Nothing seems to happen in halves anymore; two of the largest events of the year happened within five days of each other – my TED talk and the scan results of Greg’s treatment we are paying for. Both have left me a jittery wreck in the weeks leading up to them (hence not column for two weeks).

Firstly, the scan results.

I’m not sure I have ever been more scared.

Sat in the waiting room with Greg and his dad Mike, I didn’t know if I needed to vomit, have a panic attack, run or laugh hysterically.

The weight of the fundraising campaign and all the thousands of people who donated money lay on my shoulders as I wondered if this treatment would even work; what would happen if it didn’t?

I will cut to the chase without any technical jargon, as I was pleased our oncologist did too – the scans show that the tumours in Greg’s lungs have shrunk and others have cavities in them, showing the treatment is having an effect.

To say we are thrilled is an understatement.

This now means Greg can go ahead with the scheduled further three months of chemotherapy and we can begin to plan some lovely things to do in between visits to the hospital.

This was a great way to enter into the day of my TED talk.

Public speaking to a sold out event now felt like a holiday in comparison to the fear I had felt earlier in the week.

I had an enormous sense of well-being, that this was a moment to savour and enjoy rather than rush through nerves.

I drank in the atmosphere and the good will from the technicians running the event.

The other speakers were all so friendly and supportive and I felt many were like old friends immediately.

Just before I was about to go on stage, I suddenly had the thought ‘what if I forget everything I want to say?’.

I realised that it absolutely didn’t matter, that I would be fine regardless.

Greg reminded me before hand that after we had been given the news that he had stage IV cancer, I had said to him ‘let’s never worry about anything ever again because the very worst has already happened’.

This is so true, there is little really worth worrying about, especially when there is so much to enjoy. Even public speaking.

* Stacey Heale has put her career as a fashion lecturer on hold to focus on her two lively little girls and fiancé, Delays frontman Greg Gilbert, who was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in November 2016. She launched the viral campaign Give4Greg to raise funds for lifesaving treatment: gofundme.com/give4greg. You can read more at her blog beneaththeweather.com