I have radically changed my lifestyle since being diagnosed with cancer and, even though much of what I miss is self-imposed for well-researched reasons, I don’t miss them any the less. These are my top ten:
- Red wine, cheese, salami and crispy bacon (not that I consumed these things very often)
- Hot date nights with my husband when champagne flows
- Expensive non-organic conditioner with chemicals that make my hair really shiny
- Eating at restaurants without having to vet a dozen menus before choosing the venue
- Grabbing any fruit I like from the bowl on the kitchen table
- Wasting whole days watching back-to-back episodes of Downton Abbey, Scandal or Grey’s Anatomy
- Drinking Gin and Tonic sundowners in the garden with John while Gabriella climbs trees and intermittently bugs us to try some
- Owning my own home (we planned to rent temporarily but people with terminal cancer don’t get mortgages so we’re staying put)
- Facilitating intense three-day transformational workshops that lit up people’s lives and left me rejuvenated afterwards
- Not being afraid of doing something, anything, that might be bad for my health.