One Year Anniversary

El Nino and almost unrelenting fine weather and on this rather warm Sunday I find myself "celebrating" the first year anniversary of D-Day.  Diagnosis Day.

It seems that September 23 is doomed to hold significance in my life and I suppose, it's quite an important day in other ways:

In 1642:  Harvard graduated its first students (I bet you didn't know that!)
In 1846:  Astronomer Johann Galle discovered the planet Neptune.
In 1932:  The Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd was renamed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
In 1962:  The Jetsons aired for the first time.
In 1980:  Bob Marley gave his last concert
In 2004:  Hurricane Jeanne reportedly killed 1070 in Haiti.

I wish I could tell you this last year has zoomed by.  It hasn't.

I seem to have lived every last living inch of the past 365 days and to an extent, I thank you, my blog readers for this.

Much as I have rued ever starting this bloody epistle - on those days when I have really been in a bad mental space - the process of sharing this long-winded episode of my life with you has, I guess, kept me in an almost constant state of hyper-awareness.

In fact, there isn't one thing that has happened through this disease where I haven't regularly weighed up whether it might be useful to you, informative or enlightening.  Everything has been assessed for what it might have added to 'My breast cancer story'.

Ultimately, I believe there's a reason to pay homage to this disease because of the amazing things it has delivered to me so far:  revelations, insights, friendships and above all, love.

Thanks to cancer I have learned how to give and receive love.  I have hugged more warm bodies this year than I have in my entire lifetime

Thanks to cancer, I have made several new friends amongst the breast cancer community, great, wonderful, brave women who are always willing to speak honestly and candidly to me about their experiences and are generous with their advice.

Thanks to cancer, I have made an effort to get to know my own friends even better and, as I mused in an earlier blog, one of it's great side effects is that it has brought several of my old friends back to me.

In short, cancer has, above all, taught me the value of people.

September 23 will always be important to me.

Four days after my birthday, and three days before Harry's, it is the day in 2011 when I was changed forever.

How have I marked it?

Last night, Karen, me and the Williams Will team went out for dinner at a fantastic restaurant called 'Cinco'.  (Three of the team of 7 have birthdays within 5 days of each other would you believe).

This morning I went for a 10 km walk with Spunky in the heat.  It was so hot, I stopped by the golf club for a drink of water.

I spent the afternoon preparing a YouTube film and  have attached the link below.  You had better watch it before the copyright people descend. :))

This evening, I, Al and the boys are off to see The Soiree which is supposed to be a fantastic show at the Brisbane Festival.  (It's sold out!).  We'll have some dinner and celebrate Harry's birthday early as it's unlikely we will see him on Wednesday, the 26th, his birthday.

Tomorrow, I'm off to Adelaide to see a client.

On Wednesday, I am seeing a new plastic surgeon about another reconstruction option.

Life goes on.

Isn't it great?

Now please enjoy my video.

http://youtu.be/Hd5hursfge0