Friday 30th November

Friday 30th November

Great tennis this morning with the ladies......Thank you!

Lovely dog walk on the beach at lunchtime....
A lovely cup of tea with PDLH this afternoon before the netball dinner this evening....

Wearing 'something Christmas?' - just one of a number of funny outfits!

 Three meals plus bedtime make four sure blessings a day.

Mason Cooley

Thursday 29th November

Thursday 29th November

Papa’s birthday today so we were all treated to a lovely evening meal at Partners in St Clement, seems a bit harsh that even though it’s his birthday he picks up the tab!!

Popped into Macmillan this morning, they had a coffee morning but couldn’t stop, just went to collect a Christmas cake made by TF. She makes and sells them at Genuine Jersey fairs; I think the label she goes by is Jersey Cottage Treats, look out for them!

Enjoyed a Pilates class this morning before a quick lunch and off to work for 1pm. I don’t feel half as tired today thank goodness, and the side effects from the steroids seemed to have worn off. The ‘tingling’ fingers and toes feeling which comes and goes during the course of the day seems to have lessened as well, so all good.

Saw the new bursar at work today, not met him before, nice smile, nice firm handshake and he was wearing a Winnie the Pooh tie, think we’ll get on famously!! 

Apparently I need to ‘tone down’ the background of my blog page, far too bright for some people!

It was on my fifth birthday that Papa put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'Remember, my son, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm.'

Sam Levenson

Wednesday 28th November

Wednesday 28th November

An early start to the day, didn't sleep well but that's part and parcel of the steroids.(high colour to the cheeks today!)

Took Jessie out for an hour through the woods before 9am, then had two unexpected visitors, one with a dog and one with oysters!! Sadly I couldn't entertain them long as had appointment in town.( Enjoyed my  B 12 intake tonight !!)

Drove in with son no 2 with list of jobs including buying his birthday present, ( a new berghaus bag to take on holiday) . We ended up staying longer than intended, and as I had promised to meet up with son no 3 and treat him to lunch again, we were still in town at 1pm! By this time daughter came in too, not wanting to miss out on the action, so more shopping after lunch!

Needless to say I had had enough by 3pm.........

As both the eldest had walked Jess in the meadow by the time I got back, I used the opportunity to go to bed for an hour-I was wiped out. ( I hope you are all duly impressed, not with me being wiped out but how sensible I was!!)

Accompanied daughter to her swimming lesson at 5.30, after sorting out supper for the others, I decided not to go to badminton tonight, but stay in and do some on-line Christmas shopping!

My 'exciting' news....... well I think It's exciting (and so do the family) my lovely Aunt is coming over for Christmas! This means that I get extra help in the house (long list of never ending jobs!) and she'll entertain the children with card/board games including crib,and scrabble!! Don't think she's coming for a 'holiday'!! After 25 years of visiting Jersey she knows us better than that!!

  ”Remember that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination.” 

- Roy Goodman

Tuesday 27th November

Tuesday 27^th November

Chemo day!! Whoop whoop…..

 Before that and by far the best part of the day was a fun Zumba class this morning. 

I must apologise for consistently ‘making fun’ of my class mates (no malicious intent), having said that we actually laugh at each other, and at least I didn’t call someone a ‘Kermit’….. Although I did mention a ‘Miss Piggy’ afterwards!! All that said I do enjoy jumping around to loud music, it makes me feel ALIVE!

Not really time to do much except house jobs before going into hospital, as usual running a little late! We have a new Oncology Nurse LS- she is a gem, (truly they all are) and she has a GREAT sense of humour. She was also highly efficient, organised, and down to earth, I really liked her!

Nurse LS and me, (sporting my new haircut!)

My bloods seem to behaving themselves at the moment, which is good news. My haemoglobin has dropped to 10.9 (that might be why I feel a little more tired this week), but my white cells have gone up to 4.3, the highest they’ve been in ages! The neutrophils are 2.5, dropping but holding their own, and same with clotting platelets 136. 

Thus, in theory with my weeks break I should be able to keep my bone marrow working and give the bloods a chance to recover.

During the treatment I chatted to the nurse and we talked briefly about diet, she said vitamin B12 is very good, and then looked up what foods it could be found in…. fish (Oysters!) Beef, Lamb, Liver, cheese, amongst others- I do eat quite a lot of fish, and I like liver too!

I asked her to write down the drugs she gave me before the Carbo/platinum so I could get the correct spellings (and what they ‘do’) as some ‘followers’ maybe interested. 

I had Dexamethazone which is a steroid and an anti-sickness (side effects are ‘facial flushing’ and night sweats) . I also had Ondanstron, which again is an anti-sickness (side effects…..constipation!!)

I was also told NO Grapefruit, or grapefruit juice as it may affect the working of the chemo.

I made a very wise decision tonight(!) not to go the Netball tournament…I wanted to play, and really would have found it hard to just watch, but realised that a) hubby would have been cross and b) I wasn’t really up to it. I always come back feeling a bit flat and ‘low’ from the hospital (to be expected I know).

Oh, one more piece of good news my CA125 is still at 6…. (Under 35 is good) so very, very pleased.

Our daughter at the last minute was persuaded to enter the Young Farmers cooking competition at le Q school, and fortunately for her  I had most of the ingredients for 'Queen of Puddings' (individual portions), anyway she won first prize for desserts!! As she has just walked in the door with them still warm, hubby  needed to do a 'taste test' a la Greg Wallace!!

“Stepping onto a brand-new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation, which is not nurturing to the whole woman.”
― Maya Angelou

Monday 26th November

Monday 26^th November

I am sure there was hail this morning on Grouville beach, it was rubbish weather, the rainbow was lovely though!

Now this story is totally true, no fabrication or exaggeration- honestly…. I was shopping in town this morning with a friend FB (my age….OK a year younger), and was genuinely mistaken as her daughter!! It’s true!! Ok, so my back was to the ‘shop manager’, and it was blatantly obvious when I turned around that I was far from being a spring chicken, but it was hilarious. (Not quite so funny for my ‘mum’ though). I don’t think she will rush back to that establishment any time in the near future!

I visited my hairdresser this afternoon, she did an amazing job cutting off the wispy bits, and adding a ‘style’! (There were even ‘cuttings’ left on the floor!)

I also popped in to ‘cheer up’ my friend SC from Gorey, who is recuperating from an operation (for a face lift, they didn’t do a very good job…..) well, you get what you pay for….!!!!!

Arriving back so late it was getting dark I was pleased that hubby had taken Jess out in the woods for a run and videoed her having fun!

Thoroughly enjoyed my badminton doubles matches tonight, had some long rallies, and even won some of them!!

“Never let a bad day make you feel like you have a bad life.”

Unknown

Sunday 25th November

Sunday 25^th November

Why do the weekends fly by so quickly? Actually not just the weekends, the weeks go past pretty quickly too! 4 weeks today its Christmas….now there’s a thought…!

I tried to do a bit of gardening today, it’s looking a little neglected; though my four legged friend was enthusiastic she wasn’t exactly helpful, digging and pruning being her main strengths!

Managed a quick visit to my God son (HZ) who was 19 today…..up and half-dressed by 10.15am I was quite impressed! (him, not me!)

I did my ‘keep fit’ class with JR and JP, the usual mix of exercise and amusing comments (all highly professional of course!) I thought I’d wiz to tennis afterwards, and I did get to play two sets, although I do find battling against the wind very tiring (that’s my excuse for rubbish serving!)

Lunch and then another dog walk with hubby, this time at Les Platons, (fortunately no bad experiences this time!

The most important thing is to enjoy your life - to be happy - it's all that matters.

Audrey Hepburn

Saturday 24th November

Saturday 24^th November

Thought I’d show you a few pictures from last night, I attempted to set the camera to 'timer', (but kept getting delay wrong- with hilarious results! Thanks girls for great food and company, with much laughter!

Did my first dog walk down at Le Saie in the rain, stumbled among the rocks down on the beach in the seaweed , very pleasant…..

Hubby, daughter and I visited St Martins Public Hall for the Christmas Market, and it was buzzing- lots of people to chat to, vegetables/cakes and raffle tickets to buy. We managed to buy two gorgeous table lamps (brand new), which fit very nicely in the sitting room/snug.

After lunch hubby and I with son no 3 ventured out to Greve de Lecq woods with Jessie, (her first visit). Needless to say she loved it, tearing up and down the banks chasing out the odd pheasant!

It was very muddy (not that she minded) and despite being with two capable Jersey men, we still ‘got lost ‘and had to scramble about trying to locate the ‘right path’. As for the geography A level son, he thought he was on the cliff path to Gronez at one point!

However I was extremely grateful to him at the end of the walk, where Jess had a very near mishap and DL ‘saved’ her from a 10ft drop, by literally ‘catching’ her as she slid off a muddy bank on the edge of a small quarry. 

To explain further, she was high above us as we were walking along the path, and we could hear her belting through the undergrowth, but neither of us were aware of the quarry, we called her and she obediently came careering down, stopping just short of the drop, but at such an angle she couldn’t scramble back up, and was teetering on the edge.

The 'quarry'- after the event!

I have to say my heart was in my mouth as the men stood below and ‘caught’ her as she fell, our son getting covered in mud and leaves, but mostly a very relieved dog!!

“Here, Gentlemen, a dog teaches us a lesson in humanity.”

Napoleon Bonaparte, after he was saved by a Newfoundland from slipping on his ship and falling overboard. He couldn’t swim and the dog kept him above water until he was rescued.