ABOUT ME

Hello, and thank you for stopping by. I would love it if you stayed longer than a moment and added your voice to mine.

I'm 52 years old (going on 32) and live in a charming little country village on the border of Kent and Surrey with my wonderful husband, Bayan. In the past few weeks, I have added so many adjectives to his title: rockstar, my rock, my hero, and the absolute ultimate human. To be fair, they were always in my descriptive analysis of him, but my appreciation and deep desire to live this life with him have taken on a whole new perspective.

We share our home with our lively Boxer Dog, Brodi, who believes he is actually in charge, and secretly, we may assume that too.

We LOVE our life in the "country," enjoying the outdoors, country walks, local pubs, and beautiful friends. Yet, I can hop on a train and be in the heart of London within 30 minutes, which genuinely fills my cup (and my shopping bags).

We have a blended family of four beautiful, kind, and compassionate children, their incredible partners, and a delightful assortment of other children we have gathered along the way who have become part of our family.

I love to laugh—I am known for an unusual laugh. I love to laugh loudly.

On April 18, 2024, my life took an unexpected turn when I was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. After weeks of consultations with specialists, doctors, gynaecologists, oncologists, and other experts whose names and titles are almost as long as their appointment wait times, I received a final diagnosis of Stage 4 Ovarian Cancer. My specific type of Cancer is Aggressive Serous. Overnight, our world has changed, and the easy, carefree life that we took for granted has been replaced by hospitals, doctors, blood tests, scans, draining, prodding, pushing, and pricking.

I'm a private person by nature, but I cannot accept that this has "just" happened to me without a reason. I believe deeply that I must use my voice.

For me, this blog is a way to create awareness and talk about ovaries, fallopian tubes, Ovarian Cancer, and women's health. It's a platform to campaign for earlier testing and detection, raise money for research, fund new treatments, and ensure that more women are informed.

Ovarian Cancer is often referred to as the silent killer because it's typically discovered at a very late stage. My goal is to get more people talking about it, encourage more women to get tested, and foster greater awareness that can change outcomes through early detection.

I'm so excited to share this journey with you, and I promise to keep it as lively and light-hearted as possible.

Valkyrie Victory — a reference to the Norse mythological figure who decides who lives or dies in battle, signifying triumph and bravery.

I am brave. I choose to triumph, and most importantly, I choose to live.