Monday Monday

Does our reader remember the Mamas and the Papas? I know they were "around" some time ago now...but Mama Cass and Michelle Philips were both great singers...of their time of course....and no match for the great Karen Carpenter.......or some of my other favourite female singers....Barbara Streisand, Diana Ross, Carole King, Joss Stone, Sinead O'Connor, Agnetha Faltskog (doesn't everybody love ABBA?). Anyway, Monday Monday was one of the better Mamas and Papas tracks...but I think California Dreamin would probably be the best?

We've had, what I think can be described as, some good times recently....but yes, those "good times" do need to be taken in context. We went paddling at Le Hurel Slip yesterday (that's just a little north of Seymour Slip for those of you without great knowledge of Grouville slipways). The water was genuinely warm....the breeze was hot....the sun was baking....and we spent a good hour on the slip just enjoying everything....they were good times. Of course, it was pretty difficult passing by the (very) many people at St. Catherine's, Anne Port and Longbeach.....and how we wished we could have been sitting on the beach and running in and out of the water and swimming...and it was even more difficult passing Bel Val on the way home to see so many of friends and family there....doing all the Summer Sunday afternoon things that we were, until very recently, so used to doing ourselves.....BUT we had a good time. Small things like just paddling in the sea up to your knees have become really important, and real pick-me-ups for Jilly.

There's no doubt that since the various "episodes" with the lungs (drains and talc et al) things are generally much better. Much less coughing.....and No visits to hospital for nearly a whole week...and we've got into some sort of daily routine....(well, that's probably stretching it a little).....but our morning timetable especially is more settled. We've found time to make some visits....mostly involving buying things....plants especially. We've discovered a new plant nursery in the depths of St. Lawrence. They don't sell furniture....or cards....or pet food....or water features....or have a cafe....they actually just sell plants....which is a welcome change!! However, after buying the plants, we have been advised (by Sally, our learned family horticulturalist) that we need to do a lot of work in our borders before planting....and there was me thinking that Sally was going to have all these plants firmly established before she went off back home. I've settled for her doing the rounds of daily watering and vegetable/fruit picking.

Jill's stomach is slowly becoming more swollen again. It's not really a surprise and we knew it would happen. Today we sent a message to hospital, and now have an appointment to see KG and others on Thursday. My hope will be that we put in a drain, take off as much fluid as we safely can, remove the drain and come home. Let's just hope that we don't get into another prolonged period of draining...with the associated pain and discomfort. However, we realise that getting rid of some of this fluid is an absolute necessity, and the relatively short period of discomfort is something to be tolerated....unfortunately....but for the greater good.

Papa (now that his European visitors have left) is back in a daily "helpline" routine. We seem to be able to call him or text him at all hours with "requests". No errand seems to be beyond him....pharmacy visits to pick up (yet) more drugs....vet visits to pick up yet more dog/cat food (how do such relatively small animals eat so much food??!!)....visits to B&Q for any manner of "bits and bobs".....even food shopping from his beloved Waitrose at Rue des Pres. His
morning/afternoon/evening visits cheer us all up. We were even more cheered up (well, amused actually) when Jill sent him out the other day to "water the greenhouse" and pick the tomatoes. At this point I need to tell our reader that Papa is colourblind....so he can't really tell the difference between his greens and his reds. When it come to picking ripe tomatoes this can be a bit of an issue.....but we certainly ended up with a bowl full of tomatoes (of all and various states of ripeness!) We forgive him.... his endless help, patience and cheerfulness is an inspiration to us all.

Things that are happening tomorrow include Sally going home (more tears....again), and the weather "going off". It seems like we may have some of the wet stuff falling from the skies....unheard of! No doubt that, despite moaning about how hot it's been, we will surely be wishing for a return to the weather of the last fortnight by the time we get to Wednesday. I'm going to hand over to her who must be obeyed now to add a few pearls of wisdom....more soon reader.

Sally and I had an appointment at Hospice today, seeing the lovely 'lymph' lady... ( let's call her that, what a title!), and then the 'gym' lady, neither a very good description of either of them, both lovely ladies... but I'm pretty tired tonight and the brain cells have deserted me.

Having this 'Chyle' fluid ( its a milky bodily fluid consisting of lymph and emulsified free fatty acids, yes, as disgusting as it sounds), is in fact highly unusual. Well, there's a surprise.

It's really about trying to keep me comfortable, able to eat and function on a daily basis, as Steve said earlier, it's becoming an issue. As my thorax/chest is blocked by the tumours it's stopping the flow of the Chyle around those cavities, hence the pooling in the stomach and legs.

They were all extremely helpful, and the lovely new  nurse I met, ( I may even get a Jacuzzi bath on Friday, if I don't get a drain....), offering support and advice. The best way really to help keep me from getting any infection from the leaky legs, really not easy.

The most distressing part of the afternoon was the trip to the 'disabled' toilet, just before we left, not that there was an issue with the actual toilet of course, it was the full length mirror that I saw myself in.

At the top a balding patchy head of hair, wizened arms, no chest, six months plus swollen abdomen in my normal size 12 t-shirt, huge misshapen hips and to complete the picture a couple of massive thighs encased in bright green culottes, ending with the calves encased in large white bandages ( or I'm sure they used female personal care items instead), and fat feet.

I felt like I could have been played a  part on a Star Wars film where all these 'freaky' creatures sat around in a bar when Harrison Ford ( LOVE HIM) walks in with Chewy... I'd have slotted right in.



The Mos Eisley Cantina (sometimes called Chalmun's Cantina or "the Star Wars Cantina") is a fictional public bar (cantina)^[1] in the Star Wars universe. It is located in the spaceport of Mos Eisley on the planet Tatooine. It is the haunt of freight pilots and other dangerous characters of various alien races and contains booths, a bar counter, and some free-standing tables, and sometimes a band of musicians named Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes

:-)