Quite a varied day!

Yesterday was pretty much 'no change' health-wise. I've discovered that it's not just weight-bearing that is a problem at the moment; even standing causes pain after a few minutes. For that reason I've asked the physio to come on Monday and advise on the (hopefully temporary) use of a wheelchair. Apparently one has to be measured for one of these, and the key measurement is posterior width! Why, I can't imagine - surely M&S 32" inside leg standard length is good for 90% of the population? Anyway, I'm quite looking forward to choosing the make, model, colour, interior trim, air-con...

I also had a consultation with a clinical hypnotherapist, and we agreed to work on pain control together. I've always had an interest in this area, and have used it on myself and others, with sometimes quite amazing results. A flat-mate of mine and I used to go swimming at the University pool in Bristol. This had three diving boards; one at ground level; a medium one, and one above the clouds. I had no desire to dive, but Pete was keen to go off the middle board. I hypnotised him once, and got him to visualise making a perfect dive from there, followed later by the same quality dive from the top. We went swimming immediately afterwards. He went straight to the top board, and did do a perfect dive! He was amazed, and I was quite spooked! I realised then that this is a powerful tool, and that it could have significant consequences.

Anyway, I'm a bit rusty, so a few sessions to brush up my technique won't go amiss. I'll keep you posted.

Thursday; a more difficult day

Today the main problem has been quite severe pain, necessitating extra morphine. Ah well, the medics always say that they may make things worse before they get better, so here's hoping. I was quite taken aback by how angry and bad-tempered it made me feel. After the umpteenth apology to Christine she reminded me that it was only just over a week ago that we were on holiday with some lovely folk from the village. We went to the west coast of Majorca, and one of the highlights for me was visiting the place where Chopin over-wintered. It is a converted monastery - now a museum, with a piano he had sent over from Spain, several of his manuscripts, and the most wonderful garden with views over the valley and hills. Although small, it was planted with scented plants such as jasmine, and felt like a little of heaven on earth.

Hot news from Hawley Bottom!

This time the news isn't about me; I thought you'd like to see exclusive coverage of the local squire, Lord Bradbury, who is having extensive renovations to his rear. Local serfs agree that the improvement is very welcome. If only he could decide what colour gravel to have in his drive...

Chemo and technical update

It's now Tuesday afternoon, and I can honestly say that yesterday and the day before were truly awful - you don't need to know the details:-(

First, the chemo really kicked in and I ticked off every available side-effect, plus one or two others. A friend opf Christine's told her that someone she knew had treatment and was very unwell for a couple of days, and then was as right as rain. I'm beginning to hope that, based on this afternoon, I might take a similar direction. After all, if I'm well enough to notice the awful mess I leave lying around everywhere, I can't bee too ill.

Then, to cap it all, my second laptop touchpad broke (over-use, I know) and I've got to send it back. This means reverting to my other lappie which has Vista on it (boo, hiss). Why do all one's troubles come at once?

I have managed to help a couple of folk using remote access today; if you need assistance it might be as well to send me an email unless it's really urgent.

Thanks for the comments on previous posts - keep them coming as they make me smile!

Chemo update

First of all, apologies to those of you who have tried to post comments on my first entry. The easiest way for you to do that is to click on the relevant Post heading to bring up the comment box below my entry; then to select 'Anonymous' from the Send Comment as drop-down box at the bottom of the page. Of course, if you do this then please include your name in the comment, unless you really prefer me and others not to know who is being scurrilous:-).

It's now day four after the first chemo treatment so I'll summarise what has been involved for those who are interested; day 1 consists of an eight hour session of drips consisting of two drugs; day two is only two hours but the drug is more aggressive; and on day three I have a very quick injection to help boost my white blood cell count. I admit to feeling tired and somewhat nauseous, despite the eleven other drugs that I am now on, although the feelings are bearable if I don't try to do too much. In fact, I made it to church this morning at 0900, which was quite challenging!

I have been told that I can expect the side-effects to last for a week or two, but in the second week my immune system is very low so I have to avoid people with infections, plus any gatherings where I may catch something. For those of you that know me well you will hardly notice any change in my sociability :-).

Keeping myself amused isn't too hard at the moment. PC's still seem to need fixing regularly; it's the time of year when people who bought Kaspersky last year are coming up for licence renewals; and I'm testing the replacement to Windows Vista (called Windows 7). Thus far, W7 feels like a significant improvement over its predecessor, in terms of speed, usablilty, and reliability. However it probably won't be available on new PC's until the Autumn or even Christmas. If you are thinking of buying or replacing a PC in the near future I advise you to hang on until then if you can.

For those of you who are still reading (Michael?!) I'm also trying out a complete replacement for Windows called Ubuntu. It's quick, free, and increasingly usable by everyday users. But perhaps I should save these comments for a separate posting category called 'Technical' or perhaps even 'Geek'?

Back from holiday - straight into chemotherapy

Following a great week in Majorca with eight friends from the village, I've started an eighteen week course of chemotherapy (six sessions three weeks apart).

Each session takes place at home, which is much nicer than having to travel. The process lasts four days; a blood test on the first day; an eight hour infusion on day 2; a 2 hour infusion on day 3; and an injection to boost my white blood cell count on day 4. I won't bore you with the side-effects, except to say that I'll be avoiding anyone with colds, swine flu, or indeed anything vaguely infectious for the duration of the treatment. Oh, and hair thinning, difficulty in remembering - now what was it? - oh yes, words:-), hiccups, and kidney failure...

I think this will do for a first post. I'll add more stuff as time goes on. Let me know what you want to know, and even more what you don't want to hear if you are at all squeamish!