I have been asked whether the fact that I have been diagnosed with breast cancer is a secret. It is not. The last thing I want to do is perpetuate the stigma I feel is still attached to “The Big C”. What I know so far is on my website.

Alhough I may or may not keep a kind of diary on my website whenever I need to organise my thoughts or have major news to report, there is enough literature, blogs etc. everywhere on the internet and in social media, support groups on Facebook (reading about the number of young women with small children, going through years of radiation, followed by chemotherapy, over and over, is certainly sobering), …. and I don’t feel a crusty old battle-axe like me with (hopefully soon) only herself to take care of, and most of her life behind her will be able to contribute anything novel or different.

For now, this is quite new, a bit of a shock (although I don’t know why it should be – cancer hits one in three or four of us sooner or later), and now I know what people mean when they say a kind of chaos ensues after a cancer diagnosis. As detailed on my website, my first priority is to find a good home for Max, before I can focus on facing and coming to terms with yet another new chapter of my life.

Thank you for all the messages of support received so far. I hope it is OK that I am currently too scatter-brained to reply to everybody individually, and I also need time every day to switch that aspect off and focus on other things – not least Max – and clear my head a bit. Especially since I don’t yet know much about how my life will look in the coming months, I have to try not to think about it 24/7.