The Bee Garden

I’ve planted wildflower seeds in a corner of the garden near the pond. First I strimmed and raked the rough ground. Then I laid a layer of topsoil: four barrowfuls dug out, ferried down and shovelled across the ground, strenuous work. After that I sowed the seeds and laid another layer of topsoil. Finally I watered the new garden with the hose. As I admired my handiwork, I imagined the many flowers that would be out in two months time and the bumblebees that would be buzzing between them. Then a thought floored me, would I still be here to see it next year?

Living under the ongoing threat of cancer is not easy. You try your best to live a normal life, but being in this situation is far from normal. I try to cope by staying in the here and now. Yet, living day by day is not at all normal. It’s normal to make plans for the weeks and months ahead. It’s normal to respond to invitations to join others in their plans. That is everyday social life. It’s all about participating in and making plans. Living in the here and now is somewhat oppressive and disabling. It sets you apart from most others.

Although I have been told that I am at high risk of recurrence, as far as I know I am currently free of cancer. Whilst difficult, that is a good category to be in. I have a scan in about a month, at which time two other categories become open: the cancer has returned and is treatable or it has returned and it is untreatable. Both of these are obviously bad places to be. And it is important not to waste the time you have now imagining that you are already in either of them. I know of someone who is in my situation who has not been able to cope with the constant threat. She has become convinced that the cancer has returned when the scans tell otherwise and is under the care of the mental health team.

I have begun to go and see a counsellor who works for Cancer Focus. She is very helpful. Indeed, she was the first person I spoke to about my problem when I got cancer the first time round. At our first session this week I told her about my medical situation and how difficult I was finding it to live with this threat. I also told her about the bee garden. After that we spoke about the challenges of living in the here and now. A recurrent theme was that many things in my present life were maybes. This was a very helpful insight.

I began to see that this provisionality was true for almost everything I was able to know at present. The experts couldn’t tell me whether the cancer would come back in months or in years. They were confident that it would come back but they couldn’t be sure. This helped to open the space for other maybes. Maybe I would be here to see the bee garden next year. Maybe, like my father, I would live for twenty five years after my cancer treatment. Maybe, maybe...