This is the most personal part of SdB-Plus.
It was never intended to become medical advice.
It is simply my story.
A story involving leukemia, treatment, recovery, a stroke, rehabilitation, burnout, resilience and the complicated process of rebuilding life afterwards.
Resilience
One theme connects much of this journey: resilience.
I explored that relationship in Chapter 67 – Resilience, connecting my experience as a leukemia survivor with lessons learned professionally as a programme manager.
Then life decided to test that resilience again.
The Stroke
In June 2022, I suffered a stroke.
Suddenly, priorities changed completely.
Eventually I moved from acute hospital care into rehabilitation — the beginning of what I described as the “rebuild” phase.
Chapter 69 – The Rehab describes physiotherapy, ergotherapy, speech therapy and the human relationships that became such an important part of that recovery.
Returning to Life and Work
Recovery isn’t measured only by medical results.
It’s also about reclaiming the ordinary things that suddenly aren’t ordinary anymore.
One particularly important milestone came in Chapter 72 – First Business Trip Since My Stroke.
Walking to the office, travelling independently and simply being away for work again represented enormous steps back towards normality.
Life’s Twists and Turns
But recovery is rarely a straight line.
Chapter 73 – A Journey of Resilience, Navigating Life’s Twists and Turns reflects on the next phase: work, travel, family and learning how to live with the consequences of everything that had happened.
Then came another challenge.
Chapter 74 – A Journey Through Burnout, Reflections and Recovery forced another reassessment of priorities.
A New Chapter
Eventually the story changed direction again.
Chapter 75 – A Year of Transformation: From Recovery to a New Chapter Abroad brings together recovery, professional change and the decision to begin an entirely new life in Vietnam.
After everything that came before it, moving halfway around the world and starting another professional chapter represented something rather special.
Why Share This?
Because illness happens to people, not statistics.
Behind every diagnosis are fear, frustration, exhaustion, humour, progress, setbacks and sometimes extraordinary moments of happiness.
If these articles help somebody understand what another person experienced — or simply provide some hope that life can still contain unexpected new chapters — then sharing them has been worthwhile.
This is my personal experience and not medical advice. Medical questions should always be discussed with qualified healthcare professionals.
But this story is proof of something else:
Life can change very quickly.
Sometimes, surprisingly, it can change again for the better.
