Chat – 25 July 2019

P AM J O

OIC

W UCY

SPE

R SEY

O

A

B I NLE

IOL

RISND

ENA

MITLN

C E P

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

5

1

2

4

7

3

6

8

Half & half

Brick trick

Puzzle

19

£100

Youranswer:

Puzzle

18

£100

e

WithBarrieonour

weddingday– with

hopeforthefuture

P

ullingupmyjeans,

I struggledto fasten

thebuttonaroundmy

bulgingbelly.

Great,another

pairfortherubbish

pile, I thought.

It wasAugust2014,and

sinceI’dturned 48 inJanuary

2012,nothingfittedthesame.

AndI thoughtI knewwhy.

Likemostwomenmy

age,I wasgoingthrough

some‘changes’.

Hotflushesandmood

swings.Andworstof allwas

thebloating.

Atfirst,I thoughtI’dbeen

enjoyingtoomanymealsout

withmyboyfriendBarrie,

49,andsonAlfie,13.

Yetevenondayswhen

I onlyatesalads,my

tummyendeduplooking

likea bigswollenballoon.

‘DoI needto lose

weight?’I askedBarrie

oneevening,whenI was

feelingself-conscious.

‘Ofcoursenot,’hesmiled.

ButI knewhewasjust

beingpolite.

I triedeverything.

Avoidinggluten,cutting

outchocolateandalcohol.

I evenboughtslimming

pillsfromthechemistto

beatthebloat.

ButI jumpedfroma

size-12to a size-18in a year.

I worebaggyshift

dressesto myjobata bank,

livedinleggingsandloose

T-shirtsatweekends.

Then,inSeptember2014,

I noticeda naggingpainin

myrightside.

I oftenignoredit.

Assumedit waslinkedto

WORDS:theendometriosisI’dbeen

EMMA

ROSSITER.

PHOTOS:

ELLIS

AIDAN

GOWARD

I took

slimming

tablets when

I needed

life-saving

surgery...

AnneGoward,55,

CanveyIsland

MISSED SIGNS

T

o mark

the

hostingof

theCricket

World

Cup, 10

postboxesin

Englandand

Waleswere

temporarily

painted

whatcolour?

Crossout

a letterin

eachsquare

togeta grid

filledwith

words.The

uncrossed

outlettersin

theshaded

squaresgive

theprize

answer.

H

enryVIIIorderedtreesbearingwhich

fruittobegrowninKent?Tofind

out,solvethepuzzle...Entertheanswers

tothecluesinthegrid.Everywordis

ananagramofitsneighbours,plusor

minusa letter.Readtheshadedsquares

in numberorderfortheprizeanswer.

1 Unauthorised

hunter

2 Speakfrom

a pulpit

3 Vulgar,despicable

4 Sleevelesscoat

5 Typeof

mushroom

6 Heroictale

7 Amountcharged

8 Abridgement

9 Hotter(curry)

Wi

n! Cash!

TOENTERTurntopage 58 fordetails.

Your answer:

48

diagnosed with aged 25.

But by February 2015, the

pain hadn’t let up, so I began

researching my symptoms

online. Everything from IBS to

ovarian cancer came up.

Seeing the dreaded C-word,

I panicked.

‘Don’t be daft,’ I muttered.

No wonder they said

Googling symptoms was a

silly idea.

But three months later,

I had a funny turn at work.

I’d been at my desk,

writing an e-mail when I felt

tightening in my chest. It only

lasted a moment, but it was

enough to scare me into action.

So I made