10/15/10

Tomoko goes to Ireland


Singing Around the Table's fiddle player Tomoko is off to Ireland tomorrow, a dream come true for her as she has been planning the trip for several years. Now it is all the more poignant a trip as Tomoko has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. Tomoko is 26 and her doctors haven't seen such a young case of breast cancer before. As she has been caught early they are hopeful for her. If you can read Japanese (or use on-line translators such as Babelfish) you can follow her trip to Ireland, her music and her breast cancer story on her blog here. She wants to write about it to encourage other women to be open and aware, and get checked regularly, especially as soon as they, or their partner, notice anything unusual in a breast. The blog shows how she carries on with her teaching and performing schedule alongside her hospital visits, and her thoughts as she goes. She has three tumors and will have an operation in Kyoto when she gets back from Ireland. So, here's wishing her a really wonderful trip with plenty of great music, new friends, and lots of love from us all in Kyoto on her journey.