With his first book, an autobiography, Tom Glassey takes the reader on an incredible journey through his life, growing up as a blind child in Castletown, Isle of Man. Tom lost his eyesight to Retinalblastoma, cancer of the retina, at two years of age. Fast-forward 52 years. Tom is diagnosed with Small-cell Lung Cancer. His wit, humor, candor, and love of Life again come through to his audience. Far from being a tale of woe, Tom delights his readers with his local characters, stories, flashbacks and dreams of the future.
Come along with Tom, his wife Barbara, their menagerie of pets and his other readers, on their journey. It will open your eyes as you gain vision from a man who has no eyesight; yet sees with the Wisdom of Heart and Soul. After listening to his fascinating tales one of them asked him had he lived here all his life? I was in Nobles Hospital yesterday; it was my first day of chemotherapy.
At some point during the day a nurse asked me if I had been a smoker all my life. No, the chemo will decide just exactly how much of my life I will live as a nonsmoker. I gave up the pipe 4 months ago. It matters not. I always thought there would be time to pack in smoking. I would pack in at the first sign of breathlessness or when the coughing started. Well of course I waited for those things and sure enough they came.
He has sold you his wares and you have signed on the dotted line. Over the years I have witnessed close friends who smoked suffer and die from lung cancer, yet even that did not influence me to pack in smoking. I always thought I would have time. There would be enough warnings and I would sort it. For many of us smokers the only time it really hits home is when we sit in front of the doctor and he reads the results of the CT scan back.
Better still, why wait for the ban? Whether you like it or not, as a smoker, you are bang on course for the nonsmoking zone. They did not wait for legislation in the graveyards to impose a smoking ban. It just kind of goes without saying. Yesterday was my first day of chemo. It was either the first day of the rest of my life, or near to the end of it.
