AGE 70 plus ... A Sad Finale
I think I wrote at the beginning of this story, that one of the only absolute certainties in life is that one day we will die. We don't get a choice as to the way a natural death comes, or when it will take us. As regards me - I have now been given a bit of a glimpse into the answer to this question.
Just four months ago, and otherwise feeling completely fit and healthy, I went to see my local doctor with a persistent sore throat. I was referred on to a throat specialist, then for some scans, and only a short time later received a diagnosis of an aggressive, complex and rapidly developing cancer which cannot be cured.
I am currently in hospital, where I have been for over a month now. I have undergone a number of uncomfortable scans and procedures, and I am now close to the end of an intensive radiotherapy course, with further therapy likely to follow - though for this, I should be able to return to Skye and become a hospital out-patient. The hope is that all this will at least slow the growth of the disease that will eventually finish me off. Who knows when? But we are probably looking at months rather than years.
To say all this is a shock, is a massive understatement. I am amazed that I can go from feeling strong and well, to being a tottering cancer victim in such an incredibly short space of time. All the thoughts and plans Sue and I had for the next ten years or so of the expected continuation of our lives have gone out the window while we struggle to come to terms with the idea of me being gone, and my Sue having the task of closing down the cottage business and coping with her new life alone.
It wasn't meant to end like this - but we don't get to choose.
At least I made it to Three Score and Ten.
Richard Dorrell
April 2022.
Just four months ago, and otherwise feeling completely fit and healthy, I went to see my local doctor with a persistent sore throat. I was referred on to a throat specialist, then for some scans, and only a short time later received a diagnosis of an aggressive, complex and rapidly developing cancer which cannot be cured.
I am currently in hospital, where I have been for over a month now. I have undergone a number of uncomfortable scans and procedures, and I am now close to the end of an intensive radiotherapy course, with further therapy likely to follow - though for this, I should be able to return to Skye and become a hospital out-patient. The hope is that all this will at least slow the growth of the disease that will eventually finish me off. Who knows when? But we are probably looking at months rather than years.
To say all this is a shock, is a massive understatement. I am amazed that I can go from feeling strong and well, to being a tottering cancer victim in such an incredibly short space of time. All the thoughts and plans Sue and I had for the next ten years or so of the expected continuation of our lives have gone out the window while we struggle to come to terms with the idea of me being gone, and my Sue having the task of closing down the cottage business and coping with her new life alone.
It wasn't meant to end like this - but we don't get to choose.
At least I made it to Three Score and Ten.
Richard Dorrell
April 2022.