Hi guys,
Sorry for worrying everyone - especially you, Jay. I've seen the messages you posted and I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post.
December and January were especially cold here, so I stayed tucked up in bed most of the time and, in the middle of January, went back to the hospital for new regarding my treatment. The news was good. In fact, it was brilliant. I'm in remission. :D
With any type of cancer there is a chance of relapse, so the doctors say it will be five years before I can completely relax, but it's looking good so far.
And now for the bad news. I was feeling a little sick after I returned from the hospital and three days later I was back. One of the nastier parts of the treatment is that it basically destroyed my immune system, and it turned out I managed to catch a bug that developed into full blown pneumonia. I think it's probably one of the most horrible experiences of my life. I felt like I was drowning and for a while it didn't look good, but I beat it and four weeks on I'm home again and I've been told I can go back to school in March.
More bad news there, unfortunately. Because I've missed so much there's a good chance I'm going to have to repeat this year. I've been given a chance to catch up and hopefully I'll be able to do it, but if I can't I'll have to start again. I can live with that. It's a small price to pay for being alive, just a little irritating if it happens.
In other news - Dylan is great and hopefully he'll be coming to stay this Easter and again over the summer. He wasn't able to be with me while I was in hospital, not the whole time, but when things turned bad he was there and didn't leave my side. I didn't really get to talk to him because he went home again when I started getting better, but we had a long talk last night - which is why I'm only posting now. We were up talking until he had to leave for school, poor guy, and I got to sleep all morning and for most of the afternoon.
I also had a story published online when I was in hospital! The story was published as part of an anthology at a site called The Authors Haunt. It's only 500 words long, but then that was the word limit for the anthology. I published the story under the name Nakamura Ryosuke. Nakamura is my mother's family name, and Ryosuke is the name my grandmother insists on calling me even though my name is actually Ryo because she thinks it sounds more distinguished. I originally came up with the name when I started writing (terrible, terrible stories) because I didn't want to use my real name as I wasn't out at the time, and submitted it under that name without really thinking about it. Dylan suggested I use my real name as there's no need for a pen name now, but I didn't get a chance to change it before I was taken into hospital, so Nakamura Ryosuke it is.
For anyone interested, you can read the story here - http://anthologies.authorshaunt.com/2011/cold/window.php. I have to say, I love the design the site's owner, Rob, came up with for the anthology, and so far the reviews I've received on the site have been pretty positive. The story is a bit dark and depressing, but I'm proud to see my name up there with some other fantastic authors.
And finally, my hair has started to grow back. It's a little patchy in places, but the doctors say it will thicken up and in about six months I should have my old hair back. In the meantime I'm keeping it hidden under a hat. I HATE short hair, but I guess it's better than no hair.
That's all for now. I'll post again in a few days once I've had a chance to relax an get used to being back home.
