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Mark Davies
Mark Davies

104 Followers

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Aug 7, 2022

A year on, ready for adventure

I’ve been given the precious gift of hope, and now I know what to do with it — I was chatting to the guide as we prepared to say farewell after three rain-sodden but ultimately glorious days kayaking, camping and hiking in a beautiful Norwegian fjord. “Stem cell, you said?”, he asked. I’d felt compelled to warn him at the outset of our trip that my immune system…

4 min read

4 min read


Jul 27, 2022

Starting my new life with a big challenge

A year ago I was leaving hospital with my walking stick after a stem cell transplant. Now I’m working again: and loving every minute — It’s been a while since I’ve written anything here so I thought an update was in order for those interested in the “journey” I’ve been on for the last couple of years. And it’s good news. I’m back. In fact I feel pretty much like I did before myeloma rudely…

Refugees

4 min read

Starting my new life with a big challenge
Starting my new life with a big challenge
Refugees

4 min read


Jun 18, 2022

The Kirk, The Killers and fighting to feel free again

Memories of a much-loved Teesside nightclub got me thinking this week I saw a thing on Twitter the other day which moved me. It was a clip of the band Orange Juice playing their wonderful song Rip It Up on one of the music shows of the early 1980s. Back then programmes like the Tube and the Oxford Road Show were one of the main sources of my near evangelical (and ongoing) pursuit of musical perfection. The other rich source of my fast stream tuition into pop and rock culture was my friend Steve, who played me all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff in his front room while his lovely mum served us tea and cake.

Orange Juice

4 min read

The Kirk, The Killers and fighting to feel free again
The Kirk, The Killers and fighting to feel free again
Orange Juice

4 min read


Jun 13, 2022

That way test cricket can make you feel

When I was young I revelled in the presence of cricketing greatness: and nothing has changed The annual pilgrimage to Headingley cricket ground was a part of my childhood which sticks very fondly in the mind. Mum would fill a wicker picnic basket with mountains of food and flasks of…

5 min read

That way test cricket can make you feel
That way test cricket can make you feel

5 min read


May 4, 2022

A little care goes a long way

Why making the most of remission is simpler than it seems — I’m writing this in the waiting area at the GP practice down the hill from our house. It’s my third appointment in two days — nothing serious, just a reality of my post-transplant world, where check-ups and consultations about side-effects have become just part of the flow of life. I can’t complain, either. The list of possible side-effects from the drugs I take every day folds out almost as big as an Ordnance Survey map, but I’ve so far avoided the vast majority. I get cramp in my legs at night quite often, for which the consultant told me…

Myeloma

4 min read

A little care goes a long way
A little care goes a long way
Myeloma

4 min read


May 4, 2022

Camsell still can’t be caught

Mitrovic is amazing — but it doesn’t make him a record breaker — George Camsell was one of those footballers you can only see in grainy black and white photographs or on colourised cigarette cards. In one shot he stares at the photographer looking what can only be described as really pissed off. He’d have every reason to be pretty fed up if…

Middlesbrough Fc

3 min read

Camsell still can’t be caught
Camsell still can’t be caught
Middlesbrough Fc

3 min read


Feb 18, 2022

Taking energy from the past to live in the present

I got chatting to a man outside the coffee shop the other morning. He was smoking outside the vape shop, his face creased and lined, smart jacket buttoned right up to the top. He was trying to remember songs by Cat Stevens. “Father and Son,” I piped up. He was…

Myeloma

3 min read

Myeloma

3 min read


Feb 13, 2022

A beautiful thing that happened today

It’s the final few minutes of an U16s football match in south-east London. The rain has started to sweep in on an already cold and windy day. You are standing at the side of the pitch, hands stuffed firmly in pockets. …

Cancer

4 min read

Cancer

4 min read


Oct 20, 2021

Stepping out of the shadows

I’ve been given some very good news The news was so good they gave me it twice. First the nurse sent an email confirming my blood was free from myeloma cells, followed by a smiley face. Then the consultant called me a few days later to underline the point that I am in what she called “very…

Myeloma

4 min read

Stepping out of the shadows
Stepping out of the shadows
Myeloma

4 min read


Sep 11, 2021

Taking a wide-angled view

There is something we often forget when watching on as life unfolds I was listening to the radio as the fourth cricket test match was playing out between England and India. Non-sports fans please bear with me – this is not just about sport. It is something of an obsession for English cricket fans to both exaggerate when things go wrong, and…

3 min read

3 min read

Mark Davies

Mark Davies

104 Followers

Fighting cancer. Writing about that, but other things too.

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