Sunday 31st May

I got all excited and thought I'd listen to radio interview I did in week and then post it here....but for some reason the BBC has half the programme on South West and half in Jersey! Bit of a mess up on their station I think, but maybe that's for the best...

The Race for Life this morning went really well, the twins were brilliant in the warm up and despite the rain lashing down and windy conditions there was a good turn out, and quite a few late entries which was excellent.
Adding up my sponsorship total with offline and online donations, plus cash that people have given me in the week, I raised for Cancer Research a staggering amount of money.

£3,083.87

 Not entirely sure why it's a random number, think I'll just round it up myself!

I really enjoyed myself (not the shivering bit pre race) but the thought of close friends and family some of whom are no longer with us kept me going. There were people who I know would have been more than pleased to have been out of hospital and be able to join in the 'Race" in whatever capacity, and there were plenty of walkers out there this morning. I'm glad I didn't sign up for the 10k, it would have been tough in today's weather, and I take my hat off to those brave souls.

Names I should have added are 'Jess' and 'Oscar", in fact the list goes on, I did well not to get too emotional, just had a little wobble when i came into the Finish line, but luckily HD a friend I jogged with was a great support.

Pre Race outfit

 It was raining quite hard, but we smiled nearly all the way!!

   

This article I read in yesterday's paper, was all about obesity and chance of getting cancer ....hmmm . 'unlucky me'! but I particularly liked the statement at the end "Exercise creates a hostile environment for cancer cells"

Must exercise more.

Thursday 28th May

Think this blog posting could very well be more disjointed than normal, so long since i wrote anything and so much much has happened over these last few days.

Steve and I did go over to Bournemouth, to see one of our friends who is in hospital having treatment, (the other friend is in London, and is doing well from her operation). It was lovely to see her and her husband, (and daughter), and despite being very ill she has turned the corner and is slowly beginning to build up her strength again. She has a long hard road ahead of her, but such an amazing supportive family and a huge amount of helpful friends, i know this will go a long way  to aiding her recovery.

Sunday morning dog walk along Grouville beach....

The girls (and boy) in pink, from the Sunday morning aerobics class. 

Some of us getting ready for the Race for Life on Sunday, and so far I have had an amazing amount of sponsorship.. 

£ 2,553.87!!!!!

You've heard of James and the Giant Peach? Well, Tom bought me some 'Suffolk Mushroom ' (no not magic!) and somehow I messed up and  managed to grow an ENORMOUS singular mushroom, so its 'Jill and the Giant Mushroom.....

You see this beautiful sparkling little bay , well on Wednesday morning I went for a swim (ok, dip) in the Sea!! I did really. I have video proof and will post it when I work out how! It was lovely, and freezing at the same time. Jess wimped out and only paddled, as normal. In fact I enjoyed it so much that I went down again in the evening and had another dip! I had got incredibly hot playing tennis, so it was the 'ice bath' that I needed..

I've taken over radio coverage from my husband this week, fed up with hearing his voice commenting on various issues I thought it was my turn. Actually not strictly true, our Gynae group is changing its remit slightly, and instead of just being with ladies with 'gynae' cancers we have rebranded ourselves.

We have a new name R.I.S.E., which is the acronym for Recover, Inform, Support, and Empower, and the group is now open to ALL ladies affected by a Cancer diagnosis, and their loved ones. Radio Jersey kindly invited BM from Macmillan and me into their studio to chat yesterday and I did a little bit for Channel 103. Fortunately I haven't heard myself at all, so thats a blessing. Quite sure it was the usual load of gobbledegook that spouts forth when Im nervous!

We are still meeting once a month the first Thursday (so June 4th) is the date for next get together and I see our advert is in the local paper tonight. Hopefully  a small write up too on Saturday.
So, things as usual have been quite hectic, plus I couldn't type before today as RN took us for an hours circuit class before an hours netball on Tuesday and my arms fell off.


https://www.justgiving.com/jillluce

Saturday 23rd May...

Tomorrow we are flying over to the UK to visit a friend in hospital, just for twentyfour hours. She is very poorly, and having treatment and I am hoping that we can cheer her up not wear her out.

Meanwhile another friend had surgery today for bowel cancer also in a UK hospital, both are in our thoughts and prayers.


My first sweet pea in flower

My lovely 'orange' poppies are flowering too...

 Le Saie this evening...

Tuesday's hospital visit....

Saw my lovely consultant today KG, whom I haven't seen since September , and that was on an almost daily basis. She seemed to be either sticking needles in to drain fluid, or putting stitches in to stop fluid from leaking, either way it was a nightmare I don't care to remember! ( Im sure the same goes for her too).

Anyway, she was beaming when I saw her, as she had had a long chat with a lot of oncologists at the Marsden about me this morning, and they all seemed to be in agreement that I do not need the target drug Avastin. The CT scan shows that at this moment in time they cannot see any signs of disease, bear in mind scan only show tumours of 1 cm and larger, (sorry thats pessimist voice speaking) positive voice says that as my last blood count showed the CA125 at 6, ( below 35 is good) and that's always proved to be a good indication in my blood if bad cells are multiplying, things are not good.

Despite this all being probably the best i could have hoped for and i certainly am pleased with the results, I don't really feel like popping champagne corks. It does take me a little while to process the information and get my head around it all, of course it's great news, but I can't help feeling I've done this before and it's come back... how long have I got this time?

It's been over three years since first diagnosis, so that's three years I thought at one stage I wouldn't have, and I really do try and make the best out of each day. I undoubtedly 'count my blessings' every day that's for sure. Having had two close friend recently diagnosed with Leukemia and another with bowel cancer, I can only empathise with them and send out as many positive thoughts and prayers for them to have the strength to be able to deal with whatever comes their way.

For now I'm on a "watch and wait" ... end of July for the next blood test. I probably won't have a Ct scan for a while, ( I don't want too many of them anyway). The blood clot I'll just have to live with (!) No long haul flights booked, (I probably couldn't get insurance cheaper than £10, 000 anyway!!!!

Poor quality, but finally the photo of 'the one that got away'....(nearly)

How can you not be happy when you see such lovely views as this every day?

 Jess and Bex enjoying sunshine...

And finally.....
I really hope this sport comes to Jersey, it's amazing!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vhGYvSP_iE

Sunday's Challenge

I wish I had a better knowledge of computers, I seem to spend hours every time I try to write a blog post trying to upload photos and navigate my way around the entire laptop. Most of the time it doesn't work (currently trying to load the photo of TN reportedly catching a fish, that Daniel swears blind was actually on his line, before it 'jumped off' onto my brothers line for him to reel it in!) and If it does work it's only through pure chance, and then I've forgotten how I achieved it in the first place!

My brother did actually catch a fish, a tasty bream as it happens, didn't go far with 8 people to feed, but we had a mouthful each!

A lot like my 'on line registration' for the South Coast Charity walk, that I had signed up for  in March, or at least thought I had..... it was only last night when I was preparing for the walk that I realised i hadn't received any confirmation email or otherwise....#epicfail

It's true I could have signed up for late registration this morning, but just didn't want to join the inevitable long queue, so scrapped that idea, and went with plan B instead. This included dog walking with Steve, aerobics with the 'red squirrels', and tennis at the club,  and then heaps of gardening chores!
Donation will be sent to Mencap in due course, a worthy charity...

Friday morning I had a very calming yoga class , and then an amazing game of tennis that I thoroughly enjoyed, plus an added bonus of receiving a delicious meal (and special dairy free cake) courtesy of AH-that the family enjoyed- Thank you!  The afternoon was spent walking Jess and gardening until late evening, it was lovely and sunny and a joy to be outside.

I have in the garden a large flower bed and in it an inordinate amount of bindweed. Now, as anybody who does gardening knows, it really is a nuisance. You carefully begin to dig the root with your fork, trying desperately not to break it off, as you know once snapped it will subdivide and come back stronger than ever. The root is often very long and seems to be endless, and although I have 'sprayed' lots of bindweed earlier on this month, I am often too impatient to wait until it has died back enough before pulling it. Thinking I will defeat it, and it won't get the better of me, it just needs careful handling, and surely I am strong and clever enough to outsmart a bit of old weed?

So there I am in my lovely sunny garden, a large fork in hand, gloves and wellies boots on ready to take that bindweed to task, determined not to let it beat me, even if it has the advantage, the 'upper hand' Deeply embedded in the soil it lies dormant until the time is right and then sprouts up where you least expect it, curling it's tendrils around your sturdy flowering shrubs, choking them with its mass of roots and large spade shaped green leaves.
For now, just for this moment in time I'm winning, I'm in control, I am the one in the driving seat.

So, back off Cancer you lose this round.


The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body, but the soul.

Alfred Austin

Thursday 14th May

Hi Guys,
I've been saying a little mantra to myself all day "Worry does not influence outcome"... but still i worry. In fact i've expended so much adrenaline today I'm totally exhausted!

Just back in from a netball AGM so couldnt blog sooner but the CT scan results were probably the best i could have hoped for in the circumstances.

Two tumors seemed to have disappeared completely and the third has remained unchanged in size. it could be scar tissue or ? they can't tell, but it's not doing anything at the minute so thats good.

My CA125 that was last taken in April ( blood marker- needs to be below 35) is showing up at 6.

The one blot (or should I say clot?) is that my blood clot is still there, i thought it was leg/groin area but it's actually fairly close to the aortic vein top of the abdomen.

Dr H was out of the Island so we(hubby came for support, can't take bad news on my own, cowardly) actually had a locum consultant tell us the news. Apparently they had arranged to 'talk' about me this week at the Marsden/Jersey weekly meetings but didn't. So its scheduled for next Tuesday. Not entirely sure when i'll get to know the outcome of that meeting.

I know I should be doing a little jig of joy at todays news but i'm still a little strung out as to what follows on from here. I dont' know about the new 'target drug ' that Dr H is trying to be allowed to give me, questions need asking, but if i don't have it ( three weekly infusions, cannulas, oncology trips and side effects) and for possibly six months or more, does it mean that the Cancer will return quickly if I don't do it ? Guessing the fact is that nobody really knows, you just have to weigh up the pro's and con's and take the course of action you see fit.

Thank you for all your messages of support..
Much love ;-)
x

Wednesday 13th May

A lot seems to have happened over these last few days, hence a bit lax on the blog posting front.

I had to say goodbye to my lovely pesky younger brother and sister-in-law on Saturday morning, always sad to say goodbye to family.

Steve and I then attended a Church service at St Martin, good to see a packed Church and listen to the children speaking out on behalf of those that were around in the occupation.

A quick turnaround and then off to people's park where there was a very good service with speeches and a special Royal guest  the Countess of Wessex (not that I got within spitting distance of her, unlike some parishioners I know who had conversations!.... not that I would want to spit at her I hasten to add, she was lovely!!)

Saturday evening I was too exhausted to carry on with the rest of the celebrations, but apparently they were just as good (including the fireworks).

Sunday was a dog walk and an aerobics class before a lunch at the Ambassador hotel with about 150 St Martin parishioners, oh, and a sing song at the end! Sunday evening was our usual family supper.

Monday 11th May was Becky's 21st birthday!! She had an amazing day and was really spoilt with so many gifts, flowers and cards. Having friends for supper at home with a Murder, Mystery evening was the 'icing on the cake'! She felt like a very lucky girl....
Photos to follow...

Its fair to say it's been very busy so supper provided by LT on Monday was much  appreciated, I don't know how she manages to cook for two families every week!

 I had my CT scan yesterday (Tuesday) it went ok , the nurses are always so kind and jolly. I've had worse. Fortunately I get the results tomorrow so not long to wait. Although think this is more painful than the scan itself. I do have a few questions to ask, but they are all based on the results. I really, really hope the blood clot has disappeared, I finished the last lot of tablets two weeks ago and I don't want to start again. I'd like to think that i can go on holiday somewhere, although P & E probably has other ideas!!

A fisherman's tale still needs to be told!

Thursday 7th May

Most of this week seems to have been based on food ( and drink) with a few dog walks thrown in here and there to attempt to burn off calories considering the amount of each that has been consumed.

Yesterday was a St Helier morning,  a little shopping lots of browsing and the odd cake eaten for mid-mornings at the Charity cafe in the market. (A fine establishment, and my suggestion of course!)

Samphire was bought for lunch at the fish market, and would have been delicious if it had been washed before hand..... ( its a marsh weed that grows on mud flats in Norfolk), but my brother being my brother was in such a haste to scoff it down that he didn't really wash all the salty sea out of it, so a little disappointing.

Originally "sampiere", a corruption of the French "Saint Pierre" (Saint Peter),^[2] samphire was named after the patron saint of fishermen because all of the original plants with its name grow in rocky salt-sprayed regions along the sea coast of northern Europe or in its coastal marsh areas. It is sometimes called sea asparagus or sea pickle. In Norfolk it is commonly called sampha [sam-fa]. In North Wales, especially along the River Dee's marshes, it has always been known as sampkin.

All the plants bearing the name are annuals that begin growing in late autumn and vegetate throughout the winter until the first warm weather arrives. Then the first stems and internodes form, and by mid-spring the plant measures 6 to 8 cm.

Uses[edit]

Fresh samphire from the Loughor estuary for sale at Swansea Market

Marsh samphire ashes were used to make soap and glass (hence its other old English name, "glasswort").^[2] In the 14th century glassmakers located their workshops near regions where this plant grew, since it was so closely linked to their trade. Samphires of all kinds have long been eaten in England. The leaves were gathered early in the year and pickled or eaten in salads with oil and vinegar. It is mentioned by Shakespeare in King Lear:

Half-way down Hangs one that gathers samphire; dreadful trade! (Act IV, Scene VI). This refers to the dangers involved in collecting rock samphire on sea cliffs.

Marsh samphire (Salicornia bigelovii) is being investigated as a potential biodiesel source that can be grown in coastal areas where conventional crops cannot be grown.^[3]

Samphire is gaining popularity in the UK, being served more often in restaurants as an accompaniment to fish dishes, and is also found more often in supermarkets.

A visit on the way home to the Fresh Fish Company made up for it though, fresh asparagus (biggest we'd ever seen, and the 'grower' was there delivering it). Prawns, pates, and loads of other fishy things to try...

We finished off the day with a meal down at the Black Dog in Bouley Bay, there were nine of us, and luckily the portions are huge so a main course satisfied everyone's needs!

Today's activities involved fishing.....and the one that got away, but more of that later!

Tuesday 5th May

Thank you PN for your comment.... I did mean North to East and was as usual multi-tasking ( actually trying to watch 'The C-Word" film on TV) Pretty moving film and I did share so many of the same thoughts and feelings Lisa Lynch went through.
In fact Jack said " well it was to the west of Carteret ...." so thanks Jack i'll go with that!
Photos as promised...

 Us at the end of our Diabetes walk....(8 MILES!!)

Tim at me at Flicquet...

Sunday night supper time...

Saturday night Liberation party!

 No, we didn't dye our hair green!!!! That was Jack's massive hanging parachute reflection!

 Our constable of the parish dressed up for the occasion.

 My daughter hard at work clearing tables...

Another 'daughter' also worked hard that evening helping with the food.

And finally, if they're not drinking they're eating.... honestly anyone would think they are on holiday!!!

A final line to 'absent friends' who couldn't make the party on Saturday, sending you both love, strength and prayers.

Sunday 3rd May

What a weekend! Despite the rain we've had an amazing time...

The liberation party last night in Trinity was excellent, the Gorey fete committee (and loads of helpers) did a fantastic job in decorating the shed and providing excellent food and entertainment. All profits are going to Jersey hospice, so I hope with three hundred people attending there was  a good amount raised.



We had an early start this morning, arriving at les platon just after 8:30am, (with yet more drizzling rain) to start our 'Diabetes walk' - it is called "North to South", but this was a bit different and more North to West. It was a distance of about eight miles, but all through green lanes, and took us about three hours. The last leg of the journey was with brilliant sunshine and really warm, so we felt that we needed to quench our thirst and reward ourselves with a cheeky lunchtime drink at the Dolphin in Gorey!

Pleased that the sun stayed out this afternoon so Steve and I managed to get on with some gardening chores. We are attempting to grow some Jersey Cabbage stalks among some more serious vegetables that we can actually eat rather than make walking sticks....sadly we have had to 'dig' up quite a large portion of our carefully planted potatoes. Mr P&E (planting and eating minister) said that they were 'hothoused', and just weren't growing properly, he blamed me for buying poor quality seed!

As it happens it's just as well we cleared some space as we needed to plant more spinach, beetroot, kale and mange tout in it's place.

So far the two minions have been behaving themselves, but I'll need to keep them occupied so they don't get into mischief.

My photos are refusing to load tonight, so will have to post tomorrow....;-)

Friday 1st May

Thirty one days to go before the Race for Life, not even started practicing  'jogging' yet!! Hoping my aerobics, badminton, tennis and racquetball sessions will see me through. Plus we start netball summer training next week, I can hardly wait!!

Thanks to all you guys who have sponsored me, I've raised £967.94 so far.

My little brother (and his partner) arrive tomorrow, and I'm so looking forward to it. He came over last September, not long after my second operation and I was still suffering badly with all that excess fluid and drains etc. Consequently I was no where as fit as I wanted to be, and couldn't really enjoy his stay as much as I would have liked.

Now I've finished the chemo and had the blood transfusion I feel much stronger and fitter, my CT scan is not until the 12th May, and I've had a letter for an appointment on the 14th. I would have thought that they would have had the results by then.... I'm not thinking about that now, I'll just cross that bridge when I come to it.

I've been called many names in my time, some of them witty and faintly amusing, the latest being said in the middle of a tennis match "No skills Jill".... thanks for that....


I had a lovely walk/catch up with some of my old Zumba ladies this week, we ambled around the lovely green lanes of St Martin and ended up in the Village tea rooms.