bpic.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="1196" height="166" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j2y_5E4tfsU/XGggyVX5BoI/AAAAAAAAELQ/fAwG1NuvokAmJfasyAiJubXggiRiI9qfACPcBGAYYCw/s320/YCR%2Bmy%2Bpromo%2Bpic.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Back in those terrifyingly warm days in February, I asked
for your advice regarding pain remedies and what you found to work in your own
pain management. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was <strike>cheating </strike>preparing for a talk on pain management
from the ‘customer’ angle and suspected that there was a lot I didn’t know. The
talk was to take place in March as part of the 2019 Yorkshire Cancer Research conference:</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><a href="https://yorkshirecancerresearch.org.uk/get-involved/events/lets-talk-about-cancer/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let’s Talk About Cancer.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I say, ‘was’. Alas, due – thankfully – to nothing to do with
cancer, but the return of <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/menieres-disease/">Ménières disease</a> which I thought I’d booted into
touch in those heady days of my thirties, I had to cancel my talk. The disease
isn’t very pleasant but isn’t life threatening and I find the unpredictably of the
attacks of vertigo and sickness it brings, as painful as the attacks themselves
because I am forced to become unreliable. I can’t commit to public events knowing
that I might be crawling along the floor, or sitting bolt upright staring at
the wall with a bowl under my chin, when an audience is waiting for me to
speak - or worse, as I'm speaking. Can you imagine! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ejQVAIlzDHE/XGggyWKKLBI/AAAAAAAAELU/DTDCMqrcdKcQh6POZ0NrTeiehTs41N-hgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Conference%2Bofficial%2Bposter%2Bpic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="602" height="224" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ejQVAIlzDHE/XGggyWKKLBI/AAAAAAAAELU/DTDCMqrcdKcQh6POZ0NrTeiehTs41N-hgCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Conference%2Bofficial%2Bposter%2Bpic.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The good news is that the very lovely, understanding people
at <a href="https://yorkshirecancerresearch.org.uk/how-we-help/">Yorkshire Cancer Research (YCR)</a> quickly managed to fill my slot and I have heard from many sources that
the conference was a massive success. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Meanwhile, I thought the least I could do would be to cobble
together the responses you kind people had bothered to send via the blog,
FaceBook and Twitter and post them here. Some I’d forgotten about, and others
were new to me, so I hope that this might serve as useful resource if you sadly
find yourself in need of something bigger and more enduring than a paracetamol –
not that I’m dissing the lonely paracetamol, you understand, paracetamol has
saved the day for me on many occasions. I have to say this because I have this
slightly disturbing imagination which throws my mind headlong into the family
medical box and sees a box of paracetamol sombre, rejected and wondering why on
earth it bothers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I know, it’s a worry. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Before we really start, I’d like to add a note of positivity
for anybody with the misfortune to have been recently diagnosed with <a href="https://www.menieres.org.uk/information-and-support/treatment-and-management/self-management">Menieres disease</a>.
It isn’t curable (although does tend to peter out, hopefully never to return) but
is often treatable. I am now on a fairly innocuous medication that hasn’t
stopped the attacks but has made them much less severe and less frequent. I’m
hoping that with continued tweaking I will have enough control over the disease
going forward to return to normal life including full attendance at public and
social gatherings 😊<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And this means that I secretly hope that I will manage to
attend the next YCR conference and be able to babble on about pain management without
incident, not least because I’d already prepared the talk before I’d cancelled –
typical! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Obviously the below isn’t an exhaustive list (and please do
let me know your additions) but it is the word - summarised or as a direct
quote - from the ground, from the coal face, of making pain slightly easier to
bear. Even though there is a bias towards cancer in the responses, much will be
relevant whatever the cause of discomfort.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Acupuncture:</b> for mental
well-being, aches and pains and hot sweats, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">other complementary and alternative therapies</b>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Distractions:</b>
anything with friends and family; colouring, crafting, reading and writing (for mild pain –
I knew it was bad when I couldn’t blot out the pain well enough to read or
write) and oh, so many other hobbies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Endorphins:</b> warm,
soapy baths (lots of people mentioned hot baths!); Epsom salt baths (with the added
bonus of nice, soft skin afterwards) singing and playing instruments; walking, running, swimming and other
(gentle) exercising; just being outside - preferably in the sun; dancing on the
spot to alleviate restless legs (but it also made me laugh); being active. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Heat pads and hot
compresses</b> to soothe sore and tired limbs and muscles, can also help with
restless legs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Infrared sauna:</b> ‘it’s
like a sauna that you sit in, but there is no heat. You are baked in infrared
light. It heats the blood rather than the skin and improves circulation.'<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mindfulness, meditation
and other cognitive therapies</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Reflexology:</b> for
general aches and pains and mental well-being. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Reiki:</b> ‘as a Reiki
therapist, I’ve helped treat many people undergoing cancer treatments. On a
superficial level, it helps to calm their minds from what is such an emotional
part of their lives, but does also provide (on many occasions) pain relief as
well.’ <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Soft Toothbrush (!):</b> this had to go in as my pitifully sore mouth is a strong memory of my chemo days. For the ulcers there are stronger topical medicines available on prescription so do visit your doctor, and </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">if the idea of navigating the sores as you clean your teeth is terrifying,</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> try a really soft toothbrush soaked first in hot water. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stretching:</b> particularly
after Aqua Fit, a hot bath and general exercise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: 107%;">Steroid cream:</span></b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: 107%;"> for pain in the veins. Also, please note: ‘…I
went back to good old fashioned nature - <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">pure
aromatherapy lavender oil</b> and hot compresses- working a treat- I'd say take
the drugs for sure but don't forget about the healing powers of nature and a
good old fashioned <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">positive mental
attitude</b>.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>One last thought on pain management. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As a daughter of a nurse, I knew that I’d have to collapse in
a heap on the floor and be unable to answer what day of the week it was before I’d
be granted a day off school sick. I think this is why I spent my early
adulthood with the box of paracetamol – there I go again – being out of date before
I opened it, and drinking my body weight in water before I’d even approach the medical
box. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sNitSmsFhEk/XKXuRMuARFI/AAAAAAAAEN8/rK1IP_kmpR0ENr5NJaFlqz266Xkm0UMQgCLcBGAs/s1600/2.%2BChemo%252C%2BTime%2Bto%2BRead.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sNitSmsFhEk/XKXuRMuARFI/AAAAAAAAEN8/rK1IP_kmpR0ENr5NJaFlqz266Xkm0UMQgCLcBGAs/s200/2.%2BChemo%252C%2BTime%2Bto%2BRead.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But since cancer and a few operations over the years, I've
had to retrain my psyche on this. I've had it explained that pain stresses the
body with the result that it doesn't function and thus recover as quickly as it
might if it were in less pain. I’ve decided that alongside natural boosts of our
endorphins, medicines can be our friend and some of the medications to combat
the side effects of cancer treatments can be the best buddy ever. Whatever your
strategy: medicine, holistic, alternative or a combination, be kind to yourself
and use it! Life is too short to stoically suffer in silence...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I wish you a happy and pain-free or pain-eased week 😙<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-43845650925537184242019-03-20T14:55:00.002+00:002019-03-21T09:37:03.261+00:00Deaf for a Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You know those moments in life where you have a chance
exchange with someone which is not particularly remarkable in isolation, but
nonetheless makes you smile and brightens your day? I have a lot of these when
I manage to walk away from my pc and jump back into the real world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">However, this telephone exchange with a booking agent the
other day was <i>not</i> one of those moments. No, this one left a mark in my brain
for all the wrong reasons. And had it not given me an idea of how to change the
world – hey, reach for the stars and you might land on the moon - it would be
unremarkable; something that happens all too frequently I’m afraid, and
requires nothing more than a shrug of the shoulders and a brisk brush off so
that it doesn’t lend a dark shadow to the day. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I *may* have mentioned previously that I am the one in six <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">in this country</span> </span>who struggles with poor hearing.
I’ve written about it specifically <a href="https://jackiebuxton.blogspot.com/2011/10/run-that-by-me-again.html">here</a> and <a href="https://jackiebuxton.blogspot.com/2016/12/from-bottom-of-swimming-pool.html">here</a>. Sometimes my mishears are amusing
and sometimes they pass with nobody, least of all me, registering. I am fortunate
to be surrounded by sensitive friends and family who do their best to make
things easier for me and I am also incredibly lucky to be the owner of the very
latest in hearing aid technology which is the difference between me working
and, to be frank, leaving the house or not. But I would be lying if I said that
hearing loss is easy, disingenuous if I pretended it didn’t pervade all aspects
of spoken communication with the outside world. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">When people aren’t impatient with my ‘pardons?’ and when
they don’t jump from a gentle comment to a megaphone shout which I can hear,
boy can I hear, but still can’t make sense of the sounds (because a shout, I’ve
learnt, distorts the sound even more) that makes me very happy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In this phone call the person on the other end of the line
broke all the rules of communication with the one in six who is hard of hearing.
She was irritated. I may not be able to hear every word but even without the
eye rolling and screwed up face, I can hear irritation. She had no time in her
busy day to repeat everything three times. Couldn’t I just concentrate a little
harder because then I’d be able to hear, surely? Simple. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If only. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I do try to be a grown-up about this. I realise I should
go-out-and-get-myself-a-real-problem if I’m going to allow a phone call with a
stranger to ruin my day. I try to pull up my big girl pants and sweat the big
stuff instead, but when this kind of exchange happens once too often, in a
moment when you’re struggling to remain upbeat about the weight you carry when
you struggle to hear and thus communicate, sometimes those big girl pants feel
very heavy indeed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I ranted to my friends. That helped. Then I had an idea and
it won’t leave me alone. I’d like to share it with you. And maybe you’re a
teacher or a parent, you work in education or are simply interested in making
people’s days a little brighter, and might join me in pushing this idea as far as
I can. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have some sympathy for people who don’t know how to
sensitively communicate with people who can’t hear. <i>Some</i> sympathy. There is a part of me which thinks that if people
have respect for others, and are happy to hop into their shoes when necessary,
they would endeavour to hide their irritation for this disability. That seems
the human thing to do. Indeed, I remember a relative constantly shouting at my
terrifically sweet grandma who had developed age-related hearing loss and I
ached for her. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even as a child I
understood that it wasn’t her fault and, particularly as a child, I could
imagine how unpleasant it was to be shouted at, so I don’t think the concept is
a particularly tricky one. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">However, the nuances of improved communication with the hard
of hearing do tend to come as a result of experience. My family know not to attempt
to communicate with me from another room. They don’t cover their mouths with
their hands as they speak. They try to rephrase a sentence rather than repeat
it verbatim because they’ve learnt that a different word may be easier to hear,
and they discretely help me when they can ‘just tell’ that I’ve lost the thread
of a big conversation. They have learnt this from experience. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I know to speak more slowly as opposed to loudly to give
people that split second longer to match the lip shapes to the sound they’ve
heard. And I know that there are homophene groups, (sounds which do not sound
the same but look the same on the lips) and so signing the first letter of the
troublesome word might help a lipreader make sense of it. I know that context
is everything so if somebody really isn’t managing the conversation, it’s
probably best to stop, explain the context and start again. Life and attendance
at <a href="https://jackiebuxton.blogspot.com/2017/09/watch-my-lips.html">lipreading classes</a> has taught me this, so it isn’t fair to expect people
with normal hearing who aren’t in regular contact with those with hearing loss,
to know this. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But they could.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Were you lucky enough to attend one of those primary schools
where pupils spent the day blindfolded to experience a quick snapshot of life
for people who can’t see well? People talk about the experience way beyond
their school days, referring to how effective it was in raising awareness of disability
at a wonderfully impressionable age. I don’t know if this is still practised,
but I do hope it is. It’s true isn’t it that some of our most vivid memories,
our deepest beliefs and ethics come from innovative teaching, fun activities
and unusual initiatives experienced when we were under ten years of age.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, how about a ‘Deaf for a Day’ initiative in schools? No
expensive technology would be necessary, I’m sure simple headphones could be
used to block out or distort sound for a few hours. If we wanted to make it
truly authentic, we could even pipe some tinnitus sounds, screeches and
whooshes into ears at random moments, just to upset the train of thought, right
when the pupils thought they were managing pretty well using mannerisms and
context to stay in the moment. Cruel, I know 😜. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FTZ00xprETE/VP2H8rbZPhI/AAAAAAAAA64/7A4lG0ufwx8HtmmEZccQJTjujbVO1Q-qwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/blog%2B103%2Bfoot%2B2.tif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1090" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FTZ00xprETE/VP2H8rbZPhI/AAAAAAAAA64/7A4lG0ufwx8HtmmEZccQJTjujbVO1Q-qwCPcBGAYYCw/s200/blog%2B103%2Bfoot%2B2.tif" width="145" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It could be fun! It is staggering how much we can pick up
from the unconscious clues people give off when they speak: the music and the
dance, the ‘unsaid’ and I think that alone could be informative and
entertaining. Like broken feet (and knees, and a smashed up forearm) and losing our voice however, I’m sure the novelty would quickly wear off. I’d give it, oh, thirty minutes of not knowing
what everyone else was laughing at, not knowing what page the teacher was
talking about, not understanding the next instruction so having to watch to see
what somebody else did first and hope they were doing it right before
attempting to copy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Max08_tyQRk/VP2HtkY2bwI/AAAAAAAAA6w/ltr8M5O9IV4RygWwMTTcclIsEuwx3XeWACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Blog%2B134%2Bleg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Max08_tyQRk/VP2HtkY2bwI/AAAAAAAAA6w/ltr8M5O9IV4RygWwMTTcclIsEuwx3XeWACPcBGAYYCw/s200/Blog%2B134%2Bleg.jpg" width="150" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And who’s to say that this discomfort, this frustration,
this feeling of melancholy about a world that was going on without us, wouldn’t
stay with these children into adulthood? So when the pupil became the assistant
behind the counter, the waiter taking the order, the chair of a meeting, they
would instinctively keep their hands away from their mouth and look their
customer or colleague straight in the eye. With this experience in their
formative years, they would hopefully refrain from grimacing, answering in
clipped (unintelligible) tones, or talking to you as if English wasn’t your
first language and boy, were you struggling to learn. On the end of the phone
they might rephrase if the conversation was clearly not going well and spell
difficult words using the phonetic alphabet. But most of all, most importantly of
all, they would sympathise and do everything in their power to help you
communicate, to avoid making you feel stupid and that you were an irritant, in
fact, they’d treat you with the same respect they’d treat any other person
whose faculties were all intact.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What do you think? Can we make it happen? Shall we try?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’d like to add that there are many people who instinctively
carry out my communication wish list already. To those, I say thank you, this
is such a big deal to those of us with hearing loss. Please help me spread the
word that people who can’t hear have feelings too. In fact, we rather rely on
them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-44181268368795899322019-02-16T14:44:00.001+00:002019-02-18T17:02:40.528+00:00Ah, that's better!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Or it will be, if you help me <span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span> <o:p></o:p></div>
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So, I am honoured to have been asked to speak at the <a href="http://www.yorkshirecancerresearch.org.uk/letstalk">Let's Talk About Cancer</a> conference, taking place on 14<sup>th</sup> March at the <a href="https://www.visitmagna.co.uk/">Magna Centre in Rotherham</a>. My 15 minute slot is about coping with pain, the patient's perspective. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Now, whilst I know that bowlfuls of sweet white sauce and dancing on the spot worked wonderfully for me when my mouth was full of ulcers and my limbs felt like I'd been picked up and deposited in Luther, where the baddies didn't believe me and used their special vice-like contraption to squeeze and squeeze until I admitted defeat, I realise that my experience may be different from others. I also recognise that we all have our own ways of dealing with these things and that there are probably hundreds of different methods out there for getting through the bad days of cancer pain and the side effects of treatment. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I'd therefore like to ask if you would tell me about them. And I will steal them and pass them off as my own during my talk. Seriously now, dealing with pain is a big deal and in my fifteen minutes, I'd like to mention as many ways and means of dealing with it as possible. Here's hoping this will be useful to at least some of the audience. <o:p></o:p></div>
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If you, or someone you know, found anything from a medication to a holistic treatment or simply a regime that worked as effective pain relief for you, please would you let me know so I can add it to the list? I promise I will credit my blog readers on the day!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Meanwhile if you, or anyone you know, have been touched by cancer and happen to live in the Yorkshire region, places are still available at the Let's Talk About Cancer event. Tickets are free but limited so you will need to register. For more information and to secure your place, <a href="http://www.yorkshirecancerresearch.org.uk/letstalk">click here</a>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p> </div>
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And if you do attend, please come and say hello! Most of the day I'll be in the exhibition area with a pile of books, otherwise you'll find me facilitating a group session, or fretting about my imminent arrival on stage… <o:p></o:p></div>
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Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-65191532660782850862019-02-07T17:25:00.002+00:002019-02-07T17:25:43.591+00:00Flold<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’ve just had flu. I knew it was flu because I'd had it in my twenties and it was characterised by the same lead being poured into all my limbs, even my fingers, and particularly my head, over a matter of minutes only to realise that if the house was burning down, I’d have to pray the hubbie was up to a fireman’s lift because I couldn’t move my body, not an inch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The first time it happened I remember my mum peering at me through the living room window as I sat stock still on the sofa on a fiery hot summer’s day in the long university holidays, sporting the entire home’s stock of blankets. She was wondering why I hadn’t answered the door, used her key instead, took one look at me, asked me to put my chin on my chest and when I could, said, in her indomitable matter-of-fact nurse’s voice: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Oh, that’s ok, I thought it might be meningitis. It’s just flu. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Just flu? I said, goodness! This was worse than flu! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Flu’s bad, she said, people call a bad cold, flu. But flu is flu, a bad cold is a bad cold. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I remember thinking they needed a better name for a bad cold. Because a bad cold can feel really, really horrible can’t it? But a cold can be anything from a sniffle to confining you to your bed and preventing you from work, so when it’s a <i>bad cold</i> we feel the need to call it something else so that we at least get some sympathy - AKA hot water bottle, Lemsip and a pass out on the dishes – and our manager doesn’t think we’re being pathetic, worse, skiving. For what it’s worth, I do believe the RIGHT thing to do is to stay away from work when you have a bad cold because nobody, but nobody wants to catch your cold so it’s kinder to the rest of us, and you’ll get better quicker, if you give yourself some TLC. Ok? You’re allowed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">How about colflu, flucol, flueyold or, flold. Yes! If you have a ‘flold’ then you are allowed to go to bed without putting on the washing before you go, your team will understand that you didn’t respond to that email and your boss will absolutely insist you don’t set foot anywhere near the office. Sorted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This post isn’t a veiled appeal for sympathy by the way. I am currently in that post poorly-ness wave of euphoria, where it was almost worth feeling so bad, to feel so good in comparison. Almost. No, it reminded me of one of my questions I have running around my brain that never gets answered: where do these words start? You know, words like ‘peng’ and ‘sick’, or,‘dordy’ (threw in a Newark one there – I’m happy to say that my memory of being 14, and my diary corroborates, was that most things in life were, ‘dordy’) and even, ‘cool’ – that came from someone, somewhere, sometime. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It’s the words that already have a meaning which bears no resemblance to what the speaker would like them to mean, that I wonder about. Who is the first person to say them and how do they end up being global? I mean, I understand it in the practical sense, a la internet et al, but how does one teen say something’s ‘peng’ in a little country village in deepest darkest Sussex for example, only for it to end up on the lips of a rapper in America? How did one person decide that using a word which described something pretty gross such as ‘sick’ would be a great way to describe something being ‘great’, and then manage to convince everyone else to feel the same?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I realise some of this is generated through the influence of idolised celebrity, but celebs aren’t getting up in the morning and thinking: Hmmm. What new word could I come up with today that, within weeks, will be universally understood by everyone under twenty? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Are they?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Well, maybe it’s our turn to make a mark on the Oxford English Dictionary. What word do you think should exist, but doesn’t…yet? Maybe it's a word only your family knows, or one you misspoke as a child but that makes so much more sense your way...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Meanwhile, my sympathies if you have had the misfortune to develop a cold, flold or flu this winter, and I hope that we all manage to beat off the gremlins going forward. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Stay well, folks!</span></div>
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Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-54765138862611756202018-11-26T11:40:00.000+00:002018-11-26T11:40:01.994+00:00Ask Me Anything (but I'm not an expert)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am being described as a Cancer Expert which is a little embarrassing as I'm not sure I'm really anything close to an expert in </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">anything</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, bar perhaps optimum washing machine temperatures for non-biological powders or coming up with the most compelling excuses to go out for a run when really I should be 'cracking on regardless' (the brain is so much more effective after exercise, I can plan a new writing exercise as I run, I'm nicer to everyone when I get some fresh air so it's a win-win - do you see what I mean?) </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X6NbAA2SezA/W_vTjsqdNpI/AAAAAAAAEGc/31Zi4KVhCxoxPpTqhVr9BSMSbmSr1OWXgCLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2B228%2BAsk%2BMe%2BAnything.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="480" height="165" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X6NbAA2SezA/W_vTjsqdNpI/AAAAAAAAEGc/31Zi4KVhCxoxPpTqhVr9BSMSbmSr1OWXgCLcBGAs/s200/Blog%2B228%2BAsk%2BMe%2BAnything.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, I would admit that as </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">my </span><a href="https://community.livebetterwith.com/cancer/discussion/80/i-am-jackie-buxton-author-of-tea-chemo-ask-me-anything" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Five Year Cancerversary</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> approaches in December, I have picked up quite a lot from the real coalface of living with cancer - not only from my own experience, but also from the extra research for Tea & Chemo and simply meeting so many wonderful people who have also had the misfortune to frequent Cancerville. Indeed, it's one of the many silver linings of cancer which I have spoken of before both here, </span><a href="https://jackiebuxton.blogspot.com/2014/04/heightened-sensitivity.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">in a post from the 'early days'</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and more recently, here: </span><a href="https://jackiebuxton.blogspot.com/2018/11/tour-de-friends.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tour de Friends</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And so it is that I find myself hugely honoured to be hosting the </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Live Better With's first </span><a href="https://community.livebetterwith.com/cancer/discussion/80/i-am-jackie-buxton-author-of-tea-chemo-ask-me-anything" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ask Me Anything (AMA</a>)<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> online Q and A event </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">@ 7pm on</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tuesday 4 December. </span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And whilst</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Cancer Expert may be a bit of a stretch, what I have learnt since I first stepped into this new world is much more comforting than I ever could have envisaged in those terrifying first days after diagnosis. If I can lend a little of that to the discussion, then I'll be happy.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Questions can be posted now, right up to and during the event. Just click this <a href="https://community.livebetterwith.com/cancer/discussion/80/i-am-jackie-buxton-author-of-tea-chemo-ask-me-anything">link </a>or enter <a href="https://livebetterwith.com/">via the website</a> using the Forums & Info tab and then the drop down option of Community Forums. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You will have to register first with the site to take part and you can do this, <a href="https://livebetterwith.com/accounts/signup/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fcommunity.livebetterwith.com%2Fsso%3Ftarget%3D%252F&from=vanilla:">here</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Please let me know if you've signed up and I'll look out for you 😊<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><b>A little about Live Better With:</b><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With fellow writer, Lucy O'Donnell</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><a href="https://livebetterwith.com/">Live Better With</a> started life as an online retail company in 2015, focusing on useful and original gifts that might help and comfort people living with cancer, as well as their carers and loved ones. Following on from their online success, their physical shop, the <a href="https://livebetterwith.com/boutiqueatbrowns/">Live Better With Boutique at Browns</a>, was launched in November 2017, taking pride of place in Guy's Hospital Cancer Centre in London. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Through their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/livebetterwith/">FaceBook site</a> and their own <a href="https://community.livebetterwith.com/cancer/categories">online community forums</a>, Live Better With also provide a safe place for people to discuss anything and everything to do with dealing with cancer and its treatments. From there, the first AMA events have been launched and they can be found here in <a href="https://community.livebetterwith.com/cancer/discussions">Discussions </a>along with other cancer related topics. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-389103623149448762018-11-20T12:59:00.001+00:002018-11-20T20:08:57.518+00:00Tour de Friends!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Deeply embedded in the world of Cancerville can be a whole heap of beautiful experiences, sprinkled with oodles of silver linings and unexpected relationships. Surprising, I know. But maybe that is good to know if you, or a loved one, have recently been diagnosed with what is also a horrible, spiteful, nasty little b**ger. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Why so? You may ask. What can possibly be good about having your mortality thrust so very cruelly and dramatically in front of your eyes? Love, that's what. I hear time and time again of people who've navigated the thorny path with the love of those close to them and have met great friends through the shared experience of having cancer, or caring for someone who has cancer. And I am a firm believer that positive relationships and our health are the only two things we really need in life to be happy. Yes, we need money as well to survive, but survival is a slightly different thing to what I'm talking about today, so please forgive me for parking that one just for now. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Louise Brownley is one of those people I never would have met if it wasn't for our cancer diagnosis. I am so sad to say that she has recently discovered she has secondary cancer and, well, it's not easy. Not that it's stopped Louise in her tracks, you understand, despite struggling with new treatments and the constant barrage of hospital appointments, not to mention holding down her full-time job, she is throwing herself into an enormous fundraising campaign. She, her equally adorable hubbie, and their team of firefighters and police officers will be cycling the 146 mile, rather hilly coast to coast from Whitehaven to Sunderland next year and they'd like to raise £5000 for <a href="https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/">Cancer Research</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">You can read more about the Tour de Friends, their training and their trials and tribulations, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Tour-de-Friends-1968346536520876/">here</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have <a href="http://tourdefriends.co.uk/lous-blog/novembers-inspirational-person-jackie-buxton/">a post </a>on the site too, with some questions I've never been asked before on everything from defining moments, to trainers and kettles (and a grass ring) to my new strategy of 'denial'. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have only previously asked for sponsorship once via a blog post: <a href="https://jackiebuxton.blogspot.com/2014/05/put-on-spot.html">Put on the Spot</a>. It was fantastically successful and I was enormously grateful for, and touched by, all the donations. That said, I recognise there are so many demands on our funds and it's not fair to be constantly asking for people's support. But I hope you'll forgive me for asking you this time, and on behalf of this very special lady, whether you could <a href="https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tourdefriendsnotts">spare a few pennies here</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you do feel able to sponsor Louise and the Tour de Friends riders, please let me know in the comments (<a href="mailto:jackie.buxton35@gmail.com">or privately here</a> if you prefer) I'll put your name in the hat and one winner will receive a signed copy of their choice of <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tea-Chemo-Fighting-Cancer-Living/dp/1910692395">Tea & Chemo</a> or <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Glass-Houses-Jackie-Buxton/dp/1910692840">Glass Houses</a>. And if you're sick to death of those, I'll give you a big hug instead😉</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-4198925990872351912018-11-05T17:49:00.000+00:002018-11-05T17:49:37.688+00:00Stuck in a Book<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I'm really here... </div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">...and much as I lament the distinct lack of blogging over the past few weeks, my stiff word with myself has been somewhat successful. The latest draft of the novel had an enormously out of shape middle and only two hours of strict writing a day - that isn't all I do, by the way, although, imagine, she says, drifting away for a few moments to the top of a fluffy cloud, the number nine fluffy cloud, with pen, paper, and tea on tap and not even a hint of a spreadsheet or PowerPoint and especially no slightly grimy bathroom as distraction - has managed to shrink and tighten it to a more acceptable shape for its first appearance in public. But there's still work to be done. We're not talking six-pack yet, more of a slight bulge where you could imagine there might be a six-pack lurking underneath. Meanwhile, my ever patient first beta readers await their copy of This Remarkable of Days and I feel the least I can do is get it to them before the first Christmas cards are dolefully staring upwards, expecting to be written.</span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s5DmCgrFqCw/W-B-Auq1SLI/AAAAAAAAEEI/BM6S2qjgmoAeAYXO4jHZJQxAfV5-Hz8MgCLcBGAs/s1600/Greenacre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="203" data-original-width="877" height="74" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s5DmCgrFqCw/W-B-Auq1SLI/AAAAAAAAEEI/BM6S2qjgmoAeAYXO4jHZJQxAfV5-Hz8MgCLcBGAs/s320/Greenacre.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And thus, I'm even more grateful to be appearing on the <a href="https://greenacrewriters.blogspot.com/p/the-greenacre-writers-was-founded-in.html">Greenacres Writers</a>' 'A Conversation ...' this week. This fabulously successful and busy reader and writers' site was set up in 2009 by a group of writers based in Finchley and features book reviews and interviews with a whole host of fabulous writers, a whole heap more interesting than me. The questions were intriguing, thought-provoking and made me smile and I just hope I've done them justice. You can read the interview <a href="https://greenacrewriters.blogspot.com/2018/11/a-conversation-with-jackie-buxton.html">here</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Meanwhile, any ideas of what you'd take up to your Cloud Nine? I'd love to know! </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-39235401236066581002018-09-08T07:00:00.000+01:002018-09-08T07:43:39.788+01:00The Day Job<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I haven’t written about cancer for a while. There are many
reasons for this, none more so than the fact that I don’t have a lot to say, because I
am *Stable Mable. I am a, ‘Strange Phenomenon’. I am an ‘Unusual Body,’ which, in
this instance, is a good thing. I am, in short, insanely lucky.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And yet no one needs me to tell them that cancer is a
heinous, unpredictable disease and there are many people who aren’t so lucky.
Never have I been more acutely aware of this than this week, with the news that
Radio Five Live journalist, Rachael Bland, has died of her cancer. Co-creator
of the chart topping, hilarious, thoughtful, poignant, fantastically direct and
gutsy podcast, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0608649">You, Me and the Big C</a>,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rachael, and her equally fabulous
colleagues, Lauren Mahon and Deborah James, encouraged everybody to be upbeat
and positive about her death. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But although I recognise that she has left behind the most powerful
of legacies, I admit, the news has rocked me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's a reminder that we are so fallible, that cancer, in
fact many diseases, are random and indiscriminate and that a treatment that's
worked for one person, can be totally ineffectual for another. Cancer is not a
'battle' that can be won simply if we have the right ammunition. However, I do
believe that there is nothing wrong with keeping that ammunition in a clean and
nurtured environment, shined and polished so that if cancer comes calling or a
rogue cell gets cocky, it's ready for it, ready to give its best shot at kicking
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We might miss, but I'd like to feel we tried. The ammunition
I am most likely to pack in a corner, not pay it its due attention, is my
immune system. Or rather, I'm forever tempted to deprive my immune system of
<a href="https://jackiebuxton.blogspot.com/2014/07/why-not-me.html">sleep</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’d been beavering away, life returning so very definitely
back to a cracking paced normality after the knee buckling curve ball of April
2017, which I <a href="https://jackiebuxton.blogspot.com/2017/05/entering-new-world.html">wrote about here</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So cracking has been the pace that I admit to having taken
my eye off the sleep monitor just a little. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Don’t misunderstand me, I am still a whole stratosphere away
from my pre-December 2013 delinquency. Back then I prided myself - oh yes - on
my ability to stay awake when all around were slumbering. It meant I could
crack on in my study: just me the pc screen and a flood of ticks on the to-do
list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d finish with an indulgent hour
of writing stories, followed by a languorous soak in the bath and the current
book in favour, before dragging myself into a fulfilled and light-headed, 3am
bedtime.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I felt lucky then, as well. My life was the next best thing
to having magical 27 hour days and it meant I could have a lot of every bit of
what I fancied because I had that extra tail end of the day that was denied to
so many.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Post my primary cancer diagnosis on that fateful day at the end
of 2013, my 27 hours had been concertinaed back into 24 and the extra hours of
<strike>inertia</strike> the body's essential rehabilitation, came at a price. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I struggle to fit my own writing around the little cracks of
time in the day that are left. Indeed, I struggle to fit the <i>day job</i> (oh, the
irony) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>into the cracks, and I do wonder
if the added stress of never quite managing to achieve as much as I need to do
to keep on top of everything, negates the benefit of the extra sleep.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ridiculous, scoffs the hubbie. But he is a lark, a
well-meaning, nothing is more important than keeping me alive, lark. Of course
he doesn’t understand. Physically, he couldn’t do it. He is genetically
programmed to stop work at 8pm at the latest and to fall into a deep and
impenetrable sleep not long afterwards. To-do list or otherwise, larks sleep at
night. That’s just how it is. If you want the lark in your family to catch a
wild boar, you'll have to ask them to do it in the morning. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ridiculous of course, but it’s not that easy is it? And it really
isn't easy if you know you physically could stay up and answer the emails
glowering from the inbox. None of us operate in a vacuum. One man’s, Sod It I’m
Tired I’m Going To Bed, is someone else drumming their fingers, waiting for their
reply, cursing the lack of response whilst muttering, 'Did they get it?' and 'Don’t
they care?'. Or at least, that’s what I suppose. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But Rachael Bland has given me a wake-up call, a kick up the
bum, a reminder of my resolve. And so I have vowed that I will cover my ears
and ignore the chimes to 'catch up'. I will shake away the image of steam
puffing from people's ears as they spit and curse at my lack of response, and I
will switch off, snuggle up, and get my sleep. After all, I owe it to those who
aren't so lucky, to at least try my best.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rest in peace, Rachael Bland, another brilliant person taken
too soon. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*I stole that term from another fabulous Rachel, Rachel
Ferry, currently NED, and she won't mind me saying, against all odds. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br /></div>
Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-44980018714841540432018-05-09T18:22:00.000+01:002018-05-10T08:42:08.274+01:00You Called It!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The results are in. A winner has been chosen and my next
novel, until submission at least, has a title.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thank you! I never envisaged I’d receive so many entries to
my <a href="https://jackiebuxton.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/what-would-you-call-it.html">What Would You Call It?</a> competition, nor that it would be so
illuminating. Those little asides you sent explaining why you chose one title
and not another? They were gold dust. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">One title won by a fair few votes, one was 'Marmite', my
original working title was more popular than I’d have thought it might be and
none of the titles heralded no votes at all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gdwyBWka_sc/WvMoxkH0CpI/AAAAAAAABtw/pyT0lo3ajLkiiaqql6piMVZt9JHyAGf5gCEwYBhgL/s1600/Blog%2B222%2Bpie.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="642" data-original-width="933" height="219" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gdwyBWka_sc/WvMoxkH0CpI/AAAAAAAABtw/pyT0lo3ajLkiiaqql6piMVZt9JHyAGf5gCEwYBhgL/s320/Blog%2B222%2Bpie.PNG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I suspect that, Her Place, which gained the fewest votes,
was a little too vague, even obscure. Note to self: intriguing, perhaps; nebulous,
no. I had a titter about my wild card: Meatballs. You certainly felt strongly
for, or against, that one. I agree that it could be misleading, dangerously so,
because no, this story isn’t a farce and I wouldn't want people thinking it was.
Whilst there may be some farcical elements, laugh a minute it isn’t - I’m not
that clever.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, who won? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p__1sY_7PcE/WvMox_lGzvI/AAAAAAAABtg/Hbsm4KQahjIbR8sfL5nU8srA2dobs4EwACLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2B222%2Bchoosing%2B2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1343" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p__1sY_7PcE/WvMox_lGzvI/AAAAAAAABtg/Hbsm4KQahjIbR8sfL5nU8srA2dobs4EwACLcBGAs/s200/Blog%2B222%2Bchoosing%2B2.JPG" width="166" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">All the votes for the most popular title were put into a hat.
Actually, strictly speaking, it isn’t a hat, it’s a laundry basket. It’s one of
my household’s not infrequent, ‘internet fails’. We have a fair few of these. Next
time I’ll post a pic of the ‘minute yellow trug’ and there’s also the doll’s
house sized – it seemed such a bargain – bottle of Shiraz. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KSvyyAqUoCc/WvMox5_hukI/AAAAAAAABtk/UrbIP0cVXk8JUp7AL7llRbME0fZk1KvBwCLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2B222%2Bchoosing.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1400" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KSvyyAqUoCc/WvMox5_hukI/AAAAAAAABtk/UrbIP0cVXk8JUp7AL7llRbME0fZk1KvBwCLcBGAs/s200/Blog%2B222%2Bchoosing.JPG" width="175" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, the winner! M</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">y hubbie, to ensure absolute transparency, pulled out one name f</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">rom the hat/laundry basket, and that name was: Liz Carr. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Congratulations,
Liz! If you could </span><a href="mailto:jackie.buxton35@gmail.com" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">email me</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> your contact details and choice of either </span><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Glass-Houses-Jackie-Buxton/dp/1910692840" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Glass Houses</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> or </span><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tea-Chemo-Fighting-Cancer-Living/dp/1910692395/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tea and Chemo</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’ll get a signed copy to you forthwith. And please
don’t forget to let me know to whom I should sign the book.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The winning title? <i><b><span style="font-size: large;">This Remarkable of Days</span></b></i><span style="font-size: large;"> and I am
absolutely thrilled with it. </span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l9-DiC8x1q8/WvMoymeA8kI/AAAAAAAABto/RU193JCx4goZRgLMNrzerx4Na2vYXZ4MQCLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2B222%2Bwinner.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="210" data-original-width="1600" height="50" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l9-DiC8x1q8/WvMoymeA8kI/AAAAAAAABto/RU193JCx4goZRgLMNrzerx4Na2vYXZ4MQCLcBGAs/s400/Blog%2B222%2Bwinner.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Although, as with many titles in my experience, it
does have a question mark hanging over it: it’s knowingly grammatically
incorrect. I would hope that people w</span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">ould assume this was deliberate (surely a
mistake wouldn’t get all the way through to the title of a novel? But then,
stranger things have happened...) and there is certainly a strong reason for this
wording. However, some potential readers might be put off right there and then
by the suspect grammar. Can I risk this? If not, I’d have to consider changing
it to: This Most Remarkable of Days and whilst I’ve been spinning this around in
my head, the more I think about it, the more I like the quirkiness of the winning
title of this competition. For now, it stays and I’ll keep you posted on that.
By the way, if you have a view on this dilemma, <b>please do share!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Meanwhile, here’s to a version of This Remarkable of Days
making it to a book shop near you some time before too very long and that,
aided by a stellar cover, not only will you feel compelled to read the blurb
and later the book, you’ll stick with it (almost) to the end, when you’ll see
where I was coming from when I slipped Meatballs into the list 😊</span></div>
</div>
Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-4379123791579089552018-05-01T18:32:00.001+01:002018-05-27T12:24:48.708+01:00What Would You Call It?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bZAS4kwwXVA/WuijSSUwIbI/AAAAAAAABsw/6BIuRxQPluI53yLSNCjn9ZomIlGqi064gCLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2B221%2Bfirst%2Bdraft%2Bcomplete%2B4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="824" data-original-width="1600" height="164" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bZAS4kwwXVA/WuijSSUwIbI/AAAAAAAABsw/6BIuRxQPluI53yLSNCjn9ZomIlGqi064gCLcBGAs/s320/Blog%2B221%2Bfirst%2Bdraft%2Bcomplete%2B4.jpeg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This happened today. Two days ahead of schedule (oh yes) I
scribbled the last note on the last page of the hard copy print out of the
first draft of ‘In The Taxi’. This is the working title of my second novel but
more on that in a moment. The fact that the pile of 260+ pages of typed copy
has doubled in size under the weight of all those scribbled notes and tea cup
stains, is an indication of how much work there still is to do – not least
copying up this little lot. But that’s ok, because I can’t wait. I love every
minute I get to spend on my own writing and I’m all-consumed with it at the
moment. Ahem. Hence the reason I’ve been a little quiet of late...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But there’s a problem. My novel has a story now, but it
doesn’t have a title. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I read of other writers’ euphoria at finding their title, and
know of some who can’t write a word of the novel until they know what it will
be called. And I understand that, because I can’t get going until I have an
idea of my beginning and end. A title for some, the beginning and end for me,
helps to guide the story in the right direction, to give it a focus, a string,
to join up the words as they tumble from mind to paper. But the title is
another thing altogether for me. I think I’ve got it, retitle every document,
every note, every draft, with the new title amidst much excitement, announce it
to the family, muse about it as I stuff washing frantically into the machine
(so I can get back to writing) only to find that it doesn’t feel quite so
perfect next time I switch on my pc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, can I tempt you <b>*with a prize*</b> to help me choose? I’ve
listed, below, every title which has flown to mind over the past six months. They’re
in alphabetical order so that I don’t subconsciously show a bias. I need you to
choose a title which jumps out at you, which intrigues perhaps, and certainly
would have you grabbing the book from the shelf, turning it over to read the
blurb. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because the title needs to stand on its own, I’m going to be
really tight with the clues. I’ll simply say that I hope the story fits
squarely in contemporary fiction with a ripple of humour and a smattering of
tears. Four strangers, plus Paresh, the long-suffering driver who must be
wondering if he’s ever going to see his home again, find themselves thrown together
in a taxi only for the journey to take on a significance none of them ever
envisaged. I’d better stop there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--ixS2JZYIfY/WuijzvAqBWI/AAAAAAAABtE/6_OlmQNDDX8N18sorFZBN9dbCc-87ou_gCLcBGAs/s1600/Tea%2B%2526%2BChemo%2Bcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1043" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--ixS2JZYIfY/WuijzvAqBWI/AAAAAAAABtE/6_OlmQNDDX8N18sorFZBN9dbCc-87ou_gCLcBGAs/s200/Tea%2B%2526%2BChemo%2Bcover.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A few provisos here. All the titles listed are ones I’d
entertain so I will happily snap up the one the majority choose. However, I
thought my original working title for Tea & Chemo of, ‘It Wasn’t All Bad’
was stellar: curiously inviting, not to mention doing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">exactly</i> what it said on the tin. And oh, what a genius! I’d thought
of it within five minutes of deciding I was going to try to write this book. Then
my publisher saw it. And he laughed, very politely, and in a hugely empathetic
fashion, but nonetheless telling me point blank that my book was not going to
be called, ‘It Wasn’t All Bad’. Imagine googling it, he said. Ahhh. And I used
to work in PR. Shame on Me! So, I’m afraid I can’t guarantee this will be the
final title and, alas, I can’t even guarantee it will be accepted for
publication, but here’s hoping. What I can promise is that I will log the most
popular title, pick a name out of the hat from those people who chose it and
one of them will get their choice of a signed copy of <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Glass-Houses-Jackie-Buxton/dp/1910692840">Glass Houses</a> or <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tea-Chemo-Fighting-Cancer-Living/dp/1910692395">Tea & Chemo</a> for themselves or as a gift. To ensure no conferring, no cheating or
influencing, and also because I know people have trouble commenting on here,
I’m going to ask you to email me your choice <a href="mailto:Jackie.buxton35@gmail.com"><b>via this link</b></a>. The deadline is midnight
on Bank Holiday Monday, 7<sup>th</sup> May.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yg6YzTa7tUs/WuijtPSV82I/AAAAAAAABtI/g9S6CmbHwK4MpcedUNYmYALyVSxJp6gkgCEwYBhgL/s1600/Glass%2BHouses%2BCOVER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="584" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yg6YzTa7tUs/WuijtPSV82I/AAAAAAAABtI/g9S6CmbHwK4MpcedUNYmYALyVSxJp6gkgCEwYBhgL/s200/Glass%2BHouses%2BCOVER.jpg" width="129" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Good luck! And thank you 😊<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Her Place</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">In The Taxi</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Marriage of Inconvenience</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Meatballs</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">No Such Lonely Place</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">This Remarkable of Days</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br /></div>
Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-52235584792428174032018-03-02T09:30:00.000+00:002018-03-02T09:30:02.627+00:00Almost as Difficult as Football<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xRhjlErnbt8/WpkRp6QAc8I/AAAAAAAABsA/6tjDoYgwqCMTJ550ah_PCT7gaDEHZY9ZgCEwYBhgL/s1600/Blog103%2Btrial.tif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1425" data-original-width="1600" height="177" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xRhjlErnbt8/WpkRp6QAc8I/AAAAAAAABsA/6tjDoYgwqCMTJ550ah_PCT7gaDEHZY9ZgCEwYBhgL/s200/Blog103%2Btrial.tif" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was checking my blog stats – AKA engaging in a most
unbecoming form of Google Navel Gazing – and noticed that some kind soul had fallen upon
a blog post from March 2015: Number One Career</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">. I couldn’t remember anything
about it so had a click myself. It's about being a writer and as I come across
so many tweets and posts about competition wins, near misses and 'good' (loads
of promise but I just don’t love it enough) and 'not so good' (please don't be
disheartened, we receive three billion submissions a week and only take on two to three
new writers a year) rejections, I thought I'd post this again </span><a href="https://jackiebuxton.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/number-one-career.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">It was
written just before I </span><span style="font-size: large;">announced my<br /><a href="https://jackiebuxton.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/tea-and-chemo.html">two book deal</a></span><span style="font-size: large;"> with </span><a href="https://urbanepublications.com/about/"><span style="font-size: large;">Urbane Publications</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> and
hope it might serve as motivation to hang on in there if you're in that stage
of high emotional swings, spending your days between clicking send/receive and trying
not to. </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Or indeed, you're stuck in a gargantuan plot hole.<br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-znml6R-p1t0/WpkRR_EoPoI/AAAAAAAABrk/b-v1TLLqPLQEYH4EvVDCzYF0HonVrhLMACEwYBhgL/s1600/Blog%2B103%2Bediting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="366" data-original-width="1600" height="72" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-znml6R-p1t0/WpkRR_EoPoI/AAAAAAAABrk/b-v1TLLqPLQEYH4EvVDCzYF0HonVrhLMACEwYBhgL/s320/Blog%2B103%2Bediting.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Keep going! If it was easy, they'd call it football 😉* <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>*This is my daughter's quote from when she was ten. It
always amused me because having played hockey and netball for my whole
childhood and beyond, I played football once at school when I inadvertently
broke my friend, captain, and absolute star of our hockey team's leg and a
second time in the Women's Puma Four, when our team of four were forced to add football
to three other disciplines we knew better and let's just say, our friend's
husband, dragged in to give us a crash course of training, found it rather
amusing that after five minutes, I mean, really, five minutes, of sprinting
after a ball and generally not connecting with our feet - side of our feet, I
learnt that bit - we were exhausted, I was reminded that football is actually, really extremely hard.
But I hope you know what I mean…</i><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-47428744113937763542018-02-19T16:25:00.000+00:002018-02-19T16:29:05.824+00:00The Enormous Hearing Aid Dome<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">To understand my tale of unbridled joy achieved in the surgery
of an ENT consultant, you should know that my hearing, or lack of it, is the bane
of my life, and I suspect of the lives of many of those close to me, even
though they're too nice to admit it. There's more about this in <a href="https://jackiebuxton.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/a-deaf-character.html">A Deaf Character</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was January 2014 and a week after I'd been diagnosed with
cancer, a week after that day on 27<sup>th</sup> December when I'd done a
pretty comprehensive job of persuading myself I wasn't going to be told that news.
No, I was going to be told that it was nothing more than a scare. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yep, would you believe it? I heard it clear as a bell. Never
for a moment did I think they'd said, 'You're a grade three dancer'. My second
question – and every body's second question I suspect (after every body's first
question: is it terminal?) – Do you know if it's spread? was met with one
of the most difficult answers that those brilliant medical people have to give:
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We Don't Know. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There was nothing to say that it had spread, but nobody could
be sure at this stage. And then came the biggy: had I had any persistent pain
anywhere else? We talked about my neck. Like every second person, it seems, I
never learnt to sleep correctly as I have an ongoing, but pretty bearable, sore
neck. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But I'd had that forever, it couldn’t be related to cancer,
surely?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He asked if it had been around for over a few months and I
responded with a whoosh of relief that it been there for, oh, probably my
entire adult life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">'But what about your earache?' Hubbie said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">You know, for the first time in three months, I hadn't
noticed my earache. It took a cancer diagnosis to trump it, but for those
glorious few moments, it had subsided. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thankfully, very quickly, the consultant assured me as best
he could that it would be extremely unusual for breast cancer to have travelled
to my ear. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">'However,' he said, as we hung in the air, waiting for the
'but', 'I really think we need to get to the bottom of this.' </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">You see, I'd already had three separate lots of antibiotics as
whenever anyone looked down my ear, they winced and said that there was a
horrible infection in there. He didn’t want me fighting an infection when I was
about to undergo an operation and then onto chemo. Thus I was referred to ENT.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I took solace in the breast cancer surgeon's
optimism but the earache was unsolved and not reacting to antibiotics and it's
hard when you're in bed at night, with only your tinnitus and the darkness, for your
thoughts not to fly to secondary cancer in the brain. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The ENT specialist was lovely. I specifically remember him
saying to me that he was going to do everything in his power to ensure I left
his surgery with an answer because I had enough to worry about. I am a sucker
for anybody taking responsibility away from me. I am the archetypal non-control
freak. I like nothing better than somebody telling me I'm going to be alright.
If they say that, I believe them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He looked down my ear with a much more technical piece of
apparatus than found at the GP surgery. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">'Right,' he said. 'This might hurt.' <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">No problem. As far as I was concerned, nothing could hurt
more than the current pain in my ears. Bring it on!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8KkkrOfiGzk/Wory8-OI62I/AAAAAAAABqs/FkD-LCWFF5g5k6y-ArHS5O6snFLRnZshACLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2B219%2BThe%2BEnormous%2BTurnip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8KkkrOfiGzk/Wory8-OI62I/AAAAAAAABqs/FkD-LCWFF5g5k6y-ArHS5O6snFLRnZshACLcBGAs/s320/Blog%2B219%2BThe%2BEnormous%2BTurnip.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I can only describe the next few minutes as playing my own
special role in the Enormous Turnip. The instrument inserted into my
ear produced a sort of 'sucking' feeling. But as quickly as it started, this
not entirely unpleasant sensation stopped. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">'I'm changing to a smaller instrument,' he said. 'Are you
aware you have very narrow ear canals?' </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I laughed. If I had a pound for every time anyone in the
medical profession has told me about the diminutive nature of my ear canals, well,
I wouldn't be an impoverished writer any more.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">By the time we'd moved to the third reduced sized implement,
the consultant had his foot wedged on my chair as the small but oh, so powerful
instrument pulled and sucked at the inside of my very narrow ear canal. My head
swayed. This was no longer pleasant. I thought I was going to be sick but every
time he asked if I needed a break, I told him to carry on. There was clearly something
in my ear and we needed to get it out. I started counting to ten and got to 73.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Just like the Enormous Turnip, it sprang out with a pop
which literally – yep, literally - sent the consultant reeling backwards. 'Phew!'
he said, in a delightfully understated fashion, 'That was a stubborn one.' He
held up the offending item, a mixture of pride and mirth covering his
perspiring face. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-shxW-Rn_lPc/Wory9H-QR4I/AAAAAAAABqw/GU6NsywYZxY08Zeu3osL5HNGvweLaI8zgCLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2B219%2Bhearing%2Baid.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1226" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-shxW-Rn_lPc/Wory9H-QR4I/AAAAAAAABqw/GU6NsywYZxY08Zeu3osL5HNGvweLaI8zgCLcBGAs/s320/Blog%2B219%2Bhearing%2Baid.JPG" width="244" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">'Do you recognise this?' he asked, bearing the tip of my
hearing aid, the 'dome' in the trade, the removable bit which covers the
receptor and goes directly into the ear. I say, 'removable', but must clarify
that it is only to be removed for cleaning once <i>outside</i> of the ear canal. 'It happens more often than you think,'
he said, in a kind attempt to placate my embarrassed shame – I told you he was
lovely – 'You don't remember it coming away in your ear, then?' <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The thing is, I do remember the moment he was referring to.
I remember sitting in front of my mirror looking at the dome-less hearing aid, convinced
I'd already replaced the tip. I asked the hubbie to have a look down my ear using
the torch on his iPhone (Love is…) But when he couldn't see anything, I put it down
to the advancement of my years, replaced it with another from the box, and never
gave it another thought.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Instantly, the hearing pain was gone. I had to do everything
in my power not to jump up and hug and squeeze the audiologist with every ounce
of my being, for removing the pain, but also the fear that my stage two and
hopefully curable grade three, caught early, breast cancer could actually be the
treatable, but currently not curable stage four.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The hubbie and I shared a bottle of champagne that night,
and it will always make me smile that only seven days after diagnosis, waiting
for my operation, waiting for chemo, we were celebrating with champagne. Such
is the strange world of Cancerville. I also remember running out into the
waiting room and throwing myself on my husband in the way I'd stopped myself
doing to the fortunate consultant, as I told him as well as I could through
hysterical laughter, that he'd never guess what it was but it wasn’t a brain tumour.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thankfully, he has pretty goddamn perfect hearing so he knew
what I meant. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you're interested in hearing loss, you may like to read:</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2233719410107288850#editor/target=post;postID=6768349563807769274;onPublishedMenu=template;onClosedMenu=template;postNum=17;src=link">Run That By Me Again</a> and <a href="https://jackiebuxton.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/from-bottom-of-swimming-pool.html">The Bottom of the Swimming Pool</a>.<o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-42993560607537380202018-02-19T16:21:00.000+00:002018-02-19T16:27:08.080+00:00A Deaf Character<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tz7ytu2-ywA/WorxFSsTLAI/AAAAAAAABqg/xcag10_Vuew8H_pm5JtjZ7XNr43lK_PKgCLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2B219%2BDeaf%2BSentence%2BDavid%2BLodge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="141" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tz7ytu2-ywA/WorxFSsTLAI/AAAAAAAABqg/xcag10_Vuew8H_pm5JtjZ7XNr43lK_PKgCLcBGAs/s320/Blog%2B219%2BDeaf%2BSentence%2BDavid%2BLodge.jpg" width="206" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A man 'in his prime', as my mum would say, a retired,
silver-haired lecturer, is not peering down the top of a woman two generations
his junior for reasons of impropriety. This gentleman has a hearing problem.
His head is bent in order to fix his ear as close to his interlocutor's mouth
as is acceptable in public, to give him the best chance of working out what on
earth she is saying. Such is the first scene in the amusing novel, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deaf-Sentence-David-Lodge/dp/0141035706/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519050820&sr=8-1&keywords=Deaf+Sentence&dpID=51OxAgKNFgL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch">Deaf Sentence by David Lodge</a> which had me chortling, sighing and laughing out loud
all the way through.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm somewhat surprised I enjoyed it so much because, try as
I might, I'm afraid there is very little about hearing loss that I find
amusing. It can be peaceful. I do appreciate taking out my hearing aids in a
crowded coffee shop for a spot of indulgent, uninterrupted writing. And it's
with great pride that I admit I'm the Miss Marple in our house who tends to
work out complicated plots and this surely comes from having to focus so
completely on the subtitles of the film in question. I do also feel lucky to
live in a world where there is so much technology to help us. Without my
incredibly techie hearing aids, I would barely be able to function in hearing
society and certainly wouldn't be able to do the work I do. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But generally, I
find my ever worsening hearing increasingly sad and isolating and I can't
pretend I laugh about the situation very often.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Witty people, for example. I love funny people. I love
comedy clubs, stand-up, romcoms, even my father-in-law's ever rolling conveyor
belt of punditry. But these days, I can't always tell that funny people are
being funny and that's a shame because I think laughter makes the world
brighter. It's just not the same when your brother-in-law, second only in volume
of wit to said father-in-law, with a Dad Joke thrown in, oh, every two
sentences, says: Ahh! Surely your appointment's not at the hairdresser at two
thirty but at the dentist? - and as the rest of his audience either groans or
rolls around like little Smash men, you're still wrestling with the potential
humour in your appointment not being at the bear presser but at the atheist's. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Lodge's main character, Desmond, talks humorously about the blind/
deaf comparison and it resonated with me so <i>loudly</i>
(hah! Chance would be a fine thing). It's the truism of counting our blessings that
our disability is deafness as opposed to blindness which, surely, has to be
more difficult to handle, but recognising that blindness invokes pity, awe and
wonder, whereas deafness arouses only an array of reactions along the continuum
between mild irritation and full-on screwed up, pained face disdain. It's true,
I've never known anybody grab the chin of someone who's blind and say, Just <i>look </i>for goodness sake! Whereas the look
of anguish and the shouted irritation in the converser's raised tones – even
though we understand the frustration, believe me, we do – sounds like all the
world as though you're doing it on purpose. Trust me, nobody would choose not
to be able to keep up with the conversation, give the impression of being
stupid, not be able to join in because they can't hear the instructions, not be
able to get the joke quickly enough, wear themselves out with the sheer energy
it takes to focus on every single sound that does make it through their 'cloth
ears' to their dulled brain as it tries to piece them together all in a rush,
for fun. There is very little fun in social interaction when you can't hear and
to be honest, there is very little more depressing than to be shouted at when
you can't catch what someone else is saying. It makes me just want to slink
away, hide and then slip away home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But it's good to remember that I'm surrounded by very
patient people and that any situation can be amusing if you look for the funny
side. Lodge's book reminded me of that and although I'm a little late to the
party (it was first published in 2008) I thoroughly recommend it to readers
both with, and without, five fully functioning senses. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The novel also plunged me back into the ENT consultant's
chair where I'd been referred as an attempt to get to the bottom of my excruciating
ear pain which had gone on for months – three months, to be precise, not that I
was counting. I've written about that in <a href="https://jackiebuxton.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/the-enormous-hearing-aid-dome.html">The Enormous Hearing Aid Dome.</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">By the way, I was recommended Deaf Sentence by an unassuming,
fiercely intelligent, older-than-my-father-and-totally-on-the-ball retired judge
and fellow student in my weekly lipreading class. He also told me that the
great thing about being deaf is that we will never get Alzheimer's, because our
brains are in a continuous state of brain gym, hoola-hooping their way through the
jumble of words we have to piece together all day, every day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are silver linings in everything, you just have to
know where to look 😊</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-58014327218645527972017-12-21T16:00:00.000+00:002017-12-21T16:00:16.750+00:00First Drafts and Happy Endings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cML6u-4WvIE/WjpO1JkpGYI/AAAAAAAABpc/lmpdnjHriVEPSXO_5806n-9WYYNXrlE5QCLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2B218%2Bcake.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cML6u-4WvIE/WjpO1JkpGYI/AAAAAAAABpc/lmpdnjHriVEPSXO_5806n-9WYYNXrlE5QCLcBGAs/s200/Blog%2B218%2Bcake.JPG" width="150" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In view of the final Christmas cards not writing themselves,
the snow peaked Christmas cake still looking distinctly like a fruit cake and Father
Christmas struggling to get everything wrapped without its little helper, this
will be my last post of 2017. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LDJ6BRGKjno/WjpZUjW8SpI/AAAAAAAABps/4mQGy4loQWs6ApbdA68YoiL7ByIAp2eKgCLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2B218%2Bfirst%2Bdraft.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1492" data-original-width="1600" height="186" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LDJ6BRGKjno/WjpZUjW8SpI/AAAAAAAABps/4mQGy4loQWs6ApbdA68YoiL7ByIAp2eKgCLcBGAs/s200/Blog%2B218%2Bfirst%2Bdraft.jpeg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But, after an 'eventful' year, I thought this would be a
good moment to announce that by hook or by crook, I have reached my deadline and
penned the final word of a very sloppy, for my eyes only, first draft of my
second novel. In January that was looking as likely as crispy, frosty days lasting
until Christmas. In February I had a few words behind me but when I went running
in March and decided I wasn't writing the story I wanted to write, I hot-footed
it home, shoved the draft in the back of the drawer and reset my word counter
to nought. News of secondary cancer stole my mojo for a few weeks in the spring
and in the summer, I was spending a little too much time travelling around the country
talking books (and loving it) – not to mention going on holiday – and not quite
enough time in my study. Thankfully, in August, the wonderful guests at a talk at
the <a href="http://www.feva.info/news/">Feva Festival</a> in Knaresborough, made me realise things had to change, and that's when I
discovered <a href="https://prolifiko.com/">Prolifiko</a>. It helped me re-discover my <a href="http://www.katejfoster.com/general-blog/life-after-nano-its-a-habit-by-jackie-buxton">Writing Habit</a> and now I write every day because I'm too scared to lose it again. Thank you
Fear, you have been, and continue to be, incredibly helpful. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I also end the year with my health in a very stable position,
beaten back by the brilliance of modern medicine. And that was the stuff of
dreams back in March when I received <a href="https://jackiebuxton.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/entering-new-world.html">that phone call</a> from the doctor. As Christmas presents go, and please don't misunderstand me, I
appreciate them all, this one is the best.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am so very, very grateful as I know only too well, that this
is not the same for everyone. I send my love and best wishes to those who have
lost loved ones, and for whom Christmas will be particularly
difficult. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thanks so much for visiting my blog posts in 2017 and for
all the heart-warming and amusing messages you write in response here and over
on Facebook and Twitter. They always make me smile 😊 I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a
2018 full of love, happiness and loads of extra time for reading.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-78236043359399535542017-12-19T18:48:00.000+00:002017-12-19T18:48:08.690+00:00Just Treatment<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l4oyKCpoLnI/WjlZl3zW8CI/AAAAAAAABpM/17pM1Ssltkoq8gc0RZGp3SbQP6_u60AfgCLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2B217%2BJust%2BTreatment%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="829" data-original-width="1249" height="212" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l4oyKCpoLnI/WjlZl3zW8CI/AAAAAAAABpM/17pM1Ssltkoq8gc0RZGp3SbQP6_u60AfgCLcBGAs/s320/Blog%2B217%2BJust%2BTreatment%2B1.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After a bit of a turnaround, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I've found myself getting involved with an exciting and growing organisation, <a href="https://justtreatment.org/news/">Just Treatment</a>, who are challenging large pharmaceuticals to lower </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">the cost of maintenance and life-saving treatments so that they are affordable to the NHS. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm not one to rush in, keen to research whether there's another side to the story and here, I thought the flip side of lowering prices would be that there would be no innovation in the future because the big pharmaceuticals wouldn't be able to fund it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Phew, I was wrong, very wrong. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZSmM71KzTqU/WjlZgimXIbI/AAAAAAAABpI/pxVJox8AzesfE8HL4mVZaZhabVJC9cgEACLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2B217%2BJust%2BTreatment%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="1017" height="161" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZSmM71KzTqU/WjlZgimXIbI/AAAAAAAABpI/pxVJox8AzesfE8HL4mVZaZhabVJC9cgEACLcBGAs/s320/Blog%2B217%2BJust%2BTreatment%2B2.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Every single one of us would benefit directly, or indirectly, if the large pharmaceuticals lowered their prices. And here's the thing: they'd still stay in business, they'd still make a tidy profit, they'd still research and invest. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I think that from small acorns great oaks can grow and this initiative may not only prolong and save lives on an individual level, but also save vital funds for the NHS for all of us. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Intrigued? Find out more </span><a href="https://justtreatment.org/about/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">. And </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://justtreatment.org/story/2017/12/6/jackies-story" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">here's a link to my story.</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2233719410107288850.post-43483909790829909022017-12-11T14:26:00.001+00:002017-12-12T15:25:03.291+00:00Funny Old World<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was a sunny Saturday in June and off I went to the
hospital for my scan. It was my first scan post-secondary diagnosis and
although this time I knew the drill, you won't need me to tell you that these
things are never entirely without emotion. It's hard to have a scan and not
think about what <i>they </i>are looking at
on the other side of the window, alongside that out-of-body experience when you
still can't quite believe it's you lying there under the scanner.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Once there though, we were soon talking books and quickly it was as
if I'd merely popped (I say 'pop', it's a short train ride and a fast twenty
minute scuttle to the hospital) in for a coffee. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our ex-colleague has written a book, one radiographer says. And
she's left us, gone to open up a book shop in Harrogate, says the other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UqUPVN98cmE/Wi6T88hdkdI/AAAAAAAABo0/HfoCvM0rvJgxjvPCIxa2zfHxyw8pFfNiACLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2B215%2BImagined%2BThings%2Bshop%2Bfront.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="924" height="188" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UqUPVN98cmE/Wi6T88hdkdI/AAAAAAAABo0/HfoCvM0rvJgxjvPCIxa2zfHxyw8pFfNiACLcBGAs/s320/Blog%2B215%2BImagined%2BThings%2Bshop%2Bfront.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Not <a href="http://www.imaginedthings.co.uk/">Imagined Things</a>?
Not the independent book shop I'd read about in the <a href="https://www.thebookseller.com/news/new-indie-bookshops-open-harrogate-and-woodbridge-551611">Bookseller</a> and actually whooped out loud at the news on the train? Not Harrogate's first independent
book shop since, I don't know, Emily Bronte signed copies of Wuthering Heights?
(I made that up. But she might have done, Haworth would have only been a short
horse and cart ride away). Yes, that book shop. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S4nlQcHSUxo/Wi6Lb8jXwcI/AAAAAAAABoo/OCrNRtMdgYglEQPfCcyJUAl3zFyJ7QCZACEwYBhgL/s1600/Imagined%2BThings%2Bshop%2Bfront%2Bme.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1440" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S4nlQcHSUxo/Wi6Lb8jXwcI/AAAAAAAABoo/OCrNRtMdgYglEQPfCcyJUAl3zFyJ7QCZACEwYBhgL/s320/Imagined%2BThings%2Bshop%2Bfront%2Bme.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next thing I know, I've exchanged my hospital gown for her contact
details and I step out of my comfort zone to email the owner. Little do I know that I will be signing
copies of my books at the shop's buzzing launch during the week of Harrogate's
prestigious <a href="http://harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/crime-writing-festival/">Crime Fest</a> in July (with star attraction, the fabulous,
Tammy Cohen who was launching the breathtakingly good, They All Fall Down,
which I <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/R1M9BB136D6AQL/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1784162469">reviewed here</a>). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Funny old world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HTnUzU1zuKg/Wi6UHc2cBEI/AAAAAAAABo4/qMLyGpE_Jgso1NQ5PhC00-bZKmIKRiqngCLcBGAs/s1600/Blog%2B215%2BImagined%2BThings%2BGeorgia%2Bin%2Bshop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="488" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HTnUzU1zuKg/Wi6UHc2cBEI/AAAAAAAABo4/qMLyGpE_Jgso1NQ5PhC00-bZKmIKRiqngCLcBGAs/s320/Blog%2B215%2BImagined%2BThings%2BGeorgia%2Bin%2Bshop.jpg" width="203" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Imagined Things, owned by <a href="https://www.georgiaduffy.co.uk/">Georgia Duffy</a>, is a gorgeous bookshop
at the top of the quaint, Westminster Arcade in Harrogate – yep, very close to
Betty's 😊.
It's packed with quirky, heavily reading and writing related gifts as well as a
great mix of new titles, local authors and beloved favourites of adults and
children. Lots of artistically hand-written opinions and summaries accompany
books and you can always consult with Georgia - I have yet to find a book in
her shop she hasn't read herself. If you can't find your chosen title in store,
it can be ordered for next day delivery so you get the whole bookshop
experience with the speed of online. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Although it all sounds very exciting to us die-hard
traditionalists who dream of physical books shops which don't tap you on the
shoulder every time you pick up a paperback to ask whether you wouldn’t prefer
to read it for free on Kindle (don't get me started), I wondered what it was
really like to be the owner of a bookshop in this paradoxically buoyant but
difficult age of publishing. And so I spoke to Georgia about the good – and the
bad – <a href="https://jackiebuxton.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/independence-at-imagined-things.html">which you can read, here</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Oh, and there's a 10% discount </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">for all my blog readers </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">off any book in the shop
before Christmas. </span><a href="https://jackiebuxton.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/independence-at-imagined-things.html." style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">More here</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">.</span></i></div>
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Jackie Buxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186723392553752533noreply@blogger.com0