This Teacher Is Grateful For..
Lessons, Life, Cancer Treatments, Connections, People Who CARE!
Welcome to Denyse Whelan Writes Here.
I’ve made a change to the title here and added an updated image (again)
It’s still me, Denyse Whelan, writing here! And I changed the colours a bit too (again)
It was quite a week last week.
I visited Sydney, staying overnight and seeing Vivid from Sydney Harbour on a ferry, then by foot.
I wrote here about my decision to call off my plans for any travel that would take me away from home for more than a night. Thanks to you all for your kind and wise words of understanding.
I did spend a bit of time feeling sorry for myself on Saturday and then decided I had made this all happen, so got cross! Honestly.
But it’s a process I guess that I had to go through to both understand my “why” and to let myself down gently after a BIG exciting month of planning!
When I woke on Sunday, I did my usual morning daily calm meditation and reflection and my gratitude list of three.
I know it helped me greatly, especially when I matched this image and its words for kind and quiet understanding and self-compassion .
What am I grateful for today?
2 June 2024
That I gave the travel OS prep a go & found it too much for my ageing body & post cancer mouth & yes it was a bit sad to know this and I allowed my feelings to be expressed….
And that in doing so, I've done ENOUGH of trying to prove to me & others what IS possible but no longer practical or to be pursued by me…
To know me first & better than ever.
What a courageous thing I did, to go away 24 hrs independently & then find that's no longer what I can nor want to do.
That's true GROWTH because it's settling me into what I need to do & be NOW & into my old(er) age*.
Onward!
Life IS good.
And for enjoying at the pace that's best for me now.
*about age, chronological that is.
I admit I often ‘feel’ I relate to people younger (some much!) than I am and it’s been the case since I became a blogger in 2010 and met people via social media. I relate to people I guess and I think that is wonderful. What I AM finding is that I do need to admit to my physical age. I will be 75 in November. I do well, I know, but I am not, and can no longer be ‘the younger version’ that I can seem to be.
Last week Sanch and I caught up for the first time in years. It was great. Here’s a link to Sanch’s IG profile. I am very pleased that people who are chronologically younger (often much) are interested in catching up! But I also have to remember my stamina!
BUT, before I finish…. I want to pay tribute to a very special person.
Professor Chris O’Brien AO.
He was the driving force behind the Comprehensive Cancer Centre being developed and built as he too was dying from brain cancer. Chris died 15 years ago yesterday. I faced the biggest challenge of my life, aged 67, with a rare cancer in my gums, but I felt a sense of comfort and care, just walking into Chris O’Brien Lifehouse for the first time on 18 May 2017. Over time, I would know just how much my surgeon learned from “his teacher, Chris” in terms of complex head and neck cancer surgery and reconstruction is. And of course, my professor is training others. This post IS about teaching, right!
MY Professor Jonathan Clark AM whose small video here shows our relationship. It was friendly and close. Goodness me, that man knew more about my mouth than I ever did. And HOW clever (and modest he is).
Cate, his surgical nurse and assistant is right there too. I had the best of their care from May 2017 until my final visit in October 2022. They are never far from my mind.
FOREVER grateful
(even though I can get a bit sad about the limitations of eating with this mouth)
for LIFE moving forward and for taking a ‘rare of rare’ cancer out of my jaw and under the top lip and giving me a S M I L E that goes on forever. A highlight for me, back in 2018 was meeting Gail O’Brien to share my appreciation for Chris’ work and his initiative!
And that’s my post about changing my mind for all the right reasons.
And yes, to Debbie from Deb’s World, who reminded me in her comment:
“You are such a sensible person and the teacher in you comes out well, with your planning and testing things out beforehand”
Thanks everyone for being part of my world here!
Denyse.
Here I am joining with Min and friends for here Wednesday’s Words and Whimsy today.
However this week, and next Min is taking a break for wonderful reasons and two friends from blogging are managing the #WWWhimsy link up:
Deb
Sue
https://www.womenlivingwellafter50.com.au
I love that you gave it a go and was brave enough to decide that it wasn't for you. The great thing about you is that you know yourself so well - you know the things that are for you and the things that make you happy. I am confident you'll be doing a lot more of those things. Also very jealous that you got to see lovely Sanch - I wish I could have teleported myself and joined you :)
I think it's not so much about admitting your age as admitting your body. I noticed when i did the treetops thing with my youngest that it was so much harder than when I did it with my eldest. Everyone laughed at my funny story (smashed myself in the process) but I knew that it wasn't a joke. It wasn't just that time, I would progressivvely find it harder. That's an extreme example but it's all things. Things we've done with ease become that bit harder for one reason or another. Being aware of that helps - like you did, you tried it out in a mini version. Nice tribute at the end too. They all do good (and did) good work,.