2nd December

There is much to tell and I have been woefully lax in not updating the site.

I have just been conversing with a brilliant chap called Bob Cooper who has written a very funny book called On The Nose. It's the ideal Christmas present for anyone so buy a copy at www.amazon.co.uk On The Nose by Bob Cooper.

I am in the process of updating my voiceover website at www.duncanwells.com and I have now started giving after dinner speeches and motivational talks. I am speaking at the Draeger (Ventilators) Sales Conference among other engagements and am looking at a tie up with Hollister (Stoma Products). I am writing for Tidings (The Colostomy Association magazine) and will probably do something for them at their Annual meeting.

I have a reasonably positive approach to what has happened to me and it seems that I might be able to encourage others to feel better about themselves or to come to terms with things. It's no good denying what has happened to me and as one has to live with it one might as well do something for others. So for funny articles on how to handle being an ostomate, read Tidings Magazine.

We just completed a 7 week course for a couple of shore based day skippers and had great fun. There will be courses for Day Skipper and Yachtmaster shore based running from January 2009 at our centre at BCUC in Chalfont St. Giles. A visit to www.westviewsailing.co.uk will reveal all.

The book is coming along. Just a Sharp Scratch is the provisional title. This is also the title of the motivational talks which are tailored to each event depending upon whether the organisers want a sailing angle or a medical angle. I am also now on the Women's Institute talks circuit and have bookings for the new year. The talks and the book are funny. It is a pretty heavy subject but judging from the audience reaction and the laughter, I get the balance right between serious fact and funny. There is a good deal of observational detail in the book about the interaction between patient and system. After all 9 months in hospital puts a major strain on both sides. Doctors have asked me to write the book in order to get the picture from the patient's point of view. I hope I am able to do this objectively. Certainly waiting until some time has passed and I have become more or less fully rehabilitated is a good idea. Too close to the event and I think I would have been too subjective.

Toodle Pip !

Duncan