Walking through fire

I didn't expect to be writing a blog post today because I was due to have chemo treatment number 3 on Tuesday, which pretty much wipes me out for at least a week.  But... a regular blood test at the weekend showed that my neutrophils (type of white blood cell) are too low, so my oncologist has postponed treatment for a couple of weeks to let my cell count recover. I'm not unduly worried by this and it's nice to have a bit of breathing space! It also gives me an opportunity to update the blog and today I'm going to share the first of several blogs (I hope) about some of the things that have made me who I am. My passions and interests and with them some memories of special times and people. So this blog is going to be all about my interest in science, and particularly in biology and  the brain. Growing up, discussion of scientific ideas was very much part of family life. My father was a physicist, and both my older sisters studied science subjects at A-level (and went on

NHS gold service I could not have had better service from the NHS throughout the last six months. They say the NHS is the nearest thing the British now have to a collective religion. I'm a card-carrying member of the Church of England - but I can see the truth in this. Actually I think the whole idea of the NHS has profoundly moral - even theological - underpinnings. It's based on a belief that each person has value in and of themselves. It is one of the few areas left in our collective life that is actively egalitarian. It is about need, not about some kind of perceived 'worth'.  As I said in my first blog, I've been pretty healthy for most of my life, but my husband has had different health problems and issues and I've sat next to him in many a hospital corridor or waiting room, plus I've had two kids and been in and out of casualty and Minor Injuries over the years. Reflecting on my experiences recently, I realise that as a cancer patient, I have been on