Surgery – Matt Bates

3rd October 2016

Progress – One Little Word That Sums Up My New Life At Home

Wow. What a day. What a few days and what a few weeks it’s been. I’m not sure if I’ve got the energy to finish this blog but it’s now over a week since I’ve been home and I’m desperate to write an update so let’s see how this goes. There’s certainly a hell of a lot to say.

And that’s because life couldn’t be much further away from ‘normal’ right now. Every single day brings a new challenge that neither I nor my family have faced before. But we’re getting by. We’re coping. And more than that, we’re making real progress each and every day.

Yes, it’s tough. But we start each day with a deep breath and a smile, and we end it by telling each other we love each other and that tomorrow will be even better than today. That we’ll make even more progress. We’ll get there, we’ll figure it all out.

And ultimately, we’ll make life count.

14th September 2016

My Moment Of True Happiness In A Most Surprising Place

Happiness. It’s that ultimate feeling we all strive for in life. To wake up in the morning and have no worries about the day ahead. To live in the biggest house in the street, drive the fastest car, or get that promotion at work you know all your colleagues have been fighting over.

For others it could be sacrificing success to start a family, or simply an unachievable light in the distance that seems so far away.

Whatever form it takes, happiness is like that utopia we all strive for. Yet for most of us, we don’t even know where to start – or what it looks like.

6th September 2016

Taking One Step At A Time – My Toughest Blog Yet

It’s exactly two months since my last blog – my longest dry spell since I set the whole thing up and shared it with the world. I do sometimes have stints when I simply can’t be bothered but this break has been different. Too much has happened and the last few weeks especially have been mad.

There’s been a birthday holiday to Barcelona that we had to cancel the night before, a week in Yorkshire that was nearly cancelled but thankfully wasn’t; but more importantly there have been too many stints in hospital, and an MRI scan that showed things have turned seriously for the worse.