New Year's Eve

It's already getting a little late in the day for a comprehensive, cohesive or coordinated blog.....so our reader will have to make do with a very short interlude on this, the last day of 2014.

We've had a good day...Jill's new blood seems to be working fine....she even managed a game of tennis after the dog walk this morning (!!!.....much to our annoyance that she should be taking it easy)...and this afternoon she and I took the dog to the 70th. Anniversary of the unloading of the SS Vega on the Albert Quay....before a quick walk on what was left of the very clean and firm sand at West Park. The Vega brought Red Cross parcels to the Island at a time when many Islanders were very close to starving....we must never forget the kindness of those (particularly Canadians) that sent this food at such a crucial time......my Mother for one will always remember how desperately short of food the "townsfolk" had become in those last days of 1944.

This evening our immediate family members are spread far and wide across Europe....Dan in Denmark, Jack in The French Alps and Tom in Grouville! The three of us left here at Seaford are busy munching our way onto the New Year. Our friends in Oz, and other countries "down under" have already got the hangover to prove they've had a good time, and in a few minutes we will be sending messages to those who are celebrating on Central European Time across the water.

I know that I constantly refer to "our sole, solitary reader".....but the truth is somewhat different....and for some time Jill and I have been aware that "our reader" is not alone in being the one and only person to read this blog....."our reader" is not the only person who follows the crazy missives of our "normal" family, a family that is (like so many others) living with cancer. Our reader may wish to know that they are not alone in having to suffer the ups and downs of the "famille Luce"....indeed the number of views on the blog for the last week, yes WEEK,  are as follows.....

Jersey	1459
United Kingdom	163
United States	78
New Zealand	27
Ireland	21
Ukraine	16
Germany	14
Russia	14
Spain	10
Switzerland	8

It never ceases to amaze us that so many people "tune in" on a daily basis....but wherever you are, we just want to say "thanks for following us", we really are very humbled and grateful ....."thanks for feeling you want to be part of our extended family"....and "thanks for your support over the many months that we have now been writing about our good days"..... and our not-so-good days. 

2014 has been, yet another, up and down year for us.....but we're nothing if not positive....let's carry on working together and talking our way through the tough times.....and laughing at the funnier things that we always seem to find in our daily struggle.  

So.....HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE....see you on the other side as we start tomorrow with the first post of 2015! Night night.

last Tuesday of the year......

It's been a good day on the whole....if only because Jill had a successful transfusion....but other good news is that Jack is still skiing without injury, Dan has found (unscheduled) things to do in London and Bex and Tom have helped out with dog walking and shopping. In no particular order, the sordid details are as follows....

Jack's skiing party is another one down.....they lost one before the plane took off on Saturday and yesterday they lost another to a rather nasty sounding skiing injury. JW has done something naughty to the cruciate ligament in one of her knees.....that's really tough luck Jords....we're thinking about you, but (on the bright side) you'll always be the first to start the apres ski for the rest of the holiday. Jack sent us a photo of the hot tub "shed" outside their chalet this evening, just before he jumped in.... I told him, over the internet, that it looked more like an outside privy to me.....but I guess I'm just a little jealous....the snow looks fantastic.

Our reader may remember that Dan was still in Gatwick at the beginning of yesterday evening after the runway was closed for an emergency landing. He spent his night at a friends flat in the City, and has spent today taking in some of the sights and sounds in and around the Metropolis. The bad news is that the (not so) Easyjet jet to Munich was fully booked and there was no space for any of Dan's party to fly there today. The good news is that there was plenty of space on the (quite a bit easier) Easyjet jet to Copenhagen......so, guess what? Yep...Dan and his entourage are now spending their New Year in Denmark. As Her Majesty might say, "one is speechless"......but, to be fair to Dan, Denmark is a place he's always wanted to visit.

Other less important news in brief is as follows.....Tom walked the dog this afternoon, conveniently ending up at The Hungry Man....how fortuitous was that....loads of different routes that the dog might have taken, but she ended up pulling Tom all the way to Rozel! Bex took Jill to Hospital this morning...and did a big "shop" on her way home at lunchtime....returning to get Jill at around 6pm. I started the morning with yet another run to the Airport, this time with AB....we were all sad to see her go....and then worked for a while in the office at South Hill before doing a very long interview for BBC (which ended up as a very short interview by the time it got on this evening's news)....and then back home for another short dog walk and "woodins" (the word we use "in house" for the bringing in the wood for the fire).

The main event of the day, however, concerns she who should be obeyed.....although that doesn't happen very often. Anyway, in true form, she started the day with a dog walk....just to make sure she was properly exhausted before the trip to hospital. I have to say that I think we both knew that it was time for some new blood....Jilly was pretty out of breath before leaving. I don't know too many details, but I do know that the needle used for the transfusion was about the size of a Hoover nozzle....and about as easy to insert....but at least once it was "plugged in" things were speedy enough....having said that, it was still six thirty before Jill got back home this evening. Can I, at this point, say a very big "Thank You" to AH for tonight's supper....fantastic.....I felt totally inadequate as it was being delivered...but did manage to sort out the vegetables, dishes, table etc. in time for Jill's and Bex's return from town. Jill is noticeably quite a bit sparkier this evening....and not feeling the cold anywhere like as badly....that'll be the new blood....maybe we could find out if Andy Murray gives blood...if he does (and we could arrange some for Jill's next transfusion) then we could improve her health and her tennis at the same time?....maybe not....I don't know if I could live with someone as charismatic as Andy Murray. I'm going to stop now and hand over to the recently rejuvenated one....no doubt she has photos to post of her "day out in town".

How can I possibly be tired when i've done nothing but sit in a chair for nine hours! Luckily for me MDU had three cancellations so they could fit me in rather than going onto a ward. So the larger needle and a nurse specifically to do transfusions speeded up the whole process. Ive been given three units of 0- blood, that should make a big difference. I'm even typing in blood now..........

  

Monday 29th December

So thats what I got up to this afternoon, not playing tennis obviously just simply sitting on the bench looking at the court..... alternatively I may have had a little knockabout with these renegades.... Not a bad 'selfie' for four people. (watch and learn RF!)

I will take this opportunity to thank everyone who sends cards/texts and emails enquiring after my welfare, and to all of you regular (and irregular!) blog readers. It is a huge comfort.

Now to the nitty gritty... arrived at the hospital with a certain sense of foreboding, having started with a sore throat I do indeed have the start of a cold. Rubbish. Anyway, lovely very young (!) nurse did the perfunctory blood test and we waited for the results.

Next question I hear is KB on the phone and calling to me, 'What day do you want your transfusion!!" I said i couldn't possibly do it this afternoon as AB's last day, and I wanted to make sure she had the vast majority of 'jobs' covered before she left.....

Also it was a nice day.

And I may have had a tennis match organised.

So, I'm to arrive at Oncology at about 9:30-10am tomorrow morning to see if they have a bed for me, and If so I have more bloods taken for a crossmatch, then cannulated and then accompanied to a ward.
I will be prepared for a long stay, with books/food and ipad, and lots of tissues!!

Tomorrow airport run is under control, Stephen is taking AB who has to go via Guernsey and is on early flight, and fortunately Bex is not working so she can drop me into town. Between them and Tom reckon they can cover dog walks.. although I may take Jess out early before my wings are clipped.

Dan left the island at 8:15am this morning and appears to have spent the whole day at Gatwick... now all flights cancelled, don't think his solitary 'food token' will have been sufficient.Good job there is a few of them to break up the monotony of airport lounges!

Just had the arrival of two eldest household residents, they had been playing canasta in kitchen. It appears that Stephen had 'gone out' in every round (that's good apparently) for seven rounds. Last hand, AB picks up large hand and wins outright!!! One disgruntled husband, and one slightly smug looking aunt, actually she wasn't so much smug as embarrassed!!
We will think twice about asking her over to Jersey again, come to think of it we didn't actually ask her!!!!

last Sunday of the year..

Steve here this evening....just making sure that a) our reader hasn't forgotten me and b) that I haven't forgotten how to type. Tomorrow is "back to work"....so I had better get back into email/iPad/Blackberry/laptop mode. As I type we are preparing for the disappearance of son No. 3 who is off to Munich in the morning.....when questioned this evening as to why he's going to Munich for New Year, he didn't have anything like a satisfactory answer other than it was a "cheap" destination. I can't think that the fact that Germans make half decent beer had anything to do with it.
He's suffering this evening from buslag....just like jetlag, but the transport is slower.....He went to some party at the Watersplash last night.....one of those destinations that sounds great (even when you live in Rozel) before the event.....but when you find yourself at the other end of the Island at 02:15 (apparently they let you stay "on the premises" until 02:00 these days!!) it does seem like an awful long way from home.

As our reader might imagine, Dan's enthusiasm for packing this evening is not great....moping around the house trying to think how he can get 5 days clothing in his hand luggage...yes you heard right....hand luggage. It would appear to me that one of the reasons for the cheapness of the flight is that no official luggage is required.....I suspect that an awful lot of clothing will be "worn" on the plane. You stay mighty hot....but you get to travel with enough clothes for the duration! I'm not sure that Dan had considered temperature when booking the plane, but seeing as he discovered yesterday that it's barely going to get above freezing even during the day in Munich this week it's not surprising that he's now fretting about how he's going to keep warm. No more suggestions necessary thank you dear reader....

While I mention Dan...he did feel very hard done by in one of our Christmas games the other evening. The questions concerned Heinz Tomato Ketchup.....Bex's question was a picture...what is this?....a photo of the top two inches of a ketchup bottle.....not too difficult. Dan's question was "why is the number 0.028 significant? and the answer (of course) is that 0.028 is the speed (in miles per hour) that ketchup comes out of a glass bottle of ketchup....just slightly more tricky....I suppose one can understand why he got stressed.


Jack has been skiing around Meribel all day....and how lucky is he? Yesterday was not the best day to be travelling to the French Alps....tens and tens of thousands set off for the slopes yesterday morning....and very many of them didn't get there. Put up in schools and churches overnight when routes became blocked and impassable, the police were, this morning, turning motorists around and sending them back home if they didn't have snow chains on. No snow for weeks and weeks and then a humongous amount in 24 hours.  Jack had a driver who knew all the back lanes apparently....he's a lucky boy.

Dog walking activities today consisted of a short burst this morning with Bex and AB....Jill was otherwise engaged with housework activity of another kind, and I was "on the radio" for the Politics Hour....and then a longer blast on the beach with Jill and I this afternoon. It was a sharp contrast between yesterday and today....stronger wind and quite a bit colder.....it proved so (literally) breathtaking that we started at Longbeach and almost immediately went back to the car and drove to Seymour and started again from that end of Grouville Beach.....it's so much easier to do the second half of any dog walk with the wind at your back. When you get exhausted and turn around, to head to the car, the last thing you need is to, at that stage, have to deal with a Force 6 wind trying to blow you back down the beach.....my contribution is being brought to an abrupt conclusion.....her ladyship wants to add a few jewels.

... thank you for the anonymous comment left on yesterdays post!! Cheeky.
 I have blood test 9:30am tomorrow morning... fingers crossed as I have a bit of a sore throat... think its probably due to all the nagging i have been doing to the minion.....


 

Saturday....not Boxing day....!

Regular readers will have noted that yesterday there was NO blog posting, random readers couldn't care less I'm sure!

I think one of Dan's friend summed it all up when we asked if he'd had a good Christmas "I ate so much, I ended up in a food coma".. we certainly have eaten well over the last few days, in fact it's been a long round of dog walking and eating. Feeling virtuous after somewhat lengthy walks we felt we could indulge ourselves even more on consuming herculean amounts of food!!

Just heard from Jack who had left this morning on a flight to Geneva, delayed by three hours, eventually taking off at 11am. The transport from airport to hotel should have taken two-three hours, it took seven... heavy snow on motorways. They were lucky to make it to the chalet, their friends are stuck at Grenoble airport for the night, others stranded. To think, they were concerned at the beginning of the week there was no snow.....

Three of us 'enjoyed' a beach walk with TH and SH this afternoon, TH was his usual charming erudite self, Oh, no hang on that's not quite true, he told me to type that........I would have posted some photos at this conjecture but i forgot to take any... maybe that was intentional?

Anyway I have been doing as the doctor ordered and other than walks/food preparation and cleaning , there has been no other sport as such, but looking at the weather forecast tomorrow i may well be tempted down to the tennis court..

You'll all be pleased to know that my 'dropbox' doesn't appear to be working, so no dog photos to bore you with tonight! It may mean you get a double dose tomorrow of course!

Christmas Day !!!

 Visited by an elf and a turkey.....

Carving the turkey..

stirring the gravy

cheers!!

 Beautifully laid table and home made table cloth 'runner' made by Becky....

New snowman toy with nose chewed off already.....

Washing up team effort!!!!

Thanks for last nights comments, and hope that everyone had a GOOD Christmas day x

Christmas Eve....

Driving into town at 7.40am was a new experience for me, parked up in Sand street and marched across the road into M&S... already quite busy, but picked up the necessary last minute food items. On the way back to the car via the dry cleaners bumped into racquetball coach FM who didn't really need to ask how i was as he was totally up to date from the blog!! Anyway, I said the aforementioned sport was suffering a bit as difficult to cover the court with limited oxygen levels, I really need to improve my game so minimum effort is required!!

At the hospital everyone in the Oncology department was dressed up and we even had a surprise visit from Father Christmas himself!

Bloods taken and duly dispatched I then waited, and wasn't surprised when the news came back that the results were not that brilliant, in fact they were rubbish and I learnt a new word today... I am now suffering from....
Pancytopenia is a medical condition in which there is a reduction in the number of red and white blood cells, as well as platelets.
 Ask how i feel? 'fine' only, of course a little breathless on uphill walks! The poor nurse looked at me and shook her head, I do not fit into the 'box' thats for sure. She did think that I should maybe go onto antibiotics ( I cannot afford to get ill on any account) and also suggested a blood transfusion in the next few days. So, more blood was taken from me (I haven't got much in the first place!) so they could 'cross match' , but whilst she was on the phone trying to book me a bed the answer came back that they would only do the crossmatch for the transfusion on the actual day... so that vial of blood had to be thrown away!!!!
I had to wait a bit so FC could change out of his robes and come and talk to me, and he felt that actually if I was careful (ie, don't hang around ill people and take it easy) and the fact i looked  and felt well,  also my platelets had just started to pick up and that was a good sign, and to delay Chemo/transfusion etc for a few more days would not hurt.

So, we all came to the agreement that I would go back into hospital on Monday morning for another test and take it from there, unless of course I really did become poorly over the next few days, in which case admitted and transfused asap. I was pleased with that in a strange sort of way, I don't want to miss out on spending time with AB (indeed she does tend to slacken off her jobs if left too much to her own devices!)

Back home the dog was walked, and after a quick drink AB and I headed out to the wild west and saw SW and family, and the small folk from St Ouen. A late lunch and then a lovely walk on the beach....

 Lights twinkling across in Gorey Harbour...

Finally managed to ice the Christmas cake this evening... decided that it was better to stay in, than go to to what would be a potentially very busy crib service at Church with lots of people/children and lots of germs!!

 Bex and SE bought this kit to make a gingerbread sweetie train.... and enjoyed 'building' it this afternoon, it may end up at St Ouen where small children can go crazy on the e numbers!!!!

Wishing all our readers, (including those in Australia) a very Merry Christmas...:-) xx

Tuesday 23rd December

Had a super day today, starting with the usual dog walk,this time around Jardin D'Olivet this morning. I'm ok on the flat, but out of breath very quickly on the inclines. It's ok though because you can always stop and admire the view...

The Big Cheese was 'out to lunch' and then an afternoon meet with a friend, so not entirely sure how many 'jobs' were achieved around the house (none) I believe.

Meanwhile I left the skivvy (or minion) to make some flapjacks whilst i struggled through my Yoga class, I came back to find the kitchen smelling lovely with macaroons cooling.. they have been hidden otherwise they will be gone in five minutes!

Her and I whizzed off to play a most enjoyable  game of tennis, managed three sets before it just got too dark! Thanks AH, and SC.

Blood test at 9am sharp tomorrow morning, so I'd better not be late, don't think I'll wait around for results, sure they can ring me if they need. Just hope the platelets have picked up enough for me to have Chemo next week, ditto haemoglobin.

Monday 22nd December

Hurrah, the daylight hours are getting longer!! Hurrah, AB has arrived!! Hurrah, its nearly Christmas!!

This is photo of AB smiling at her 'two greats nephew' Thomas, this was taken in the UK before she arrived in Jersey, by the end of this week she wont be smiling, she'll be wishing she was back there......

We now have in our extended family Two Thomas's, Two Jack's, and Two Daniel's, but of course there IS only one Jill......

Now, having being disturbed twice, once by my elder brother, (via skype) and once by AB herself who has come in to tell me she is off to bed! This posting will be henceforth be short, and of course with the baby photo sweet!

I enjoyed our last Pilates class today, our teacher is so lovely she bought us all little gifts, that warranted a photo of us, that I believe is already on facebook...

We have a busy day planned tomorrow, dog walking , yoga and tennis, so lets hope the weather stays dry. Tom has just informed me that he is now off on his Christmas break, and Stephen doesn't have any 'meetings' as such to attend so I shall be 'organising ' the jobs rota.. Daniel is out tonight, and I have the distinct impression it will be messy... Jack is not back to work until Christmas day/boxing day, so I think he will be celebrating his Christmas on the 24th with SE and friends.

Despite buying in extra bread and milk it seems to disappear at a fast rate of knots, I can see that I will have to have a few more frenetic trips to the supermarket before the big day, ho ho ho....

Sunday....nearly Christmas

We've had a pretty varied day...in fact I'd better run through the list as quickly as possible. Up early - breakfast, then paid all my bills via internet - Dan went off for a lifeboat exercise - did an hours preparation for a radio interview tomorrow morning - Jack came back from night shift - Jill took Jess for a stroll - off to Trinity Church to sing carols with Jill - had a small sleep after lunch (not been sleeping well at night recently) - after lunch we somehow had house full of youngsters who all went off with Jess again - Tom went out for a run in recently refurbished Mini - Jill and Bex filling in complicated forms for Southampton Hospital - boys all went off to Le Saie on a "rescue mission" (more later) - we all prepped for this evening's supper (all present this evening) - Jill had got all the baby books out and we spent time laughing - finally we played a new board game that Bex has bought for Christmas  (aptly named the logo board game)- Dan gone now - Jack going - T and B on internet - Jill on phone to AA - me writing blog. There must have been more things that we got up to....but that'll do for now.

The choir was Rising Voices...the cancer choir that Jill attends every week.....and I turn up for on a very occasional basis....I was sitting watching/learning a new song on Youtube this morning before we went... didn't want to embarrass myself in front of  church full of people......it all went well. Nothing like a few carols to get you in the Christmas mood.

The rescue mission that I mentioned was because someone had noticed that the granite bench that gives a resting/viewing point for walkers down at Le Saie had been vandalised over the weekend, with the large lintel that forms the seat being rolled off down the cliff. It was a challenge that was obviously irresistible to my boys.....off they went, taking a selection of ropes and other "stuff'.....turns out they managed admirably, and apparently the seat is now even better than it was previously ... there were photos....hopefully we can get them up at the end. I asked Jack if he would have used the same techniques if it had been the Fire Service "rescuing" the lintel....apparently not....he did mention that "health and safety" hadn't played a very big part of their afternoon discussions....just as well I decided not to go down and spectate. But it all ended well......good for them.....sometimes they do stuff that makes you proud.

At this stage I must mention the "power of the blog". It has become evident (through various contacts that we have received) that virtual farming has been taken up by blog readers (or more specifically, children/relations of blog readers)...we now know of at least two households that are currently similarly afflicted by "youngsters" (and some not so young) who are spending more time than they should driving virtual tractors around virtual fields. You don't need to tell us about it.....even this evening we had to shout at two boys to "park up those machines" and come to the table for supper. Having said that, there's been much less time worrying about "having enough straw for the cattle" and "whether the forage harvester is going to have sufficient horsepower".....(as the Pythons would say) that's enough of all that.....as I type we have some (supposedly) grown up children watching the film "Cars"...you know, the cartoon about cars that all have characters of their own....is there no hope?  .... it would appear not....I've just found myself watching it for the last ten minutes!

here are some photos of this afternoon's rescue...

ABBS arrives tomorrow....so that'll be me without a bathroom then....that's probably a little unfair....but I will have to share a bathroom with Tom and Dan for a week.....fortunately for me, they spend so much time playing virtual farming that I'll be fine.

With AB arriving there is bound to be plenty of photos and stories over the coming days....Tomorrow is my last planned day of work, which is just as well. Have I bought any presents yet? NO....have I ordered anything on the internet? NO....have I any ideas for presents? NO....I could be in big trouble, but hopefully the two days off before the 25th. will save me......as long as I don't pick up additional meetings.

That's all for today folks .... more tomorrow.

Saturday 20th ...

Walking Jess up at les Platons this morning we 'bumped' into her mum and owner...Although Jess was excited to see another similar looking dog to play with, Meg didn't share her enthusiasm! Couldn't pass the chance to take a few photos!

So pleased I managed to swop the evening performance of the Pink Floyd UK experience to the afternoon showing, Stephen already had a Parish meal to go to, and i knew I wouldn't have the energy to do both.

Talking of energy levels they do peak and trough throughout the day, we went out last night and had very enjoyable evening in St Ouen at our friends anniversary party, but bizarrely talking and socialising is hard work!! So, a little lie in until 8:30am was required this morning, I guess walking the dog on the cliff paths was a bit ambitious but she loved it!

Pink Floyd....

Friday 19th December

Fortunate enough to get a game of tennis indoors this morning, good fun but played badly (sorry partner!) Left Daniel with dog walking duties and a note that said 'unlucky'!!

Had to go to circuits at the Merton as it was the last one before Christmas and I had card for everyone to sign. Then had a brilliant pedicure (birthday voucher, thank you) which was very relaxing and I've now got beautiful feet (well, certainly better) Although there was a moment as i lay on the couch thinking that really should I, me of a certain low platelet count be playing tennis, (dangerous, could have been hit by racquet, fallen over etc), then to do circuits involving lifting heavy weights (heavy ish) again a veritable danger zone. And, to top it all off I was subjecting my feet to a lot of murderous looking implements, any one of which could (thankfully did not ) cause a bleed.
Toe nails are now a very Christmassy red colour,(apt I thought) and there's a story about them too....

I was told that it would take an hour and a half to dry the nails off properly, but I really needed to walk the dog, which meant putting on socks, and shoes, oh the dilemmas one has to face. I then recalled someone telling me that if you smear your toes in oil (any oil, but not diesel, obviously)and then wrap your feet in cling film before putting your socks on it stops the polish rubbing off.
So, always ready to give it a try I did as instructed and went off for the walk, (slipping around a bit in shoes it has to be said). Did it work?, well, actually yes, but I did take my  boots and socks off at the end of the walk to find a small scrunched up ball of cling film in the toe of my sock....

Sniffing out pheasants

Not wanting to end this blog on a sad note, but I'm afraid that we had some bad news today, Stephen's cousin-in-law KC passed away this morning. She had what was a relatively (as I understand) routine operation, developed complications , and ended up with pneumonia. Our thoughts are with her husband, son, and the rest of the family.

Thursday 18th December

Be seen......Be safe....... Be unhappy!!!!!

That look pretty much sums up the weather today!!

Wednesday 17th December

In a nutshell.... the CT scan was much as I expected.. seems as if there has been no change in the partially removed lymph nodes, so they haven't grown any more bad cells which is good, but neither have they shrunk. The best news is my CA 125 is now 11, an early Christmas present!

The blood test I had today showed that my Hb had risen very slightly to 8.2, white cells still ok at 3.2, ditto neutrophils at 3.4.....but platelets dropped even further to 33...not good, and certainly rubbish for Chemo. However i am not 'symptomatic', but have been given dire warnings of not cutting myself, (don't use sharp knives!)having any 'accidents', bleeding gums and/or blood spots mean call the hospital straight away.

I am due another blood test next Wednesday at 9am, Chemo most definitely on hold, which actually means all things being equal and I manage not to fall down the cliff at White Rock, or get hit by a tennis/badminton/racquet ball racquet i should have a relatively pain free, side effect free Christmas.

Of course due to my somewhat delicate condition I shant be able to do much if any housework and little cooking due to the use of dangerous implements so watch out AB, you've got your work cut out when you arrive!!!!

Tuesday 16th December

Lovely sunny walk around les platons this morning...

Still managed the cliff paths albeit stopping to catch my breath a few times!

Had an excellent Yoga class followed by a very busy food shop, everyone stocking up for Christmas I expect.
Another dog walk around Jardin D'Olivet this afternoon, and then time to smarten up for a Christmas Drinks invitation at GH....

I was trying to tell Dan today of an incident that had happened today that made me feel that 'Id lost the plot", but i couldnt remember what it was.....something which I then found hysterical.... little things....

Feeling a bit sorry for myself i mentioned to jack that i wish i was just 'normal'...you can imagine the reply... and he then told me that there were lots of other people that were far worse off, it's true of course, and that stopped me feeling sorry for myself!

Blood test tomorrow... again.... and then???

Monday 15th December

I started the day well enough with a well run tennis tournament at Les Ormes ( many thanks to all involved) and even managed to reach the semi-final! Good, close games with long rallies and I had a lovely partner too! Met up with old friends and generally had a fab time.

Play at les Ormes.....

Met up with westerner SW for a quick catch up, and then shopped on way home before heading into town with Jack for blood test and CT news...

Truth is i did receive a call from Dr H on Friday to tell me about the scan but I thought i'd wait before i saw him properly today to make sure I had all the facts straight, but i ended up not seeing him today! He plans to 'talk about me' at the MDT meeting with the Marsden tomorrow morning, and i guess discuss further treatment.

So, to condense our last weeks phone call... the blood clot is still there (keep on with the tablets, at least not those wretched injections), both chemo and cancer can cause blood clots. I don't think there is any change with lymph nodes that were partially removed, so, good not bigger, but not reduced either. At least I think that was gist of it, don't quote me!
Anyway, I had my blood test and red blood cells down to 8 ( from 9.3) think women should be 11.5.. my white cells and neutrophils are both ok (hurrah), BUT, my platelets have dropped to 42 (no that is not the answer to the Universe and everything, read the Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy!!)
No way I can have Chemo with those results, so after consultation with nurse i am due another blood test Wednesday morning ( after racquetball obviously ) to see about Chemo in the afternoon. Having said that after she has spoken to Dr H and he in turn spoken to Marsden it could all change in the next 12 hours!!
Once again, I'm just going with the flow... and I have to accept that there is a good chance of a) not having chemo this week, but possibly next b) I could well need blood transfusion c) I may well need a further 6 cycles of Chemo if i can manage to get through these first six.

The jolly good news is that we have Christmas decorations up , and have attended this evening a lovely St Martin school nativity at Chapel, very enjoyable and we both appreciated the hard work of pupils and staff alike.

"Sometimes the road of life takes us to a place we had planned.....sometimes it shows us a surprise around the bend we could never have anticipated "

Sunday....14th......

Well, here we are again....sat beside the warm, glowing wood burning stove attempting to get some words down on the blog before the zzzzzzs get me....."in your old mans chair again" Jack has just said,..... if the evenings keep getting colder then I think we"ll turn down the under floor heating a touch and load up the logs for some genuine Christmas "chestnuts roasting on an open fire" warmth.

The decorations went up this afternoon....Jill had put everyone on a "three line whip" to help out....and generally speaking they were (nearly) all at home....Thomas was the only non-compliant one, but no surprises there really, he doesn't really "do" tinsel. Anyway, it only took the six of us (extra thanks to KC for helping) a couple of hours....two trees, a crib, lots of lights everywhere.....and a very special row of hand painted "Genuine Jersey" Christmas robins for the lintel above the Aga....the only thing we must do now is remember to switch everything off at the mains before we hit the sack this evening.....the last thing we want is to have to wake the fireman up to put out a "little blaze" in his own kitchen!

 Before writing more I need to apologise to UP in London who seems convinced (after reading an article in yesterday's Times about particulates from wood burning stoves) that our new heating system is adding to the pollution levels in leafy Surrey....sorry P, we'll try to only light up when the wind is from the north east.

Also...my apologies to the wonderful Darcey for misspelling her name last night...hope that hasn't ruined my chances of ever winning "Strictly".

Right, down to important matters.....tomorrow is scan results....yes, sorry to get all serious. Let's hope we get some good positive news....Jill's coping well with these reduced courses of chemo...let's just hope the drugs are doing the business. We discussed (while out walking with the dog yesterday) the chance that the Doc may suggest additional sessions of chemo to make up for the three quarter doses she's been taking.....who knows...there may be other drugs suggested....we'll just have to wait and see.

Other dog walking news.....we got through two walks today....one big walk this morning (pre  Jill playing tennis!!) around the block down through the woods to the coast....and then another smaller walk later this afternoon (after decorations) around the block....boy is it wet down in our meadow now...I hadn't realised that we'd had so much rain.....but Jessie found a couple of pheasants, so all was well with the world.

Jill asked this evening if it was "possible to play the virtual farming game up in the loft?"......not really Mum, came the reply....it's far nicer down here in the kitchen......"no, I don't think you understand boys.....I'm banning the game from the kitchen television"..It will be sadly missed if it does eventually go.....there's been some really heated discussions about farming practices....is tree felling and wood chipping a complete waste of time? Just how big a tractor do you really need to pull a trailer?....what about growing some crops for animals? ....and then the waiting game of watching the prices go up and down before committing to selling harvested crops that are "in store"......I wish they'd taken as much interest when we were doing it for real. I have to admit that I really had wondered how they had managed some of the machinery purchases they had made...,,,I shouldn't had really been surprised to discover that Tom (who else) had "hacked" the payment system and somehow "added" £100,000 to the farming profit for the season..,...."it's only a game Dad"....and I thought they were taking it so seriously!!!

Sunnysaturday....

This evenings blog comes from the snug warm glowing fireside chair that will probably be my first "snooze spot" this evening...in fact I already feel a little sleepy as I start to type. Yes reader, as you may have guessed, we've fired up the (new) fire and we're sat here snuggled (well, not me obviously...Bex and Jill) on the sofa watching Strictly....there's only one reason I watch this programme...and that, of course, is Darcy Bussell.....she's enough to get anyone to start taking an interest in ballet....maybe I should think about taking it up myself....probably not.

For those technical minded people, the fire was very easy to get going.....firelighter, kindling, logs...the usual....only three fire alarms (hopefully due to the paint burning off)...and after quarter of an hour we were cooking on gas....in fact we could well have been cooking on the top of the new stove....it's hot!!

Dog walking today has been extensive...and I even did a bit of it myself. Jill set off with Jess this morning for a "one way" trip to Jardin d'Olivet...I was in town with Dan taking his Seafaris RIB out of the water for a part refit on the tubes...but when I got back I drove to Trinity and started walking towards meeting Jilly and Jessie....we did the last mile or so together....and after the storms of the last few days the sea was amazingly calm off the north coast, and what spectacular visibility over to the Cherbourg Peninsula....a real calm after the storm. Jilly and I took the dog to St. Aubin for a second walk this afternoon....well, Jill went walking and I went lunching (at the Gunsite)....I deliberately hadn't hadn't eaten any lunch, so a "full english" didn't take much demolishing....I had met the Cof St B for our weekly catch up....we managed a table overlooking the beach, the view was again really something...and just for good measure two people came and planted four flags in a square (in the sand) right outside and, ten minutes later, four parachutists "dropped in" from somewhere up above us. Jilly and Jessie returned just in time to join us for a hot drink and soon after we were on our way home.....another good Saturday of walks in the sun...how lucky we are to have such great scenery all around us....let's do a little less complaining and a little more appreciating.

Jilly and Bex have just started the next programme...Atlantis...their Saturday evening excitement knows no bounds....Tom and Dan have managed to drag themselves away from virtual farming...and Jack has been in town for his Red Watch Christmas lunch....not returned yet (unsurprisingly) and I doubt we'll see much of him until sometime tomorrow. Last night was Bex's works do...she had a really good time...she's enjoying her work at B&C, and it's good to see her happy to get up in the morning and go to work.....not everyone in this world is that lucky.

Really enjoyed the walks today, felt I should have been doing something a bit more 'christmassy' but weather far too good to be inside or in town for that matter. 

Weather Bomb?...

I am so glad I took the dog out early this morning, within ten minutes of getting in the door the 'heavens opened'....phew!

Taught my sons two new idioms this week, told one to 'look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves', and told the other that 'you can't teach a grandmother to suck eggs'. I'm full of worldly wisdom... NOT!!

The wood burning stove is sitting cold, dark and silent in the lounge.. no hope of 'sticking' in this weather. For those of you who are uninitiated in the art of sticking i shall explain. Twenty years ago ( before iphones, ipads and various electronic devices) as a form of necessity and 'entertainment' small children would be togged up in wet weather gear and taken to various wooded areas around the farm, where armed with large shopping bags and wheelbarrows we would collect sticks as kindling for the fire.....THEY ENJOYED IT, really, and of course it wasn't exploitation.

Anyway, those days are long gone, now they prefer large dangerous chainsaws and axes, not little piddley sticks. In fact they seem to prefer 'virtual farming', I'm already getting fed up of seeing it on the screen, and the constant drone of the machines drives me mad... I said "can't you at least turn the sound down?", but apparently "it won't work".. what a load of tosh!!!

I started this blog earlier... its now 11pm and I've played tennis tonight so not adding anymore!

Thank you for last night sarcastic comment PN, I'll come over and bend your arm....

CT day...

Ok, so the actual drive into town (45minutes) and the two litres of water beforehand was bad enough BUT to realise at 7am I wasn't allowed to  eat any food, was just too much... no breakfast... harsh I say!

Scan was ok (ish) really lovely nurse who chatted away and distracted me enough to block out yet more needles.. now to wait results.. maybe even next week if I'm lucky. I did ask her to sprinkle a bit of magic dust to make the clot disappear, and whilst she was at it, the Cancer too... she admitted to not being a miracle worker though..

Oh, photo of my dog , did you know i had a springer?

I managed to fit in a visit to the in-laws and a Pilates class this morning, but needed a little rest in the afternoon before a walk through woods and on beaches this afternoon.

I'm leaving rest of post tonight to hubby, who had an amazing speaker at breakfast club this morning..... a 'blind pilot'....

Miles Hilton-Barber went blind in his early twenties, but has not let that stop him from achieving his dreams. As a popular after-dinner and corporate speaker, Miles weaves together rich anecdotes and humour with powerful life-lessons he has learnt whilst overcoming his blindness. He reminds his audiences that “attitude is what determines altitude” and that we too can live our dreams, because “the only limits in our lives are those we accept ourselves" I won't add much other than to say that Miles truly inspirational at Breakfast Club this morning...it was an early start and a full on day all round. I'm now struggling to stay awake and I've been asked to make a contribution ..... a riugh deal if ever I saw one. Family have been scattered to the winds this evening..Tom late at work, Jack on nights, Bex at evening class, Dan up in loft with his cousin MV and Jill packing presents. the big news at home today is that our new wood burner was installed today...it all looks very posh....all we need to do now is throw some logs in and light it. We'll save that for another day...maybe on Saturday we'll take some photos and have a special ceremony to make in inaugural lighting.....  Tomorrow Jill and I have been invited to a Christmas bash at St. Brelade's Parish Hall....expect tales of our journey out west tomorrow....that's if we haven't been blown away in the night by the gales....stay safe out there reader.

Wednesday 10th December

Birthday Wednesday again, last week Jack this week hubby.....although both of them had long working days sadly...

Anyway, lots to write about last two days activities, but guess what I'm too tired!!! A happy tired (so thats ok then!) Plus I have a CT scan at 9am tomorrow, cant decide wether its worse trying to get into town for 9am, or try and drink two litres of fluid beforehand!!!

Monday night great charity Keep fit session run by the twins JR/JP for Macmillan Cancer Support and £400 was raised!!

Tuesday met a few 'witches' in town for lunch...

 They look 'normal' enough but don't be fooled.....!

Today had an excellent session of racquetball...Christmas attire was compulsory .....

 

A festive gathering....

Tonight as the 'birthday meal' had to be postponed due to a Parish Assembly meeting, i thought I may as well go and have a few games of badminton... keep my hand/eye coordination going.... 

:-)

Tuesday....nearly fiftysomething again

Good evening....Head of Household in charge of the blog tonight....well, H of H is my opinion anyway. I pay the bills so surely that entitles me to be something important sounding around here?

Following last night's rendition of all things that were happening in kitchen, our reader may be interested (or not) to have an update. Dan is on a sofa in the kitchen....a different sofa, but still in the same "flat out" position....but this evening he's not playing an interesting farming game on the TV, he's watching some very uninteresting programme on his laptop called the "Walking Dead"...I'm not even going to ask....but he's got the headphones on and there's no "interesting" comments to recount to our reader...how boring. Tom has just arrived home from the Hub after a teaching session....he now does two evenings a week down there teaching people to code....trying to get them to appreciate his fantastic ability at all things digital (well, that's what he thinks). Jack is at Ann Port this evening....not in the water or on his boat, but at girlfriends.

Dan has just arrived back in the real world...headphones off...and announced that he's thinking about driving across Australia!!....(this weekend maybe???...jokes)......and apparently it's not too far between Papua New Guinea and Australia....well, it doesn't look very far on his laptop!! "7 districts in Australia"...."where's the outback then?" he has just asked....well, he's the one with the laptop open! The conclusion is that most of the "places" are on the coast and the rest is all outback....Thomas has now chirped in....adding that he thinks that Dan's description of Australia might be just a little too "general"....Dan now stating that Highway 1 is the longest national highway on the planet, and you can use it to drive all the way around Australia....15823kms...including Tasmania, of course!...and Dan says he could drive it in 14 days......and Tom says "it depends on how fast you drive"...obviously. Dan now saying that it would take a month....."when are you off then?" I have just asked. I was actually joking, but there's now much discussion happening about whether Dan will actually go "down under"after the New Year break in Munich. $1835 to hire a cheap car for month....what's that in real money he asks?.....who knows anything about Australian dollars?....953 quid apparently.....not too bad actually..."the same as my rent"...not too bad at all!!....as long he doesn't think he's not paying his rent while he's away!!! There's over 3300 FREE camping sites he's now saying.....apparently that's pretty cool.....that's if you like camping in Australia....time for a change of subject.

As for the three ladies of the household...Jill has had another good day, made especially good by the fact that there was no injection this evening...she finally administered the last one yesterday, so today is tablets (I think)....I'll need to ask...but at the moment she is with Bex in the other room watching Les Mis on TV. Bex has struggled today....she has a heavy cold and sore throat....I dropped her a Boots first thing this morning so she could get "supplies of drugs" to help her through the day. Finally, the third lady of the house has been curled up in bed in her room all evening....she must have had a big day to be so exhausted....Dan tells me that he took her out this afternoon down through the woods to the Breakwater and then back up via Fliquet etc.

My day has been in the States....an 8 o'clock start with the Chief Minister from Guernsey leading a prayer breakfast for some States Members....and then upstairs to the Big House for the days sitting. I also had a meeting there at lunchtime, but we made good progress this afternoon and finished at about 5:30 with the traditional Christmas messages from the three longest serving different States Members....Philip Ozouf for the Senators, Simon Crowcroft for the Constables and Judy Martin for the Deputies. The Bailiff also added his own good wishes....and off we went for our Christmas break (I wish!!!) .....more meetings tomorrow....in fact my diary doesn't slow down until about Thursday afternoon NEXT week. C'est la vie.

Liverpool have just been knocked out of the European Champions League.....Jack won't be happy, but in reality, all's good in the world. As Dan has just said "what's the difference between Liverpool and ebola?"...."ebola is a threat in Europe"...very funny Dan.