AUGUST 31

RUTH is in hospital for a battery of blood tests and a chest biopsy before chemotherapy starts. The biopsy picture reveals the ghastly reality of a cancer diagnosis. ‘So our dance-off

begins,’ she writes. ‘A whirlwind of appointments, scans, tests, procedures. All with the objective of getting from zero to chemo as quickly as possible. Biopsy through my chest today, felt bloody awful but needs must.’