It is hard for me to be believe that it is a year ago when I wrote about life being hard. Little did I know that the pandemic would make life so march harder for all of us.

From a personal perspective I have been incredibly fortunate and now 12 months on I am in a far better place than I could have ever hoped for having successfully survived major surgery, the family is now speaking to each other and I have a new lockdown grandson.

My surgery was to remove a brain tumour. I was in hospital for 11 nights with no visitors and was kept in a week longer than planned because I was unable walk.  Falling was one of my symptoms as my balance had really deteriorated leading up to surgery.  I left hospital in a wheelchair but with a lot of rehabilitation and determination after 3 months I managed to complete a 10k charity walk albeit hanging on to my wife.

For me it was a ‘balance’ of giving my body the time to heal but also setting some small goals to motivate and focus on to aid my recovery. In November I completed the Brainstrust 30 miles in 30 days challenge on my indoor rower. (Unfortunately, it messed up my arm and I’m still suffering!)

Despite my small successes I have also learned to accept some setbacks along the way.  I am a passionate cyclist but because of my balance issues I had to stop cycling in 2018. I was determined to get back on my bike before Xmas but came to the realisation that I wasn’t yet ready. I still don’t think I’m ready but haven’t given up and will try again when I feel up to it.

Life is a constant balance and this is now something that recovering my balance has made me even more aware of. I’m not the person who can sit still for too long and setting challenges has definitely aided my recovery but this has to be balanced by listening to my body and acceptance of my limitations, and I’ll get back on my bike and try again in the warmer weather!

Warren18

A Moodscope member.