So it’s come to that time where I know I need to be looking for a new role in a new charity. I do really love the work mine does, but it’s no longer the right fit for me (take that as you see fit!) It’s not that easy though. When I first took in the job I felt a strong ‘imposter syndrome’ and felt like I was doing a job I wasn’t good enough for and more than that, I was petrified of relapsing and them feeling I’d wasted valuable charity resources by applying. 30 months on and I’m proud to acknowledge that I’m pretty good at what I do. I work really hard, come up with great ideas and have hit t ..read more

Well I thought I would welcome in 2024 by acknowledging that it is the last year of my forties. For some that is something they look to with the feeling of becoming middle-aged, something they hate or something that they don’t want to face into. For me, it is actually something to really celebrate! When I was diagnosed back in 2009, nearly fifteen years ago, our world was turned upside down. Everything that we read suggested that I’d be lucky to get 2-5 years, perhaps 3-7 if you took the more up-to-date figures. I wasn’t likely to reach my 40th birthday let alone my 50th birthday, didn’t know ..read more

It’s a bit late this year but love Nick that he has still done our newsletter despite really not ‘feeling it’. It’s definitely been a strange year, especially the end of it, and I can’t say I’ll be too sad when it comes to an end. But like so many others, the sadness of having lost a parent will still be there even once we roll into 2024. So, enjoy those that are still with you, and we wish you all the best for 2024. The Gascoyne Christmas Newsletter 2023 by Nick! Before we get into the irreverent and mildly sarcastic annual newsletter, I will take some lines to remember Mum, who passed away u ..read more

It’s been a while (I’m so rubbish at this blogging piece these days!) but part of the reason for that is that we’ve been a pretty crook house for the past 3 weeks. It started with treatment week at the beginning of April which as you all know, hits me a bit anyway in terms of lethargy and general flu like feelings. By the end of the week though I wasn’t feeling great at all and was in bed by 8pm on the Friday night. Nick hadn’t been great a couple of days before so I didn’t think much of the fact I was in bed for most of the weekend. He’d tested for covid and been negative. By the following We ..read more

I thought it might be time for a bit of an update – I only ever seem to write when things aren’t so positive – or I’m after fundraising donations . But actually neither is the case this time (well I could do the latter but I won’t!!). My paraprotein numbers continue to frustrate me, Nick and the consultants by going up and down so that we never quite know if a rise is a blip or something to start worrying about. They went up to 8.5 two months ago, but thankfully have dropped back to 6.5. I’ll find out later this week what this months look like – but to be honest we have to wait for two continu ..read more

Wax Melts for MyelomaUK ..read more

Firstly, I just wanted to say that things are a little better. Thank you to so many people who (even though it wasn’t asked for!), sent me a message to say that they were thinking of me. After my last post, I took some time to try to think a bit about what was going on in my head. I was really honest with my boss too and she was amazing at letting me have some space to just consider what I needed to do differently and what was making me feel so sad. So, as Christmas got closer, I was definitely in a much better place than before – I think that upping my antidepressants probably helped too! But ..read more

I’m sick of being sick. I’m sick of myeloma. I’m fed up with the pressure it puts on my life on an ongoing basis. I’m great 95% of the time, but this other 5% is absolutely horrible…and this is when I’m only on maintenance therapy. It’s miserable and it takes over everything….especially when lots of small things just tip the balance. I think in one of my more recent posts I said that my paraprotein numbers had gone up. And they did a bit. They’ve been in the ‘7’s’ since then so all should be good. I’m relatively stable so I shouldn’t be worrying. The number of times people that say that they m ..read more

So it’s time for Nick to shine once more Over to him…… The Gascoyne Christmas Newsletter 2022 Yet another year has passed at an incredible rate of knots and despite repeated attempts to try and dodge the task of writing the Christmas newsletter, I find myself again sitting at the keyboard under the watchful and judgemental gaze of both my frowning wife and my chisel faced daughter. Death, taxes, newsletter – think I have used that line before but after 14 instalments I am sure you can forgive me a little repetition. 2022 has been a year of a sort-of return to normal (whatever that means) and ..read more

It’s now just 9 days till I leave to do my London to Paris ride for Myeloma UK, 21 months after I first signed up. I’m really very proud of myself and for once in my life, I’m not ashamed to admit that. In that time, I’ve gone from being straight out of my stem cell transplant (nearly dead!) and a non-cyclist, to feeling like I’ve trained long enough and hard enough, that I hope I will not only complete the ride, but that I’ll also enjoy it as I go!! I’m really really happy that my niece, Flis, will also be riding with me. I think the whole experience will be even more special being able to sh ..read more