What am I doing here?

Live for It - Surviving Breast Cancer

This website is dedicated to Mike Dixon, my surgeon and friend, to whom I owe my life, and who has my eternal gratitude for his patience, understanding, kindness and sense of humour; and to Gerhard, my beloved husband, the rock I cling to when the sea gets too rough.

"Anyone who doesn’t believe in miracles is not a realist."
(David Ben-Gurion)

Credit for the idea and name of this website is due to my friend Mercia Sadie, who was the one to encourage me to finally put into written words what I have been preaching for years. The nature of the beast makes it necessary for me to talk mostly about myself, but if this were born out of purely narcissistic concerns, I certainly would not have bothered. This is a highly personal account of my experience with numerous breast cancers over the past twelve years and since 1994 (when I was aged 24), what I think about treatment, life and death etc. I am not telling anybody what to do, but if you have reached this page in fear and anguish, I hope that through reading this you will see that there is another way. The only true answer is the one which you find within yourself.

Secondly, this website is a tribute to all those, whether family or friends, who have been there for me in various ways, helping me with their moral and practical support. I consider myself very lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful people and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. You all know who you are.

And of course, not forgetting my wee doggie "Chloe", who has given me much love and comfort over the past decade.

Thirdly, I have tried to compile some practical help too. Patience is not usually my strong point, but being a complete Internet Junkie, I have no problem spending hours on the Net digging for information. However, I realise that many find the sheer volume of material available overwhelming. When it comes to breast cancer, there is a lot out there, ranging from incomprehensible medical jargon to a patronising scantiness of details. So, in "Info Links", I have listed the websites which were the most helpful to me. In "Books", you will find some of the works which inspired me personally, and in "Forum", you will have the opportunity to join and speak to others in your situation.

Finally, in order to dispel some common myths about breast cancer, and to give you a quick reference guide to what breast cancer is or is not, and what hormonal treatments can and cannot do, I have added a section which you will find by clicking on the button, "Guide to Breast Cancer".