I am a 74, almost 75 year old person with Essential Thrombocythaemia, diagnosed in Sept/Oct this year. I have just gone onto hydroxycarbamide. 

Some years earlier I had uterine cancer, and had a radical hysterectomy and removal of all groin lymph nodes by keyhole surgery. I have now been cleared for about 4 years. I rather wish I had made contact with one of the cancer groups at the time, as I think it may have been helpful. I found and still find it difficult to talk about as I can't always cope with having to reassure those I tell!! However that is not an issue here, or on the Blood Cancer site.  

I trained as a nurse, then studied music and classical singing, singing prefessionally for  number of years, and teaching singing, which I still do, part time. I am also an artist, and graduated from The CSBA at The Chelsea Physic Garden in London in 2018. Waiting around for results is always a difficult thing, but for me it was not as difficult as it could have been. Waiting for results and treatment of uterine cancer took five months in total, and I spent my days, over the summer, doing botanical drawing and painting in a handmade sketchbook. I was amazed how totally absorbing it was. Again, waiting for bloodtest results and appointments this year I began a perpetual botanical journal, and again, was totally absorbed. It helped enormously. 

I am married, have two children, now, shockingly, in their 50s, and I have three grandchildren.