Andy

I know that i havent been updating this thing like i should be, i suppose that will change when i either stop having so much fun, or when lucy leaves, cos then i wont have anyone constant to talk to so i'll have to make internet fiends again... sigh.

and yes the last time i blogged i was entering china and should continue the story then but i wanted to pay hommage to a dear friend of mine who left this earth quite suddenly the other day. his name is Andy, he was diagnosed in Feb with terminal brain stem cancer. unsurprisingly he took it quite wll publically, who knows how he really felt. he was given 9 months to live, at 26 this must have been extremly hard to handle. yet andy took it with grace and even went so far as to comfort those upset for him on many occaison. since the cancer was in a part of his brain that has little vascular action, chemo wasnt an option. it was also imoperable. he underwent a serious bout of radiation which slowed downt the tumor growth but would never be able to stop it. brain stem cancer affects your speech, sight, balance and as time goes on most of your control over the smaller bodily functions you and i take for granted - ie breathing. after radiation the doctors were happy with the result and thought he had been given more time. they were wrong.

the last time i saw Andy was at Henley Rowing Regatta. the weather was beautiful, the pimms was plentiful, and he was full of the banter not associated with a sick person, but his glasses and cane gave him away. i loved that he was as comfortable chatting about the cancer seriously as he was taking the piss out of his crippled appearance.

Andy bumped his head not too long ago and became concussed, this along with the growth of the cancer put him in hospital. he died shortly afterwards and will be forever missed. i realise you never speak ill of the dead, regardless of how they lived - but andy was one of the better ones and deserves all the praise one can muster. i raise my glass to his memory and feel lucky to have met him. R.I.P