It has been a pretty sh1t year unfortunately. Throbbe Jr had a couple of seizures and is now being treated for epilepsy. It took us a while to get over the fear of him being out and about, so he spent most of the summer holidays at home at an age where he should be messing about all day with his friends. Mrs Throbbe was diagnosed with breast cancer in August, and has been off work for several months. Unfortunately it had spread, so as well as the original op she has had lymph nodes removed on the same side. Good news is that we caught it early, so no further surgery is considered necessary. She starts chemo in the new year, which is going to be hard on all of us. We cremate my last remaining grandparent tomorrow. Cancer got him in the end, although we had him several years longer than expected, and towards the end his quality of life was poor, so he is at least at rest now. Work has been OK, but I missed out on an expected promotion. In the context, it's not that important, and depending how she reacts to the chemo I may need to take an unpaid break to look after Mrs T. Unsurprisingly, it hasn't really helped my mental health. I crumbled after the second op, and ended up off sick for a week and a half, but got back into work. Still struggling, and it's currently all about gritting my teeth and getting through to Christmas for a bit of a break. Hard to see many highlights out of that, but if anything it has confirmed how great my kids are, as well as wider family and friends. I've had support when I've needed it. I've also been seeing a counsellor once a week all year, and while it's felt like damage limitation since the summer I did get some real benefits out of it earlier in the year, which in time should make me a generally happier person. Some great music/gigs this year. Let's not mention the football eh? | |