The international break is upon us again and so we face another blank weekend without any league activity.
As I have occasionally written in the past, I don't post articles often so, with little to speak of regarding our club during this "sabbatical", forgive my indulgence if I post a personal note.
I haven't posted anything since before August because I was admitted to hospital in Huddersfield with jaundice. A full "box-set" of scans failed to definitively identify the cause other than it being a blockage in my bile duct. A stent was inserted in the duct to address the jaundice and it was then that I was diagnosed with cancer in the pancreatic head. Thankfully it was contained in one place and operable. After 5 weeks in hospital I was discharged to continue my recovery from the jaundice and wait for a date for my operation. In early October I was admitted to St James' Hospital in Leeds to undergo major surgery to remove the cancer and spent a month there before being released to continue the long road to recovery.
I will make a complete recovery and I count myself extremely lucky in the circumstances. Were it not for the jaundice, I would have known nothing about the cancer until it was too late. Being faced with your own mortality makes you think about many things and it's easy when you lie there in the dead of night in a hospital bed to find some pretty dark places to wander down.
At the end of it all, we are all human beings on our own particular journey, facing our own trials and tribulations. Sadly, in our interactions with each other, especially in the current climate, it seems that respect and tolerance are qualities that are not always evident. We are quick to judge and vent our spleen on those who would disagree with our views.
I have always tried to get on with people but haven't always succeeded because I fallen into that same trap everyone else does.
The purpose of my article is not to milk any sympathy for what I have been through, but rather to highlight the belief that I've been given a second chance at life at 61 and as a result I hope never to lose sight of what I have learned along the way.
For the first time in 4 months I can honestly look forward to following our beloved club without anything sinister hanging over me. Whatever the result or the shortcomings of the team, I hope to accept it with the knowledge that we're all human beings and fallible. We all want the same thing and we all set out with good intentions. Sometimes it doesn't work out the way we would like but there's always a next time.
On a final note, I would like to thank the surgeons, doctors and nurses at Huddersfield Infirmary and the cancer centre at St James' Hospital in Leeds for their skill, devotion, compassion, empathy, patience and first-class care. They have my profound gratitude, respect and admiration for all they have done for me. Thank God for the NHS - I will not hear a bad word against it.
Sorry for going on and I hope I haven't sounded too much like a preacher. That was never my intention.
Have a great weekend and as always -
MOT
A Personal Note
posted on 16/11/19
Elland White, am about your age too, you are right , we often moan about minor things in our daily life - what you went through makes these stupid things we all complain about so insignificant - I have so much respect for your attitude, you are the old shool like me, and I take off my hat for your comments, I know you will make the most of your life after what you have been through, and we should too, whatever happens to us. Leeds forever .....
posted on 16/11/19
My mother passed away last Friday and the Saturday after my partners father was rushed into hospital to have emergency surgery on his brain. Was a crazy few days. Then Monday the 3 shirt centenary box arrived and cheered me up no end.
following leeds I’ve felt the ups and downs and this club certainly feels like a family especially when at Elland road. There is no club like it
posted on 16/11/19
Sorry to hear that batty, hope all is as well as it can be.
posted on 17/11/19
What a wonderful post!
Yes life is so precious and we sometimes lose sight of what’s really important!
Thanks for bringing me back down to earth today.
Get well soon sunshine.
posted on 17/11/19
comment by BATTYWACK (U2254)
posted 18 hours, 48 minutes ago
My mother passed away last Friday and the Saturday after my partners father was rushed into hospital to have emergency surgery on his brain. Was a crazy few days. Then Monday the 3 shirt centenary box arrived and cheered me up no end.
following leeds I’ve felt the ups and downs and this club certainly feels like a family especially when at Elland road. There is no club like it
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Been there fella.....down the line makes a man out of you. Try think of the good times, my whole heart goes out to you and your families.
posted on 17/11/19
Elland - I wish you a very long happy and prosperous future.
Batty - been there a few times down the years and your right out club is the one constant in a sometimes very trying and perplexing world. ( when our club was under threat in recent times it really hurt as the consistent thread was at serious risk)
posted on 17/11/19
comment by Stoopo (U4707)
posted 11 hours, 49 minutes ago
What a wonderful post!
Yes life is so precious and we sometimes lose sight of what’s really important!
Thanks for bringing me back down to earth today.
Get well soon sunshine.
—————
This.
To all 👍
Marching on together
posted on 17/11/19
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 18/11/19
Really great post and shows just how fragile life can feel at times.
Around 15 months ago I found a lump behind my ear. Normally/historically i'd have just put it down to me getting uglier and would have ignored it and just enjoyed scratching and pulling the head off it from time to time. But, and to this day I don't know why, I decided to go in late for work on a Monday morning after seeing the doc.
Net result was she found other lumps and skin changes, which i'd noticed but ignored. Can't fault the GP or the cancer clinic in Bradford (St Lukes) I was in within days - which in itself was unnerving.
Loads of tests, loads of treatment and finally ending up in hospital to have lumps of my head removed (I think I look better now) and what could have been far worse has been sorted, for now. I'll always be at risk and I always have to be more aware now, especially out in the sun. But boy has it given me a different outlook on life.
Don't ignore stuff guys (and girls), don't be afraid to report something if it doesn't feel or look right.
posted on 19/11/19
Elland, the last few years I've had a lot of bad luck, my health apart from being treated for depression seems to be ok, but I know because off my wife how hard it can be!..
Glad you've been treated and hope you make a full recovery!..
All the best for the future mate!.