In our family we have learned to live with a new and fairly uninvited guest. We try not to pay too much attention to him, and hope that this visitor, a tenacious and life-threatening disease, will ultimately leave us again without leaving behind any trace...

So far we have managed well, although it has obviously been a strain. I've been lucky that I did not need to suffer much pain, and right now I basically do not feel ill, I sleep and eat well. Our two children, Elias (12) and Nuria (7), do not seem to be too bothered by what happened, although their mother has taken on the habit of wearing a weird hat to cover her bald head!

In the summer of 2010 I was diagnosed as having ovarium cancer. I was hospitalized and had to take a heavy operation in July, followed by several months of chemotherapy (until mid-December). The therapy has certainly taken a toll on my condition, but not too severely, and I'm leading a fairly normal life now, except that we cannot make any plans far ahead.

The disease appears to be lying low, there is no activity at present, as the scans and blood tests show, but we know that it isn't gone yet, and that it may flare up again. There is now one further operation ahead (presumably mid-March), and then we just hope to be left in peace again for a longer period of time...  The nature of this illness is often chronical, so there may be further fights ahead. But life has not come to a standstill.

We try to keep our office work for CHIME going as much as we can, and we support our children in their own pursuits. Elias is about to finish his grammar school and currently faces a big decision: what level of middle school to chose. Looks like he is going to aim for the highest (gymnasium, including courses in Greek and Latin), but let's wait and see! He is keenly interested in science, though still fairly young for his age, and spending rather (too) much of his time playing computer games... He is even writing this year's school essay on his favourite game, 'Little Big Planet'. His teacher commented that he is a child of his time and might one day become 'professor in game-ology'. He appears to be a bit of a whizz-kid with computers, and he has a marvellous sense of humour and a friendly temperament. He started taking viola lessons four years ago, at the same time that Nuria took up the violin. Since Frank played violin in his teens I decided to try my luck at cello! (Practicing cello has been a wonderful distraction in the last half year!) During the Christmas holidays we managed for the first time to play some simple string quartet pieces with the entire family. To be honest, Michael Jackson's music is closer to Elias's heart, and he taught himself to dance like his idol. He used to be a voracious reader – he enthusiastically ate his way through the Harry Potter series and similar fantasy books – and he keeps that activity going, albeit at a more modest pace now.

Nuria is every bit as lively and good-humoured as her brother. She takes great pleasure in playing the violin, and is also very fond of reading. Last year (being the year in which she learned to read and write) she finished more than 100 books! (OK, some were thin, but not all!) Nuria is as chatty as Elias, has an opinion on everything, and likes to be friends with everyone, from the shoemaker around the corner to her playmates at school. She is a bit precocious and we are presently discussing the pros and cons of skipping a class (an entire year) at school. We think this might actually work out well for her, and she seems quite enthusiastic about the idea.

We still live in our lovely sixteenth century house near a quiet canal in the heart of Leiden, and feel much at home in this tranquil old Dutch town, with its many historical buildings and illustrious past. During the summer we much enjoy the tiny garden behind the house, and for walks and bicycle tours we have the meadowlands surrounding the town and the beach and dunes not too far off.

Frank is spending much of his spare time reading (mostly history) and listening to music. Last year he took on the habit of giving the children (no, the entire family I should say) regular history lessons. Once every week, he puts up his computer in the kitchen, and shows us photos and short film clips and tells lengthy stories, from Julius Caesar to Henry VIII, from biblical history to Darwin, from Reformation to contemporary American politics... Sounds like a heavy bite, but in reality these sessions turn out to be  mighty entertaining, and they're much appreciated by us all!