MCL and Me

Today, the 30th May 2010, is the third anniversary of my diagnosis of Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL). So...Happy Birthday, Cancer. Of course technically my cancer is older than three years. It had clearly been going on for months and maybe years before I got the diagnosis but let's call that the gestation period and my cancer was given life on the 30th May 2007. That is actually quite fitting as, on the fallacious premise that ignorance is bliss, prior to my diagnosis, for all practical purposes I didn't have cancer, or rather it had no impact on my life. Aside from a painless lump on my jaw I had no symptoms, it hadn't made me ill. From the 30th May everything changed, from then on there was MCL and me. I've looked back over the entries I've made in this blog on the last two anniversaries. Two years ago I was in hospital undergoing my initial rounds of chemo. One year ago I was just starting to go back in to the office two days a week and trying to reduce the steroid...

Those of you who know me in person or follow my Twitter/Facebook feeds will probably be aware that I have recently taken delivery of an iPad. So it would hardly come as a surprise to them that I should write a blog about my experiences with it. Equally it is not a surprise that I have chosen to write this blog entry on said device and I'm doing that in what is probably the natural habitat for an iPad namely a trendy independent coffee shop. In this case it is The Urban Coffee Company in Birmingham. So what's the big deal about the iPad? Just a big iPod touch, surely. Or just a tablet PC, they've been around for ages. Well to the first point I'd say yes the iPod touch was a great product imagine how much better it would be with a 10inch screen with full crisp graphics. To the second point, well saying it is just a tablet PC is like saying an iMac is just a PC or more specifically just a desktop computer. Technically true but it misses so much of the point. Say what you ...

Well I finally got the printed copy of my novel Reunion ready. http://bit.ly/ReunionBlurb So if you know me and more importantly I know you email address then you might soon receive an email from me that looks like the following. ( Apologies in advance if you receive more than one copy I might have more than one email address for you. ) Don't forget you can also donate via my Just Giving Page, http://www.justgiving.com/SimonStanford . Subject: Give me your money! (Please) Hi, Well, when I say give "me" your money what I actually mean is give Cure Leukaemia your money. Here's the story (literally). Summary What? Donate money to the charity Cure Leukaemia to help me reach my target of £250. Why? It's a very worthy cause. I've benefited from the research and other projects the charity has funded as part of my treatment for Mantle Cell Lymphoma. I wrote a book in 30 days. ( No, really. I did.) How? Buy a copy of my book from this link http://bit.ly/ReunionBlurb a...

I'm on the train. Or rather as it appears compulsory to say: “I'M ON THE TRAIN.” This blog post is being written on the the 10:03 from Birmingham New Street to Edunburgh Waverley. I'm writing it on my trusty EEE PC that served me so well when I was in hospital for my transplant. I'm not sure when I will be actually uploading this post to the web as I don't think I'd get a very good signal with my 3G broadband modem, my iPhone is struggling at times to even get GPRS. I might try to upload it from the hotel. (Yep my Three 3g Modem works fine from the hotel.) The reason for being on the train to Edinburgh is to have a long weekend break with Gareth to celebrate his birthday, which is today, Thursday 13 th May. I've been to Edinburgh a few times but that was mostly for work many years ago when I was a field service engineer for a CAD company. I've only had one trip to Edinbugh for pleasure and that was for a friend's stag weekend. As you might im...