Monday....8th. September

As the days tick by, Jill gets "better" and things progress, I'm less and less in touch with the various goings on at Seaford....this morning, for example, I was "off to town" quite early...and consequently wasn't involved in either the dog walk or the trip to hospital....or the supermarket visit for that matter. Uncle Tim sorted the dog out....well, he went off with the instructions, and, some time later, apparently found himself at the wrong end of a long beach with no obvious way off.....he back peddled and returned by the outbound route....goodness knows what the dog made of it....but after a few weeks of being exercised by various different people she's probably used to "strange" walks. Just as well she knows her way around the Le Saie/La Coupe area like the back of her hand (or paw in her case)...indeed, last week she led SC back to the farm up through the woods....S had to admit that it was probably 40+ years since she'd been on that particular path....anyway, back to medical talk...

Jill's visit to the General went fairly well I think... they decided not to put on any more Fentenal patches...."just see how you go"....and they gave her four patches to put on as and when she needs them. As I type the boys are arguing about whether they could "borrow" a couple of patches for a few hours....what with the patches and the liquid morphine they certainly could "cheer themselves up"for a couple of hours.....but at least Jill has the drugs here if she needs them. With a lot of the different painkillers wearing off now Jill is finding it a little more uncomfortable....but being a big toughie she's trying really hard not to resort to the pills, patches or liquid....much to our disgust, because we think she should keep herself pain free as much as possible.

The good (and bad) news from the hospital today is that they are so impressed with Jill's progress that they are talking about starting chemo next week. We all knew it was coming, but when you eventually are told you can have the chemo it's a bit of a blow......just like having the operation delayed last month, you're pleased not to have to do it, and then reality kicks in and you realise that you're just delaying the inevitable. We'll just get on and tackle it head on....the sooner we start the sooner we finish...and the sooner we can get on with everything else.

The "tummy" news is still all good....very happy is the word...but the fact that there's been no relief of the pressure for a day or so means that there might be some additional discomfort... but, as I said yesterday, they are pleased for us to go in at any time, and they can aspirate rather than have the drain put back in again.

Jill's BIG brother Pete, and his wife Donnas, arrived late last night...and when I say late I mean late. They got out of the airport arrivals at just after 23:40....I guess the only reason the plane arrived at all was that they needed it for the red eye this morning.  Anyway, Jill now has both brothers here.... so she can annoy them both at the same time. There was fresh lobster and mackerel fillets for lunch and then a rather delicious pasta bake for supper....accompanied by some super fresh roasted beetroot (which was just perfect apparently....well, you don't expect me to like beetroot do you?). There was quite a lot of discussion about the value of lobster, and how much Peroni costs.....and then how many lobsters would you swop for a small case of Peroni....the outcome of the discussion was that a "standard" one and a half pound lobster was probably equivalent to a medium size case of beer...we'll watch the exchange rate with interest.

Finally I have to report that the dog went on her first boat ride today... Dan finished early and so took Pete, Tim, Bex and Jessie for a RIB ride. They only went for a run around the bay and to fuel up at Gorey...but the dog survived and lives to go on another ride another time.

It's injection time again....so off I go to search for drugs...and here's Jilly for few pearls of wisdom. States tomorrow, so I'll be really back to normal.....but I suspect my blood pressure will be anything but normal by the time I get back....I have a feeling that this week might be a "why am I doing this" type of week....but maybe more of that tomorrow.

I can't really add much to this blog that Stephen hasn't already covered... except it is lovely that I've got three quarters of siblings here, but such a hugely frustrating time as I feel so rubbish, no clothes fit me, my legs are so swollen (Nora Batty stockings arrived in post) and my stomach is the size of a small country....... other than that......I'm fine!

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