Ok, now it's my turn. My main hobby, if you want to call it a hobby, is my computer. And I should warn any of you who are just starting out with your website, if your computer wasn't your favourite hobby, it WILL become so before you know it! In the beginning, a few minutes a day will be sufficient to keep your pages up-to-date, but believe me, that doesn't last for too long!

You will find yourself spending more and more time on the computer as the weeks pass, and before you know it, you'll be just like me and spend as much time on the computer a day as you can possibly fit in! You'll go to bed thinking about what it is you want to do with your website next, or "did I remember to add all those links?" Believe me, IT HAPPENS!

On the days when I manage to "pry myself" away from the computer, I like to read, although I don't know how long it's been since I actually sat down and read a book.

I also knit, crochet, and do cross-stitch. I haven't had much time for any of that lately either. I used to run a bbs (bulletin board system) called The Ice Palace, and am editor of the monthly newsdisk for the computer club Graeme and I belong to.

I used to be an executive secretary, but after being diagnosed with Lupus (on top of also having Porphyria Cutanea Tarda) and two operations for hand surgery, I am no longer able to work.

You may also be interested in why I had hand surgery twice. Around 1976, I was diagnosed with Porphyria Cutanea Tarda and had lesions on my hands that would not heal. My hands were wrapped with bandages most of the time for about 15 years. In 1994, (the same year I was diagnosed with Lupus, my dermatologist decided to do a biopsy on my left hand. The tests came back positive - I had skin cancer! I was devastated! The oncologist I was sent to see told me odds were that I would lose my left hand! (I'm left handed!) BELIEVE ME - ALWAYS get a second opinion! I thank God and the wonderful doctor who managed to remove the very large tumour and save my hand that I DID get a second opinion.

Graeme and my mother got up with me at 4:00 a.m. the day of surgery and went with me to the hospital to offer me their support. They waited in the waiting room while the doctors performed the 8 1/2 hour surgery. During surgery, they had removed the tumour and the tendons from two of my fingers. They replaced the tendons with tendons from my foot. To fill the gap on my hand, they took a what is called a "flap" from my left arm below the elbow and placed it on my hand. A skin graft was placed on my arm, which came from my right leg. When I woke up, I was back in my room and Graeme and mum were beside my bed. The smile on their faces told me I still had my hand. I was determined to get back to normal (or as normal as I could be) as soon as possible, and only a month after surgery, I was back at the computer typing with one hand. After the splint came off, I managed to hold a pen and sign my name. I was so thrilled! My therapist and doctor told me I shouldn't be trying to write so soon, but I told them I just wanted to see if I could do it. They made me promise I wouldn't try it again though, till they gave me the okay.

Six months from the day of my surgery, I was typing about 80 words per minute, which isn't that far off my usual 100. (really!) Another six months later, I was back typing at full speed.

The next year, in 1995, I was again diagnosed with skin cancer, but this time, it was on my right hand. I insisted the same doctor perform the surgery, and went into the operation confident that I would be okay and I was. The second surgery wasn't as extensive as the first, the very large tumour was removed and a skin graft was applied. I was out of the hospital in two days. I healed very quickly this time and was "back at it" before you could blink an eye. :-)

I hope I haven't "grossed anyone out" with all this, and if I have bored you, I'm sorry, but it's a part of me. I am now a very firm believer in wearing sunscreen.