Snapshot 10 - Caught Off Guard
Caught off guard by an unforeseen setback.
An unforeseen setback.
This final Snapshot closes the series, sharing what happened after the cancer treatment ended.
In Snapshot 1, I shared how I felt energised and excited about turning seventy. One reason was a podcast I was working on with my husband, Andrew, titled Back to Basics: Rethinking Who We Are. It was to be a six-part series exploring the what, why, and how of shifting the Western mindset. I’d completed a podcast training course with 3CR and written part one. We’d bought the necessary equipment and even hired a cellist to compose the music. Production was set to begin just after my 70th birthday celebrations in May 2025. The podcast, however, was put on hold because in June 2025, I was diagnosed with bowel cancer. So, the next five months were taken up with surgery and chemotherapy.
The sixth and final round of chemotherapy was on Tuesday, October 14th, 2025. By then, the cumulative effect had left my body depleted and my mind and spirit in need of rest. After a month or so of physical and mental rest, my thoughts once again turned toward the podcast. But on the afternoon of Thursday, November 20th, I suffered a stroke.
The exact cause of the stroke wasn’t clear, but it seemed the chemo had led to multiple blood clots in both lungs. A clot then moved its way up to my brain, into the left temporal lobe. To make matters worse, there was also a significant blood haemorrhage. It was a double whammy. On Friday the 21st, Andrew was told I might not survive, but by Saturday the 22nd, I was more alert. Even though I had survived,
I couldn’t remember any words—not even my name—because the left temporal lobe plays a key role in language, speech, and memory. My left temporal lobe had been severely damaged. This stroke was an unforeseen blow.
I spent four weeks in the hospital, starting with a week in the Austin Intensive Monitoring Stroke Ward, followed by a week in the general stroke ward. After that, I moved to the Repatriation Hospital for two weeks. On December 17th, I returned home and received two weeks of support through the Better at Home program, which included speech, physical, and occupational therapies, along with nursing care. In the New Year, I continued therapies through Austin Community Health—speech therapy to help my brain, physical therapy for muscle strength, hydrotherapy for balance, and occupational therapy for re-learning everyday skills. I’m deeply grateful to all the professionals who supported me with such patience, clarity, compassion, and skill. Their approach was key to the progress I’ve made in both body and brain.
While I have made progress with my language, the stroke has left me with ongoing aphasia and dyslexia. Most people are familiar with dyslexia, but aphasia is not as widely recognised. According to Aphasia Victoria, aphasia is a “disorder of language” caused by “damage to the language networks of the brain." The term language refers to “understanding, talking, reading, and writing.” It is estimated that around 140,000 people in Australia live with aphasia. I am one of them. So, you may wonder how I was able to write Snapshot 10! It was accomplished with the help of my iPhone’s spell-checker, Grammarly, and an AI generator assisting me to craft sentences and paragraphs. Thank goodness for modern technology!
I’m grateful to have the tools that let me text family and friends on my iPhone, send emails, and write fluently about my experience. At the same time, I also take a both/and perspective to my current predicament—yes, I accept the challenges of aphasia and dyslexia. Yet, I also believe in pushing my brain’s limits in line with modern ideas about neuroplasticity and the brain’s ability to change itself. I owe this mindset to the incredible speech pathologists who have supported, encouraged, and challenged me with such compassion. I’m deeply grateful to them.
In addition to the new challenges I face, peripheral neuropathy has made its presence felt. This condition happens when peripheral nerves are damaged. In my case, those nerves were damaged by the chemotherapy. I felt the effects well after the treatment had concluded. The damaged peripheral nerves affected the fingers of both hands, as well as my knees, down to my feet and toes. The discomfort was constant, day and night. I had no feeling or strength in the top of my fingers, and walking was uncomfortable due to the impact on my lower legs and feet. My approach to working with it has been—keeping my hands, legs, and feet as warm as possible; gentle exercises for my hands and feet; gentle walking around the neighbourhood; warm pool exercises; a foot massager; full-body massages; and Reiki. Thankfully, the neuropathy is beginning to ease somewhat, and I’m hopeful that over time it will resolve completely.
It’s been almost a year since I found out I had bowel cancer. Through surgery, chemotherapy, a stroke, aphasia, dyslexia, and peripheral neuropathy, the one shining light is that I currently show no signs of cancer. Sometimes that amazing gift slips my mind amid the other challenges I face. Still, it truly is a gift. Even so, my life has changed dramatically. Along with ongoing language challenges, I’m currently unable to drive my car because the stroke damaged the upper right quadrant in both eyes, slightly reducing my sight. Even with cataract surgery, there’s a chance I may never drive again. Also, while my speech has greatly improved, the memory and thought process behind my work with Tree of Life Spiritual Practice Education have slipped through my mind. I can read my extensive body of work, but I can’t remember how I got there, and at this point, my brain can’t produce anything new in that context. Because of this, the podcast Andrew and I were working on has been shelved. There’s sadness in that, but it is what it is.
I do have one Tree of Life venture left. A few years ago, I wrote a short book for our eight grandchildren titled We Belong. It’s about discovering our place of belonging as unique individuals who are also part of a family tree, the human race, a vibrant Earth community, an astonishing planet Earth, and a vast, lively universe. I had also considered turning it into a YouTube book for children, and one of our older grandchildren even began creating the artwork. With the text already written, my dear brain can relax; I only need to practice reading the text out aloud. This might be my last hurrah with Tree of Life Spirituality, but time will tell!
The last year has been challenging in so many ways. And yet, I have not fasted this alone. I’m deeply thankful for the love and support from my wonderful family and friends. And special thanks to my husband, Andrew. We’ve shared an incredible life for almost 50 years. But this last year, he’s been my rock—caring for me, driving me to the myriad appointments, and pushing me to navigate this new terrain. Without him, I don’t know where I’d be. So, my life has changed, but I’m still here and excited to see how my next chapter will unfold.
My next dance of being and becoming is unfolding in its own particular way.
