I was recently the grateful and overwhelmed recipient of an act of kindness.

While I was away recently some of my friends surprised me by overhauling my back yard. I had left it as irrigation needed fixing beds needed topping up, I hadn't been well early in the year, and lots of other things kept getting in the way.

This all started with being called back for additional tests after my regular mammogram, as there was something on the scan that shouldn't be there, and was new since the last one. After a full day of additional tests and subsequent pathology it was found to be a small breast cancer. Then while I went on a long planned holiday, my friends conspired together and went to work.

Except for the routine mammogram the outcome would have been much different, so please all make sure you keep up with regular health checks. I have now had surgery to remove it, and have a short course of radiation to come, but doctors are all very positive everything will be fine so I have been lucky because it was caught early.