OPINION: With just over two weeks to go, fair to say I'm really hitting my sober straps. Drinking? Who needs it? Not this girl. Kombucha for me thanks, no qualms. I'll probably never touch a sip again to be hone-
Lies, all lies. I'm really white-knuckling my way through this. Everyone said that by now I'd have a clearer mind, be more focused, have more energy - but crawling out of bed on this fine Monday morning was as difficult as ever, even without a weekend full of gin. If I'm just as snoozy, what's the f**kin point in this?
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Even the weekend lost its lustre, with nothing to separate Saturday night from say, Tuesday. That's not necessarily a bad thing; we ate carbonara and watched Black Mirror, which in itself is delightful. But the one night where you can blow off steam? I want to do just that.
I've been needing a little inspiration so I turned to Clare O'Higgins, general manager of Look Good Feel Better, to be reminded exactly who I'm doing this for.
O'Higgins, who very generously thanked me for doing this (honestly, it's just my charity work please don't go on about it) said that programmes like Dry July were incremental to the success of their nationwide classes.
The tips and tricks offer cancer sufferers vital skills to help with their chemo, including choosing and styling wigs and filling in eyebrows after treatment.
"We've been able to offer classes to 97 percent of communities around the country, and we've been able to increase the men's programme," she revealed. "Today we have our first class in Nelson - our goal is to make sure it's not just in the main centres we're offering classes".
O'Higgins says she "feels humbled and grateful in this job".
"There are so many wonderful charities dealing with prevention and awareness of cancer. What we do is deal with today," she explained.
"People come through nervous and shy, they don't know what they're coming in to. They leave sharing numbers and email addresses..it's a non-medical day where prognosis is not talked about.
"We can't do it without grants like this to keep developing outreach programmes... If every New Zealander can give someone going through a treatment a good day we've done our job."
I left our chat feeling a touch emotional, and my resolve well and truly strengthened. There are so many brave people going through the roughest time of their lives - and I'm upset because I haven't had a Shiraz in a couple of weeks? Get over it Sez.
You can donate to any of the Dry July participants here, and learn more about Look Good Feel Better here.
Sarah Templeton is Newshub's lifestyle editor.
