"Waiting For My Brain" Operation in China
& Pluto in Aquarius 2024!
This is the final piece on China, for now.
In my last Substack, I shared one glorious moment with my Chinese friends in a downtown Qingdao restaurant. We sang, we laughed, and we ate food of fortune. It was a time, a place, and a moment etched in memory. My last post
Now, as I spend my last week in China, my focus shifts to the documentary I am filming with Wang Ying. It’s a film about my brain operation in 2019, supported by doctors, nurses, my friend Gail, and anyone willing to hold the camera for me. Below is the story I wrote in 2020.
Once Upon a Time, I had a brain tumour
Hi everyone. I am launching my new documentary film production website SCATTERFLIX.
I am finally ready to finish the film and will offer it as thanks to the Qilu Hospital, and the Chinese municipal government, but first Wang Ying and I have to find the right people to hand the work over to.
I chose China for my operation because, frankly, I had no other choice—the UK could not accommodate me and, four years later, still has not other than meeting with one dusty grey suited man in London Guys Hospital who told me, “most of my patients die before forty, so you are lucky,” and curled his mouth back over his teeth, a bit like a bored donkey, and then laughed. I was appalled and reported him to PALS.
We pack up the girls in the summer’s heat,
and the rubber rings for later, snacks, apples, pears, water, and colouring books, and set off to the other side of town. It is hot—beyond hot—even on the subway, the heat sneaks through the air vents. We are heat-weary, and I, after four years, am filled with anticipation for the MRI I am about to have and see who I need to talk about screening our film in the hospital.
I love Chinese hospitals. It may sound strange, but I do—especially this one, as they saved my life. The smell of Chinese medicine, the tailored, upright girl at the reception who greets me—perfectly smiling, perfectly arranged, her uniform brilliant white, as if painted on her. Her rosy-red lips curve into a smile as I approach. I know what to do, and Wang Ying lets me take the lead. I pay for my registration—100 quai, (10n pounds,) still the same—and we head upstairs. The family trail behind, the girls playing with their rubber unicorns, waddling in their tight mermaid dresses like little ducks, to the neurological department—the Brain Centre.
My heart shakes a little as the memories flood in. The fear, the memory of that day... Early morning, my family, my dear friend Gail, and Yuan are all there, walking slowly up the corridor with me.
The sunlight touches my face, and I take it all in. One never knows—will I come back from this? I hold on to every moment: the slow morning banter, the nurses’ station, the kindness on the faces of the doctors and nurses. And then they wheel me away.
In the operating room, a jovial anaesthetist with gentle English tells me his son is studying in Toronto. I tell him I am Canadian too, and we start talking about Dr Norman Bethune. It is in that moment that I know everything is going to be alright—a wave of calm sweeps through my body.
Taken from the film - Le Temps des Vendangeurs
Now, four years later, as I walk into the department, I see a familiar face—Dr Li. He turns, and before I know it, he’s giving me the biggest hug. I tell him I have come to see Dr Wang to have an MRI as it’s impossible to see a doctor in the UK unless I pay a huge amount of money or wait endlessly. I’ve now been waiting for four years!
Within fifteen minutes, I have an appointment. (This level of efficiency is standard for every Chinese citizen, not just because I am a foreigner.) An hour later, with the MRI in hand, I find the entire team who treated me in 2019 waiting in Dr Wang’s room. After many warm greetings, I am told, “You have a perfectly healed brain! No change, no regrowth of your tumour.”
I cry.
“And you can come here every year to see us. We are your doctors.”
Yes, YOU are my doctors.
As we are leaving, a man runs up to Wang Ying from State TV. He has heard we have a film we want to show to the hospital. “I want to see it now. Is it possible?”
We find a room, where we are treated to a feast. The girls play doctor and nurse then run up and down the gleaming corridors. Meanwhile, the man, Tao Ling watches with fascination then tells us he would like to help colour correct the film and do the sound. He also explains that it needs Chinese subtitles. “Can you come back at the end of the year to present it, give interviews, and then take the film to Beijing?”
And there I go again, crying!
There is an expression that Leonard Cohen would say about Montreal, and now I say it for China. “You can leave China, but China never leaves you!”
My journey ends, and another one begins. Vivi does not want to leave China and her dearest friend, Doudao. They cry at the airport, then, tears are forgotten as some play things are found… Yet, months later Vivi still reclaims to come back here to the place of eternal playing, lovely food and swim, swim, swimming …
Me, well, I am going back just after Christmas to screen ‘Waiting for my Brain,’ at the Hospital, and then take it onto Beijing to the awards ceremony. We got the OK from the municipality, so, another adventure awaits me with my
brand new sparkling brain!
Pluto in Aquarius: YES - our Cosmic Call for Transformation
Pluto entered Aquarius on 19 November and will remain in Aquarius until at least March 8, 2043
Even if astrology isn’t your thing, just sit back, drink a nice cuppa tea, and take a moment to consider this:
The last time Pluto moved through Aquarius was from 1778 to 1798
The past always gives us a lens to reflect—a lovely, misty, lost-in-time lens. Going back, we see what we cannot see in the future; we can only guess at the future. So, yes, we do know what happened between 1778-1798
Revolutions
The American and French Revolutions reshaped the world with ideas of liberty, equality, and the end of monarchies. (Though today, we are far from that!)
Ideas
The Age of Enlightenment sparked groundbreaking thoughts on science, reason, and human rights, inspiring huge leaps forward for many societies.
Inventions
The hot air balloon took us skywards, the smallpox vaccine saved countless lives through innovation – read this Substack on Voltaire, Vaccines and Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution took hold. We moved from cottage industries to mills and factories and little Victorian children down the mines, shivering and shaking, coal dust infused until the mining act of 1842 prohibited children and women to go down the mines under a certain age, heralding some sort of humanity into the venomous Victorian lifestyle.
Pluto was discovered quite recently, on 18 February 1930, by astronomer Clyde Tombaugh - hence lovely Pluto Dog by Disney.
NASA Science says:
“Pluto was long considered our ninth planet, but the International Astronomical Union reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet in 2006. NASA's New Horizons was the first spacecraft to explore Pluto up close, flying by in 2015.”
Pluto is a slow-moving planet, taking 248 years to complete its orbit. As it shifts into a new sign, it also moves into a new house in our astrological chart. This brings gradual yet profound transformations. In Aquarius – the air sign tied to humanity, technology, innovation, and big ideas – Pluto’s energy will stir up radical changes, just as it did centuries ago.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime event, naturally, as none of us will be around when it kicks back into Aquarius. It is exciting, it is fascinating, and, looking at current events, it is turning the world upside down.
Since I began writing this post, France's Prime Minister has resigned, leaving the government in turmoil, and the withdrawal from Lebanon has unfolded. Rebel forces have launched their largest offensive against the Syrian government and Assad has gone. Ukraine and Russia may sign some sort of accord. Meanwhile, Trump is poised to return to power. (It’s worth noting that the effects of a transit often manifest a few months before the actual plunge into a new sign and house.
From today’s Guardian Newspaper
Publications from Elle to The Guardian
have highlighted Pluto’s return to Aquarius, heralding it as a time of societal transformation. Astrologers sense its energy and urgency. “Pluto’s return to Aquarius could usher in another wave of societal change, redefining power structures and centring equality and freedom.”
If you know your time of birth, visit Cafe Astrology or use tools like Astro-Charts for a free chart. Look for the house containing Aquarius in your chart – this is where Pluto will reside for the next two decades, triggering deep transformations in that area of your life.
Below is my natal chart—notice how Aquarius occupies my 5th house.
The 5th house in astrology represents creativity, romance, and the celebration of life in all its forms. It’s a vibrant and dynamic space, connected to themes such as artistry, children, legacy, risk-taking, and recreation. Since 2008, Pluto has been in Capricorn for all of us—a placement deeply tied to practicality, ambition, finances, and conservatism. For me, Pluto’s journey through my 4th house emphasised family and responsibilities—a placement that resonated profoundly. Now, as it shifts focus, my 5th house highlights family in a new way:
Family Fun! Yuppee!
Here is a great site to dive into if you want to read more about your Pluto (https://advanced-astrology.com/pluto-in-houses/)
So, this is it for this year! And what a year we have had! Where will it all take us?
Wish lists, plans, dreams, schemes, creativity, helping our communities, finding ways to stay the pace, not give in, step back from our machines, give time to the lonely, time for ourselves, look more, see more, feel more…Who knows which way our wind blows …
HAPPY, HAPPY END OF THIS YEAR AND INCREDIBLE CYCLE
Be well, be happy, and enjoy everything
See you all next year!
Thank you dear Amie, and to you, a wonderful end of this year too.
What a marvelous ending, mon amie! Be well.