So… Osteosarcoma… You know it. Otherwise known as bone cancer, it’s most often found in young boys, dogs and the occasional polar bear. And me, of course.

Well the latest news is that it’s been found that dinosaurs had it too – they found a fossil of a strange looking bone that was originally thought to be a re-healed fracture. But apparently it’s osteosarcoma. I mean to be fair, probably any animal can get it. But I thought that was kinda cool to find… It’s certainly been around a looooong time.

While I was reading about the dinosaur, I also found out that cockatoos get it too. Which seems fitting because I’m still in Australia. Yep, there still aren’t really international flights so my 4 month holiday has (so far) been doubled. I can’t complain too much, I’m having a nice time. Paying for my flat in London without an income is wild… But I’m healthy at least and grateful for this extra time to work on my various projects. I’ve been doing a looooooot of writing. And hanging out with my parents and catching up with friends. And resting. I’ve really needed the rest. I’m so grateful that I have a safe and comfortable place to stay and loving, supportive parents to stay with. I think daily about how lucky I am compared with other people who currently can’t get back home.

Being here also means I haven’t been able to get back for my scans. My last MRI was in July 2019, and I’m meant to be having them every 6 months… I spoke to my surgeon and she said not to worry too much and just to get one whenever I get back, so all I can do is trust her judgement. I have kept up my 3 monthly chest x-rays while I’ve been here though (all clear so far), as they’re quick and don’t seem to cost anything to get done, so that’s something. But when I have a few days of pain in my cheekbone, is that something to worry about? See, this is forever the life of someone who’s had cancer. You have to be vigilant about everything and it’s hard to remember if the pain is something you’d had before everything happened. I’ve also got really sore ribs at the moment though so… Probs nothing to worry about. Probs just my normal pain.

I wrote this post about a week ago, and the program I use for writing in decided to lose it for me (serves me right for signing up for the beta testing). So that was fun. I found myself back at the start, with only the first sentence saved. Kinda feels like my life at the moment. Back in Australia, unemployed, and staying in my childhood bedroom. Part of me feels like I’m back at the start. But I suppose the hope is that this version of the blog post, my second attempt, will be better than the first one was. I guess that’s a good hope for my life too. I guess that’s all any of us can really hope for. That our next attempt will be better than our first.

I saved this post in two separate places the second time, just to be sure. Learned my lesson there, didn’t I. Ha. Fool me once…….

Anyway, I hope you’re all doing ok, wherever you are.

I must say, although it’s weird not being able to get back home, this isn’t the worst place in the world to be stranded… I’m sure all my London friends would have loved to be close to the beach during the recent ‘heatwave’.