Monday 30 August 2010

Last Day of Treatment

Its been a bit busy here ......... so lots to catch up on!

Friday

Where was all the festival traffic and commuter traffic early Friday morning? - easiest journey yet and couldn't believe the empty spaces in the hospital car park.


At 8.55 a.m was called early for my 9.00 am appointment. They obviously saved the best for last! I was out by 9.05 a.m much to Neil's surprise. We then had to wait 20 minutes  to see the consultant. This was the first time that I had met him as I had always seen his registrars before. He was not what I expected - younger and very enthusiastic. I think I expected him to be older and more serious. I am now referred back to the consultant at Heatherwood Hospital where I started out before Reading. I will  follow up with them next week so I don't fall into any cracks in between the hospitals. I like the consultants line " it doesn't seem like you have lost your appetite while you were receiving treatment"  - I wonder what he was inferring??? It looks like I will now be left alone for 6 weeks while  the radio and chemo carry on doing their thing. As I have mentioned at the start, the treatment is cumulative so now at the end of the 5 weeks it is at it's peak and should remain  working for 5 weeks. So 25 sessions of radio therapy, 50 trips to and from Reading & 280 tablets later (  not that I was counting! )  this part of the journey has come to an end. Every radiographer that has dealt with me has been all I could have wished for - for the time I was with them I was  focus and they made me feel like I was their only patient. I admire their professionalism and dedication in what sometimes must be a difficult environment dealing with patients suffering with various degrees of cancer. 5 weeks have passed so quickly.
Not much change in 5 weeks thankfully


At the start the thought of it was quite daunting but I think I have been very very fortunate not to have had any serious side effects and have managed to keep positive through this part of the journey, again I have to say thank you to all who wished me well and supported me along the way.

So all the hospital stuff done an dusted we went off to celebrate with  brunch at Bill's Cafe. We shared a bacon sandwich ( I had been salivating for a bacon sandwich - but the reality did not live up to expectations I have to say, I am happy not to have another :-) and poached eggs with smoked salmon & hollandaise sauce  was easily the best!
Reading was busy with the Festival crowd coming into town for loos and food - they were all very muddy and beginning to pong - can't think what the attraction is or what they will smell like by Monday!

Early evening met Gillian at Pennyhill Park Hotel (where she had been for a  luxurious Spa Day)  for drinks to celebrate the end of the Reading experience. Enjoyed a pomegranate Bellini - well pomegranate is a super food!  Listened to some cool duo on the double bass and saxophone - relaxing way to start the weekend. Then off to Loch Fyne in Ascot for early dinner - which was an unusual experience! I am not sure why we had greater expectations but the place was busy and noisy - thankfully we were sat in a quiet area in the conservatory and not in the milieu of the main restaurant which was packed , food was good at least.

The last 4
  And I took my last chemo tablets - no more pills and relying on the alarm on my mobile to remind me to take my evening dose.





Celebration coctails
Chilled Gillian



Felt very tired by the time I climbed into my bed at 10.30 - but an eventful day!


Saturday...............

Leisurely breakfast with Gillian chatting non stop as we do while Neil went for a run with Rosemary. He came back laden with blackberries they had picked. Experiments with the blender continues today - smoothies, celery soup and a delicious banana juice with coconut milk and cardamon. Along with homemade spelt bread not only am I  still at the peak of my treatment but also at the peak of healthy eating. G& I ventured to Yoga for Harmony studio in Windsor for a one and a half hour  relaxation class. This included practices to release tension in the body, complete systematic relaxation & relaxed breath training, It certainly lived up to it's name as we both staggered out of there very chilled. Gone are the days when on a Saturday afternoon we would be staggering out of a wine bar after a long lunch:-)

I found that this class was exactly what I needed today as feeling tired for most of the morning and after the class not only was my body feeling more relaxed but so was my mind. Hoped that the relaxed state lasted until bed time and it did!!

A lovely evening with G. Rosemary & Neil - dinner on our laps in front of the TV followed by SATC2 film - what a load of old tosh! Weak story line , fashion excesses, advert for Abu Dhabi when it was filmed in Marrakesh and total fantasy. But in a way strangely compelling!  For all the money these actresses have they have aged as we all do which is reassuring. I think that this was even more poignant for me as I have been watching the series on DVD while I have been resting.

I have developed a mouth ulcer - can't remember when I last had one! More annoying than sore!

Sunday................ a day of two halves.

G left after weekend break at Chez B&N with some small courgettes from the garden, container of homemade celery soup and some spelt bread ! Jeremy and David our friends from North Yorkshire called in for brunch as they were down south visiting family in Walton. It was lovely to see them before they went back north. David commented that the brunch was worthy of one of Alastair Sawday's recommended B&Bs - I was really chuffed! My home made blackberry and apple muffins were a great hit! I wish they lived closer so we could see more of them - but when we meet we pick up where we left off. Lynne came to join us for coffee afterwards and entertained us with her family history stories of the Foskett Family.

After they all left we have had the rest of the day to ourselves.............. reading the papers, watching football and my favourite hobby of course - resting!

Friday 27 August 2010

Thursday - Penultimate Day

Off to the penultimate visit to the salon on my own yesterday. There was a big traffic jam going into Reading - took me a while to think why,  then I remembered that it was the Reading Festival. So I queued with all the young dudes  but still  made my appointment in time! I was glad that I wasn't camping for the weekend after all the rain that we have had which continued most of yesterday it must be a mud bath in there.


My little Irish trainee radiographer has disappeared - she was always very funny and had bright scarlet hair. She is working in a different salon - I hope to get to see her before I leave.

I got chatting to a lady in the waiting room and she is the mum of the farmer who sells eggs at the Ascot Farmers Market that I went to the other Sunday - must remember to buy some eggs from him next time, he has 25k chickens free range and has to get them in the coop every night to avoid foxes, that must be fun.


I was so tired most of the day so me and my blankey were best friends for  the afternoon and evening. I had a headache - can't remember the last time I had a headache - think it must be due to the heavy weather rather than anything else and I have drunk loads of water.

Had a call from David our friend up North as I had not blogged on Tuesday & Wednesday and the Chief Librarians at Manchester Library were wondering what was happening. Sorry for the blip :-)


So 2 more doses of chemo and 1 more session at the salon left - these 5 weeks have passed very quickly!  Thank you again for all your messages of support and encouragement.

Thursday 26 August 2010

Mid Week Blog

Tuesday brought the awaited road trip to the hospital with Alison. Off we set in her polo with the blacked out windows feeling like we were on our way for a drugs deal with me acting as the live sat nav. We didn't stop talking so the journey there and back really passed quickly this carried on in the waiting room much to the delight of the man behind us who was craning his neck to breaking point  so he could listen in! We were those people on the bus whose conversation we all have tuned into. I felt so much more energised  after having had the benefit of Alison's company which lasted most of the day and into the evening.
Doesn't look like a dealer !!!

The soft diet approach seems to be helping with the digestion process - that Kitchen Aid is my new best friend - smoothies & soups - so  the discomfort has not got any worse.

Wednesday - road trip to the salon with my niece ( real one not adopted) Emma. Again the journey there and back passed very quickly as we didn't stop talking and it was lovely to catch up. I really appreciated the time we had together. Emma is a bit camera shy:-) so no pics allowed but she did buy me a bright red begonia which  I have named in her honour!

A  plant called Emma
Autumnal weather and rain made me take to my bed this afternoon as I was so cold and could not get warm..... it's August so I can't put the heating on yet! I am reading Solar by Ian McEwan - a novel which is about the correct response to climate change, and that we have no choice but to hope that technological ingenuity, enlightened self-interest and the market's allocation of resources can get us off the hook; personal virtue  such as recycling and saving energy counts for little. Strangely interesting.

I like to pick up interesting little sayings that provoke some thought and Lynne passed this one onto me yesterday which sort of sums up the last few days.........


LIFE  ISN`T ABOUT WAITING FOR THE STORM TO PASS                  
   
                              
    IT`S ABOUT LEARNING TO DANCE IN THE RAIN
 
So only 2 sessions left!!!

Tuesday 24 August 2010

Monday

Just a short entry today........

Only a 15 min delay today and I saw Lucy who was the first radiologist that I saw when I started 4 weeks ago. She has been working in other salons in the hospital. I mentioned my little problem and she arranged for the nurse to call me later that afternoon.  I am picking up a prescription for something that will help should it get any worse.

It was good to chat to the nurse and she agreed that I should be very grateful that there have been no other side effects . As the treatment is cumulative then this week and the next two weeks will be when the drugs and radiation are at their peak. She advised that I should rest when I am feeling tired - not that I need any encouragement!

As the sun came out this evening we went for a walk on Chobham Common with the aim of picking some blackberries. The ones we found were small  and not enough for a pie so the few we did pick I can include in my morning smoothie.

 A great night for City who beat Liverpool 3-0!

Looking forward to my road trip to Reading with Alison who is on hospital duty today!

Monday 23 August 2010

A small dose of reality

Friday marked the end of week 4.

The session on Friday afternoon was 30 minutes late even though it was all very quiet - they must have had a busy morning. So Lisa must be my lucky mascot Thursday's could be the only appointment that was on time!

The reality and seriousness of this disease hit me quite badly on Friday. A gentleman came in a wheelchair and sat next to me. He was in quite a bad way and in pain. He was awaiting some radiotherapy treatment before being admitted into the hospital. It hit home to me what this is all about and while I am keeping positive and being jovial about it,  witnessing this was a reality check of what cancer is capable of. I drove away from the hospital in quite a downbeat mood. Talking to Neil about it  that evening when he got home from work helped me  to work through this all  in my mind - but not without some tears :-)

Saturday brought a new day- and a easy afternoon of gardening,  and as it usually does  it lifted my spirits and mood. The garden was in a need of a tidy and weed and looked much tidier as a result. But it did take it out of me! No party Saturday night for me - bed at 9.00pm - for a  read of my book and a good sleep.

Loving the new blender I bought last week at JL - we have smoothies a go go!

Sunday - you remember the giant courgette or was it a marrow from the garden. Eventually got to use it. I made a delicious courgette soup for lunch which we shared with Lynne. I think the treatment is now fully working as not only is there the tiredness but since Friday I have had a permanent burning sensation in my lower tummy which is a bit like having a sore tummy when you have eaten the hottest curry or chilli! Frequency of visits to the loo is also increasing. I think that I will leave it at that as I will be accused of providing too much information!

So today is the start of week 5 and by Friday no more trips to the hospital for a few weeks ( I hope)!  Though I may ask them to turn  the dial down by a few degree's given the details above :-)

Friday 20 August 2010

Who do you think you are?

Some of you may have been wondering just who 'Daughter' is,  so  to put the record straight she is not my 'real' daughter,  it's more like I am her 'adopted'  Papa,  well in her mind anyhow :-)  and hence she sees all my friends and relations  as her extended family. Lisa is her real name and I worked with her when I was at BP  and one day when I was talking of planning a holiday to Cambodia/ Vietnam she said I did not have to go all that way to adopt a daughter ( not that I was planning to  but people do adopt babies from there) and I could adopt her! Did I have a choice  - No! She adopted me - so now I have a 30 something Chinese Hong Konganese daughter called Lisa. So at least I missed out on all the sleepness nights, nappy changing, school years, teenage tantrums and more importantly a very large food bill.


Lisa aka Daughter
Yes her favourite hobby is eating. When I say eating I mean it,  I have never seen anyone eat so much - how she stays so petite I do not know. If there was any justice she should be a size 20+ When I worked with her she would have a small breakfast of cereal before leaving for work and upon arriving at work she would then eat an egg & sausage sandwich. This was followed by crisps and sweeties , a hot lunch from the canteen & then cakes and biscuits in the afternoon. Then there was the whole evening of feasting that I was not party to!

Daughter is so sweet and she wanted to take her "Papa"to the hospital so yesterday was the day. She is now a lucky mascot as for all my appointments so far yesterdays was the only one that has been on time! We then adjourned to the Oracle and went to Jamie's Italy for lunch - where we had 2 courses.  Daughter's  real sister Jackie ( so do I now have 2 daughters?) joined us briefly. Jackie works in Reading. She suggested we skip dessert at Jamie's and go to Bills Cafe & Produce Store as the cakes and desserts were delicious and the pavlova was huge! You can guess what daughter ordered! Yes it was huge but she managed it!
Yummy


I recommend the carrot cake - very yum! If you are in Reading skip the JL cafe as Bills is better value and better cake! The menu looked good if you are looking for somewhere different to eat. They have a deli section as well - so bought some chilli jelly and a pack of rose teas -something new to try!

What a great day being in Daughter's world - listened to and gave advice about her recent break up, how we can organise an event to raise money for cancer charity, looked at career options, buying a flat and of course good food! Feeling rather full we said farewell at Reading Station and I went home full but happy and energised by daughter's enthusiasm!

So not much for dinner tonight.Papa2 ( as Lisa calls Neil - I am Papa 1 of course) loved the carrot cake we bought him from Bill's and I couldn't resist another bite!

Oh yes ......on the health front still feeling ok, was tired after all that eating and as last week the accumulation of the radiotherapy means that I am a little warm inside and had a scratchy feeling. The water sample test was all ok so no need for any antibiotics! So just one more treatment left this week and then only one more week to go.

Wednesday 18 August 2010

Tuesday 17 August 2010

Early start

Strange start to the day. Woke up at 4.00 am. Not a time of day that I am normally familiar with, but I was wide awake. Must have been all that resting that I did yesterday. Did you know it's dark at that time. I was a bit puzzled at first as none of the lights were working. There must be a power cut I thought - but  the street lights were on so that ruled that theory out. Then I remembered that on a previous occasion the dishwasher had tripped the circuit. So with the help of the light from my mobile phone I managed to reset the fuse - my old Nokia had a bright enough light from the screen for an emergency - who needs a flashy iphone with a torch!

Strangely tired again by 5.00am and so fell asleep again until 8.00. Today's plan was to keep awake - no slouching in bed and only allow rest on the sofa or in a chair  but no sleeping as waking that early is not a routine I want to get into. Have managed to accomplish this so we have to wait and see what happens!

Appointment was virtually on time today - and I was back home by 1.00 pm. The best news was that Jeremy Vine is on holiday so he is not there to annoy me this week. Traffic was not too bad either - so a good day treatment wise. I kept myself busy this afternoon running errands and am now at 9.00pm feeling very tired and trying to last out until 10.

With such a miserable start weather wise to the day it was such a plus to get some sun this afternoon and so I adjourned to the garden with a cup of green tea with raspberry - which was perfect for a sunny afternoon. Here are some of the flowers that were out to keep me company.

Beautiful lilies in the garden
Passion Flowers



So only 8 more treatments...

Monday 16 August 2010

Weekend


How can two days be so different.

Saturday - rain rain rain - so a lazy day reading and sleeping. Well that was me.

As it was the start of the Premiership Neil was  busy  finalising  team selections for the Fantasy Football teams he is managing and then watching the real thing. I felt much less tired than I had for a while.


I even managed a walk in between the rain showers.

Walk on Chobham Common



 
View of Sunningdale Church

We had a delicious dinner at Rosemary's in the evening and she cooked lamb for Neil as he has been on the non meat diet with me!  Yummy vegetables especially the beetroot roasted in honey. Even managed to stay up beyond 10pm.

Sunday  - busy busy busy!

Up early ........ Provisions purchased at the Farmers  market in Ascot

Farmers Market Ascot

Alison & Sarah. two friends I met at the Yoga Retreat in Goa last year, came for lunch and to see how I was doing. I cooked a vegetarian meal with recipes from the Cook Book from the Indian cookery course I attended when I was at the Retreat. Surprisingly few ingredients but very tasty and not too spicy! We didn't manage any yoga but we did get to spend some time in the garden, catch up on their romances, alternative health, interesting work lives and as usual lots of laughs! Sarah gave me a fab book on juicing - I will let you know how I get on once I have retrieved the juicer from the back of the cupboard. Thank you Alison for the beautiful orchid which I can look at and admire it when I have any temporary moments of gloom. Be assured from the picture below that they are 2 Very Tall Girls and the radiology is not shrinking ALL of  me to midget size..just the tumour ( I hope )


Sarah, Short fat guy & Alison
When they left had time for a quick rest before going next door to Allan & Sara's for an impromptu BBQ - so Neil had meat again so has his full compliment of  iron now! Sally who lives around the corner was there - she had just come back from a month in Mijas in Spain where Allan & Sara are also off to soon, Neil was very jealous as she had been there for Spain's last 4 games in the World Cup she said the atmosphere had been amazing. I have never been - but it sounds great so have to plan  a visit when this health blip is out of the way. The evening was decidedly autumnal - a bit chilly! I hope that Sally's penguin hot water bottle kept her warm!
Allan, Sally, Sara & Neil




Very tired by the end of the day - but in a good way :-)

And so to treatment today, I know this Blog was meant to be ALL about that but  I seem to be having much more fun talking about other things that the treatment details all seem a bit repetitive and mundane,  the excitement today was that I had a phone call early on to say my machine had broken down and they were threatening to cancel today's blast and add an extra one on Saturday,  well no way was I having my 2 days off at the weekend spoilt by overtime so I put my foot down (  no there was no BG  strop before anyone asks )  and they relented and I went in later on this afternoon, so am I all still in sync with treatments.

Friday 13 August 2010

Thursday & Friday

Where has this tiredness come from? It feels like I have been on a night out and got home in the early hours and have that jaded feeling and a fuzzy head. I sleep soundly from 10.00pm to 8.00 am with only a brief wake up for a comfort break to the loo. But have problems waking up which was a good excuse yesterday to be brought tea and toast in bed on a weekday morning!

Rosemary came with me to the tanning salon on Thursday but resisted the urge to have a session. It was good to have company and the time passed quickly - we even got a coffee from the WRVS cafe  - not that great and no frothy milk but what do you expect for 80p - errr chicory and that is what we got! Afterwards we had to have a proper coffee so we adjourned to John Lewis and treated ourselves to a large slice of carrot cake each. Does that count as one of our five a day?

We then had a little retail therapy - but nothing too strenuous:-) Came home very very tired but a refreshing cup or two of green tea and I was suitably energised.

Today I had an early shift at the salon. Although my fuzzy head got the time of the appointment wrong and turned up 30 mins too early so the wait this morning was entirely my own fault.  Saw the Doctor and told him about my tiredness and the burning sensation I had when I peed. He said that the tiredness was to be expected and to just to take plenty of rest. The peeing - he said he would take a sample to check for infection but thought that it was a side effect especially as it has now passed. He was happy that I was not experiencing any other side effects and said that this was a result of the chemo and radiotherapy being of the right dosage. I asked how he knew it was working and he laughed and reassured me that it was! I hope so as above all I could not face going through the daily visit programme  to no avail!

So I took the Doctor's orders literally this afternoon and had a nap for 2 hours and after a cup of tea and a hob nob (dunked of course) I feel more awake than I have done all week - so note to self must include daily afternoon nap in the programme!

A nice surprise arrived in the post today  - a book "Green Tea - 50 Hot Drinks. Cool Quenchers & Sweet & Savoury Treats" from Mel.
A big thank you to Mel and will be experimenting with the drinks recipes over the weekend as I feel I need to introduce something new into the green tea repetoire. I will let you know how they work out.

Friday evening - end of week 3.Some red wine and dark chocolate is called for I think. Have a great weekend whatever you are up to - but don't rely on the sun shining if you are in the UK - rain rain and rain forecast. Please Mr Sunshine come back!

Thursday 12 August 2010

Message from Technical support

Hello Readers

Getting emails that some of  Brian's avid readers are having a spot of bother when trying to post comments or reply to them.

So hopefully this guide will help.

If you are finding that comments are disappearing just check your Privacy settings.
For those of you using Internet Explorer to check  your security level ( bear in mind that if you're at work you may not be able to make any changes).

Go to 'Tools'  and click 'Internet options' and then Privacy

The slider should be set to Medium to allow certain 3rd party cookies




If it was set higher than this it may mean that when you went to post a
comment it was just lost.




For those using  FireFox,  similar check, click on 'Tools'  and then 'Options' and then select 'Privacy'

Check that the  Accept third party cookies box is ticked









OK so then to make a post click on the word 'Comment' at the bottom of one of his postings, that should bring up a display like this at the bottom of the page:

Type in your comments, and then if you are registered as a follower select your profile ( the google one is simple to set up) or if you're not set up then  just use Anonymous and sign the comment with your name or a pseudonym if the mood takes you.

Hope that's clear for you all ( especially  Dennis and Pippa ) though it might be a blessing to have mislaid one of Dennis's posts :-)

Toy Story 3 in 3D.

Another 1 hour wait yesterday,  but I am perfecting the art of  'waiting' so not much bother. The Staff are under pressure to get us all through and it's just a case that some patients take longer than others, I try to be cheery when it's my turn and am getting to know them all, maybe they will agree to a picture  on here.

Had a  burning sensation today when going  for a pee which I am assured is a side effect of the treatment and I have to drink lots of liquid..what? even more !!!

In the evening we had a family trip to the cinema, Toy Story 3 in 3D with my Great Niece and Nephew, Lynne and Neil.










The  3D glasses were not that flattering

Film was good, but not sure the 3D adds much,  felt a bit like watching the film thru a letterbox at times.  Ate at  Frankie and Benny's after,  they really look after the kids, special menu ( 3.95 ), free refills on drinks and free dessert and an activity/learning pack to keep them entertained, not being an expert on eating out with kids is that normal for a restaurant? Uncle Neil was able to refresh his Italian vocabulary but he still lost at cards to Luke,  definitely recommended for those of you with little un's.

Tuesday 10 August 2010

Nearly Half way there.....

Nearly half way through the radiation treatment now - I was thinking of asking them to stop half way through tomorrow's zapping so we could crack open a bottle of pop to celebrate ! but thought that this might not be too popular with my fellow patients waiting outside if they heard a party going on.

The faces in the waiting room are becoming  familiar now and it is a bit like being in a dining room of a B&B lot of polite head nodding and good mornings - think we have all experienced that in our time? Next week I might get to learn their names, or what they are in for? or where they have been for their holidays?

It was Rosemary's birthday today. So I met her for a birthday breakfast at Cafe Fego. We had delicious poached eggs on toast and coffee - a nice way to start the day! Rosemary was hoping for a picnic with her two children  - but as it has rained most of the day I expect that rained stopped play and an alternative was sought.

Learning about these antioxidants is proving interesting. Did you know that a square of dark chocolate (more than 70% cocoa) contains twice as many antioxidants and polyphenols as a glass of red wine or almost as many as a cup of green tea? I sort of knew they were better for you - but now I know that it is helping with things I will be settling down this evening with a glass of red wine and some dark chocolate :-) Just the ticket for a rainy grey evening - is it really August? Maybe I'll change the Blog name to Addicted to Chocolate..or do you think that title might already be in use?

Monday 9 August 2010

A matter of size?

I think I solved the problem of why my courgette plant was not producing many courgettes. Hidden at the bottom of the plant under a load of leaves and stalks was the biggest of all courgettes - I still can't believe I had not seen it before this morning and have been chuckling about it all day ( simple things etc)! But at what point does a courgette become a marrow or  does it just remain a HUGE courgette?


Problems with the machine at the roasting bay today - running 1 hour behind and so busy they ran out of seats, it was literally standing room only. The poor radiographers were looking a bit stressed and Monday morningish (is that a word?).  I always take a book  - it has to be an easy read as it has to contend with Radio 2 coming over the speakers and yes it was my dear friend Jeremy Vine again!

Afterwards I had lunch with Lynne in her garden as it turned out very sunny and hot this afternoon - and time passed so quickly as it was suddenly 3.30pm! I had been out since 10.30 am so no rest today.

Congratulations to Paul B who successfully completed the London Triathlon in 2 hours 54 mins yesterday and with his team mated have raised over £1000 for Macmillan Cancer Support. Great effort  well done Paul !

Sunday 8 August 2010

Lazy Sunday's

It was the Charity Shield game at Wembley today, the curtain raiser to the start  of the football season ( but Pippa will tell you that Norwich already kicked the season off on Fri night ) surely the World Cup only finished last weekend didn't it? Neil claims the WC fiasco has lessened his interest but I bet if City win their opening game he'll have his head stuck in the  Sport's Section of the Sunday Times pretty quick.

Gillian visited us for the weekend, so it's a been a full on health advice weekend - swapping food combining ideas and having a biology lesson from Rosemary so we understand what cancer is and how the chemo works in feeding the DNA a dummy so cells can't reproduce. ( She has promised a non techie explanation sometime soon )  It was good to see Gillian looking so well and we talked most of the weekend so Neil didn't have to listen to me wittering on!



Read interview with Joanna Lumley in today's paper,  she has been a Veggie for 40 years, never gets ill apparently and believes she'll never get cancer, one interesting thing she observed..when she was young hardly anyone had cancer, so why have we got so much now? could it be the stuff that is being put in our food? or could it be that we are living longer and have improved health care that is able to detect it earlier? I know that my change in diet is making me feel healthier.

Friday 6 August 2010

Double Whammy of blogging

Hello Folks !  2 days for the price of one today, sort of buy one get one free, only because the treatments have started blurring into one another so there hasn't been much to report unless you'd like a run down of time delays, for those who raised their hand they've not been too bad, though how you can have 30 Min's delay already at 9:25am takes some effort.

 So week 2 is now over which has passed really quickly. As it is the weekend I have 2 days off radiotherapy again and no trips to Reading.

Caught up with Pam (my sister) over lunch today and bored her with all our holiday photos:-) She was thinking of buying me a panama hat in case my hair fell out, but I had already beaten her to it as I had got one when I was in Dubrovnik  - here's me in said hat - very stylish!

Back on track with the recommended cups of green tea and drinking lots of water as advised - that means there are more trips to the loo  - but with all the anti-oxidants and water flushing away the toxins I can't have any toxins left! So treated myself to a  bottle of beer with my dinner this evening.

Thanks again for all your messages and comments ( especially those who have worked out how to post them ! )   they are very much appreciated.

Enjoy your weekends !

Wednesday 4 August 2010

Middle of the week

Where is this week going  - 3 treatments already!  All went well today. No traffic hold ups in getting to Reading. There was a parking space right outside the hospital so I was able to use my free parking permit for the first time this month. The appointment was right on time at 12.00.I was back in my car on my way home by 12.20pm. I like it this way.

Still feeling ok as well - no side effects in evidence. I am taking each day as it comes and each good day is a bonus. Still enjoying my food and enjoyed some delicious cakes this afternoon - I know I shouldn't have but as the saying goes "naughty but nice ".

Have slipped in the last few days in reaching my target of between 6 - 8 cups of green tea - need to get back on track tomorrow and stop all this high living !!!

Laughter is a great medicine

Tuesday  - a bit late

Apparently there are cows on Chobham Common - well so the sign said when I went for my walk this morning. They are in a special fenced off area - although I failed to spot any - they may have been wearing camfoflage. So a new game for my walk - find the cows:-)

What a wait today at Holby City - over 80 minutes - the machine had broken down earlier that morning and there were lots of new patients so they took longer. It was a bit frustrating just sitting there and I was finding it a  challenge and nearly threw a "bgreenley strop" -  but deep breathing and trying to finish my Dick Francis book got me through. But it was no thanks to Jeremy Vine on Radio 2 coming through the speakers in the waiting room - how annoying is he?!!

Felt tired this afternoon so had to have a little relax "dans le jardin" and have now finished said Dick Francis book - hurrah!

Daughter and Claire came to dinner this evening. A quick trip into Claire Palmer's world is always a treat - worried that some of her online frock companies will be a having a bad quarter, as she has not bought a new one for over a month -I thought we were coming out of recession:-)

Daughter was back on form  & smiling - considering the recent turmoils she has been through. She always guarantees to make me chuckle. Laughter is such a great medicine - so much so at 9.45p.m. I suddenly realised I had not taken my after dinner pills - had substituted cheesecake and chocolates instead! But it wasn't too late to take them fortunately! Need to set an alarm on my phone today to remind me to take them.


Here we are before dinner...........

Claire, Neil, me & Daughter

Monday 2 August 2010

Week 2 Day 1


Great to have the weekend away from treatment, travelling and waiting. Had a good time catching up with with Tracy and Hamish before they go on their Summer Hols with the Girls. Rosemary returned from her Far East Adventures with a lovely gift to add to my Green Tea collection with a name of Yu Qian Long Jing ( perhaps Daughter can translate?   that's a test to see if she  really does speak Chinese ! ) it's so Posh that it's price was set by the  date the leaves were picked. Sunday lunch with Lynne was lovely with a different Dessert that was yummy care of  Cousin Margaret's recipe.

So Monday and the start of week 2,  I've not been running recently but have been walking everyday, this morning there was a chap in front of me,  attired in running gear jogging pants trainers etc. but not moving very fast and as I passed him I got a face full of cigar smoke !  at 8:30 in the morning !  Do you think he was under orders from the doc/wife to take more exercise..and give up smoking??

Then off to Holby City for my 11 o'clock,  a wait of 45 mins today meant I could finish my letter to Susie in Oz and start one to Alison so made good use of time. Treatment itself was straight forward,  afterwards I spoke to Nurse  Fiona to discuss progress, told her I have been eating for 2 which she said was very unusual as people usually lose  their appetite during treatment but not to worry, she was encouraged that I was feeling well  but did remind me  that my treatment is cumulative so enjoy it while it lasts :-(

Beetroot update -  all roasted and peeled ( not too messy ) very tasty, might even order more.


We should have been in France for this week with C&P this is a pic of the pool I should have been cooling off in,  but the upside of not making it there is that I am not greeted poolside by Philip in his Olympic Swimming Gear.



 Just be thankful I have not included the  White  Speedo's  pic as well !









Off to watch Sherlock on the BBC now.