You are going to hear some words that will make you feel like the floor has fallen out from underneath you. Then you will have to wait and wait, and every time you hear a little bit more, you will feel more overwhelmed.
Some days you will want to stop, as the walls are caving in and you’ll feel suffocated by the fear. Your treatment plan will feel daunting, like you’ll never get to the other side.
Losing your hair will feel like the end of the world.
You will realise that the difficult stories you report on are not just for the news. The stories about other people? They happen to you too.
You’ll feel like the relationships that change and the people that don’t stick around will never stop hurting your heart. You will ask if you’ll ever have the energy again to feel normal. And you will wonder whether you will ever wake up in the morning without just feeling scared.
But you will keep going, things might look a little different and life might feel exhausting, but you will come out the outside.
You’ll notice the things you’ve always taken for granted. You will realise you need things that you’ve never needed before, and you will move through life a little bit differently.
You might learn to rest better, but you will also learn to grab every opportunity without hesitation.
You will reach higher, you will run faster and you will love harder.
You will realise that becoming the story happens to all of us in one way or another.
There will be a new chapter.
You’ll grow new hair.
You’ll be a new you.
And that’s OK.
Maxine Hughes
September 2026
