06/09/2026
Being told I only have 18 months to live was a shock.
But what surprised me most was what I immediately started worrying about.
It wasn’t actually dying.
My first thought was… how will my family cope without me?
Will they be OK financially? What about the people who rely on me? What happens to the businesses? Have I put everything in place so that other people aren’t left trying to sort out the mess?
What about finishing my home refurbishment project ? 🏠👷♂️
There are still those little jobs I promised I’d do at my children’s properties.
What about this? What about that?
Suddenly, I found myself mentally making lists and planning everything I needed to do to quite literally “get my house in order.”
My family kept telling me, “None of that matters.”
And of course, compared with your health and being here with the people you love, perhaps it doesn’t.
But strangely, to me, it did.
The whole experience has been an enormous wake-up call.
We spend our lives planning for next week, next year and the years ahead, almost assuming we’re indestructible.
The whole experience has been an enormous wake-up call.
We spend our lives planning for next week, next year and the years ahead, almost assuming we’re indestructible.
Thankfully, my story doesn’t end there.
The good news is that some of the very best surgeons are going to operate on me, and hopefully save my life.
I know I’ve got a long and difficult recovery ahead of me.
And strangely, one of the things I’m going to struggle with most is not being able to be the busy, active person I’ve always been.
For once, I’m going to have to stop.
I’m going to have to rely on other people.
And anyone who knows me will know just how difficult that’s going to be!
But perhaps there’s another lesson for me in that too.
Life can change incredibly quickly.
So don’t take tomorrow for granted.
Look after the people you love, enjoy the time you have with them, and make sure the things that really matter are taken care of.
Because sometimes it takes something like this to remind us just how precious an ordinary day really is.