Audrey’s Blog on living well with disability and breast cancer

I've been thinking of some of the big questions that affect us of late for a key piece of work I'm involved with. So when I saw the UN global survey on the kind of world we would like I thought I would know the answers. Here it is so you can do it too. But if you are like me, it will be harder than you think to choose. Lets's   be honest I want it all. But I know we need to prioritise, even here when we have so much more than most. Do fill it in it will make you think... Demographic and climate   change in the developed world are some of issues that have been engaging me. Both in the world of work and in health and social care. And at some level too I'm living it. I'm part of the sandwich generation. In the UK I'm among the first age group of women who won't get their pensions until aged 66 but I also have an ageing, frail parent. I don't have grandchildren yet personally  ( although there is a certain Jack Russell that has been known

It's been a busy week, the sun is shining, the spare bedrooms are full, life is hectic so no blog this week. But I did watch this great TED talk I wanted to share with you. I have had such a good week, meeting some really wise and value based people. Listening to this talk I realise I am so fortunate to have had all the components of happiness this week. I have savoured the pleasures of life and work and had a sense of service of something larger...... I hope the week ahead offers that to you too. Do watch this and maybe plan your perfect day? http://www.ted.com/talks/martin_seligman_on_the_state_of_psychology.html

Since I left Breakthrough I have tended to blog less about breast cancer, recognising that some of my need to recover is to be less immersed in it. It ’ s also shaped by my desire to assert myself as not just being about breast cancer-that it doesn't define me. I know that at some levels this has helped me but of course it's still a big part of who I am now-good and ill. So when I heard that a friend ’ s second sister was diagnosed with breast cancer I recognised the impact on me was not insignificant. She is someone I have never met but she has joined our sisterhood, and I know that part of me grieves for everyone who joins. Part of me senses their pain and distress, however positive the implications are from the diagnosis. Part of me recognises the insistent cries of I'm fine in the face of evidence to the contrary. Part of me anticipates the ups and downs of the journey they have ahead and wishes it could be otherwise. It's estimated that there i

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary Today is the birthday of the NHS in Britain. I feel great pride when I think about the difference it has made to so many. It was a visionary decision in a time of great austerity. Times were truly tough for most. And ill health is a leveler. Fame and fortune does not save us from ill health-the recent sad death from breast cancer of Bernie Nolan reminds us of that. But to   be freed from the worry of the cost of treatment at the time of need was and is ground-breaking and unique.  Of course economic hardship can remain due to social factors like work and housing but its not because our treatment has bankrupted us. Or that we have had to choose between cost or survival, cost or long term pain and disability, cost or return to health, cost or a healthy baby. We are right to celebrate it.....and fight to retain it if we think that's at stake in some places. Sixty five years! Now there is no mention of it being pensioned off in Scotland,