On Sunday 17th November at around 5.30am, our brilliant Jen died in hospital.  When it comes to a writer as skilled as Jen, no words seem to come close to the magic she could conjure when she put pen to paper. More words will come later, but for now we wanted to update the many…

The date was set. I was to be starting RT (radiotherapy) once again, on June 17. The week before I was due to start, Rosa, my friend Hayden, and I spent three of the most glorious days in Hayden’s studio together, recording none other than the Rebel Rebel audiobook! Then the hospital called and said…

Does anyone else feel like we might be stuck in the Bermuda Triangle? Or in that achingly boring-as-all-hell movie Groundhog Day? Or maybe this is purgatory; forced to keep cycling through the radiotherapy process forever more. Déjà vu is strong, and it doesn’t feel at all cute (for some reason I’ve decided déjà vu should…

I just can’t seem to get these updates written and posted as quickly as the blows keep coming. On the day I found out my friend JB died – the lovely kind tall thin man who became my co-conspirator and partner in crime during my first Radiotherapy, where we could usually be found with our…

The constant darkness gets to me. It is unrelenting. Every morning when I open my eyes, instead of light rushing in and showing me a beautiful new day is out there waiting for me to discover, my poor sleep-infused brain is hit with the crushing realisation that opening my eyes changes nothing. I have no…

The RT (radiotherapy) had made my mouth so sore. It felt so fragile, and anything I ate with the tiniest bit of heat, whether spicy or physical warmth, caused me unreasonable amounts of pain. Even balsamic vinegar or lemon juice was unbearable. Like such things hurt on a cut, it was as if my whole…

Around four weeks into RT (radiotherapy), two weeks from the end, it started to really hit me hard. I had been so blasé about it – last time I was writing, recording, editing and mixing my album after I got home from the hospital each day, making sure I met the deadline to get it…

And so RT (radiotherapy) was officially underway. The vibe in the RT basement continued to be one of joy and friendship. And despite all the extra appointments they kept wanting to throw at me, it was all going quite well, really. The mask kept fitting fine, and I was managing to survive the daily sessions…

On day two of RT (radiotherapy), the door on a cupboard in the basement of UCLH got stuck. I know, I know, I wondered why I should care either. But apparently without the cupboard being accessible, I couldn’t have my RT. They tried and they tried to open it, they went and got the boss…

It took me a couple of days to really recover from the mask fitting debacle, and the thought of my impending radiotherapy was filling me with something bordering on dread. But the day was set – I was to start on the 15th of Feb, and it would happen every weekday for 6 weeks straight,…