My amazing friend Vix

Just before I arrived in Sydney I was invited to use the apartment of a girl called Vicki whilst she went back home to the UK to visit her mum for a couple of weeks. I had never met Vicki before. We had a mutual friend and she knew my big brother but she only knew me from my blog. Vicki lost her dad to cancer 12 years ago so could relate to my experiences.

When I arrived in Sydney Vicki came to meet at the airport and after dropping my stuff off at her apartment we headed down to the Opera Bar at the harbour side. Apart from already knowing that she was a very generous person it was this evening sitting by the beautiful Opera house that I realised what a truly amazing girl she is.

As the sun went down we asked someone to take some photos of us on my first night in Sydney. This photo was taken just as the sun was at its most beautiful. Unfortunately a big cruise ship came and blocked the view of the bridge as it reversed out of the harbour.

I turned to Vix and said “it’s a shame that huge boat is ruining our sunset”. What she said afterwards I will never forget.
Vicki replied “but just think how wonderful that sunset is for all those people on that ship. Some of them have probably been saving for years to do this trip and now they are being rewarded with the most beautiful sunset as they leave Sydney. For some this will be the highlight of their entire year”.

And with that I loved that big ship and that moment. Vicki taught me another way of seeing things and how wonderful it is to think of others enjoying themselves.

Vicki and I went onto to become wonderful friends. When she returned from the UK I stuck around for a bit longer and we had the best time. She even organised a surprise birthday party for me, cooked birthday cakes with my photos on them and best of all she made me laugh every single day.

Sadly, a few days ago Vicki was told she had breast cancer. She went for a standard smear test and the doctor asked if she’d had her breast examined lately and then conducted an examination and found a lump.
We’ve been talking about how how crazy it is that I came into her life literally just before this happened. We talked a lot about cancer when I was there. When she told me I just couldn’t believe it and I didn’t what to to say. I instantly realised how my friends felt when I first told them.
I then went away and thought about the things people said to me when I was ill and realised that It was my big brother that I remember the most. He never got upset, he never even entertained the idea that I might not survive and he didn’t give me any ‘poor you’ comments. He simply said “you will beat this” and when I worried about it coming back for a third time he replied with “then you’ll beat it again you moose”.
Ha! It wasn’t sympathy I needed it was strength and he gave me that every single day.

Vicki reads every post I write and every comment you wonderful people write as well. She often says how how lucky I am to have such wonderful people following my adventure. I know I speak for everyone at 101 Things To Do When You Survive when I say …you’ve got this nailed Vix and we are all right behind you. You are amazing and will demolish this horrible thing. The time you spent with me was just training in coping with something really annoying! You eventually got rid of me and the same will be true of cancer. The good thing is though that unlike me it won’t keep texting you afterwards!:)
Now hurry up and beat this thing so you can start your ‘102 Things’ blog and show me how to write properly (she’s always correcting my grammar!:).

Sending you all our love and healing wishes.
Xxxx

How to conduct a self examination

http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/testing/types/self_exam/bse_steps