Ups and downs

Well the change in my post treatment drug plan has made this last cycle different, at least it is keeping it interesting. Last week was the most awake I have been that close to treatment, and it has certainly helped me see the family, know what is happening and to keep my strength up, however, the last few days have been very up and down. Have woke up feeling quite refreshed, and thinking great, that's over. Then as the day has progressed, it's been downhill, so much so that I have been in bed by 7ish, and pretty much that's it till the following morning. It seems to be the same today. Have a few other little side affects but nothing we can't handle. Hopefully only another couple of days at most like this, then I should be back to the good place. Will obviously keep you posted, but not planning much until then, oh and hair is nearly gone LOL

A quick thank you to every one who has offered to help at the allotment, I really appreciate it. I have prepared a to do list, as well as planning the refreshments, you will be hungry and I have plenty planned. I will post an update on that a couple of days beforehand, to allow for weather etc, but to help you plan, I am thinking about being there 10 - 2 on both days.

So far ( or sofa) so good

Not been anywhere so tired so far after this round, looks like the change to my post treatment drugs are working ok. Made the sofa for the last two mornings, which is a big improvement, and not been so tired last night, looking forward to seeing how it goes today. Another big improvement is I am eating, which I haven't done before on previous rounds. So all in all sofa, so happy.

I also have some other news to share, thanks to Roz and Roger for the loan of their place in Spain for Sarah and I to celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary at the start of May, which will be 5 weeks after my last treatment, and the Oncologist has ok'd the trip. Both Sarah's Mum and Dad, and my Mum will be looking after the kids, and the dog!

Lastly, I need some help at my allotment on the weekend of 3 and 4 March, just weeding, light digging and a small bit of woodwork, if you can spare an hour or two, I would be extremely grateful. Of course Iir will be dependant on the weather, and I will be on hand with refreshments and to supervise!!

Ding Ding round 3 is under way ...

The gloves are well and truly off in this bare knuckle fight between Ivor Cancer and Dene Marsh. Cancer continues its attack via the blood, but Dene is fighting back hard with clever assistance from Dr Money-Kyrle in his corner, and once again, Cancer marker is reduced, this time by 20%. Cancer's bulk continues to be eroded, and Dene gets extra assistance from drugs to manage his tiredness, good job this is not an Olympic sport, or there would be many positive tests! As usual, each round lasts 3 weeks, so there is lots of time left yet. With that we go back to the studio for more background news

As you can see from this report, once again, it was pretty much all good news yesterday, in fact we are very happy with progress, and now have some ideas on treatments post chemo, depending on my final results. At no stage was anything negative discussed, which bearing in mind the consultant always has to temper his replies, we are taking as good news. We discussed future holidays, going back to work, and my going back to scuba diving. Some follow up treatments may stop this, but he will bear it in mind. As he dives himself, he knows something about the implications. The biggest change this month is a significant increase in my steroids to manage my tiredness period straight after chemo better, so I may well be more awake, we will see.

Round 3 - the merry go round starts again

This last round of treatment has gone so quickly it's untrue. It only seems like a few days since we were last on our way to Guildford, but hey ho. After all the good news recently, I am more than happy to go, and also the realisation that it is the half way point in my chemo makes me more than happy. As usual don't expect much blogging from me over the next week or so, as I will be confined to bed as normal.

Those friends on Facebook will already know that my appetite is well and truly back. I need to keep my weight up, and so am more than happy to help! This morning we took all the family to the cafe at the local aerodrome, where I had a small brunch of minute steak, fried egg, mushrooms, fried tomato, salad and chips (fries for my American friends), along with toast and a big mug of tea. I then added some left overs from the kids plates which was 2 sausages, small piece of bacon, black pudding, and extra tomatoes. Believe it or not I was still hungry 30 mins layer when we got home! I think I have lost about 5 lbs this round, which I am happy with.

Can I end by asking you to sometimes click on any of the ads that appear, as the money rased will go to cancer charities. You dont have to buy anything, but if you do, well done!

More good news

Last night we got the provisional results from my scans this week, and so far it's all looking good. The various growths in my pelvis area have all reduced singnificantly, so much so the consultant radiologist belevies I could have the catheter out. That would be in a couple of weeks at the earliest, as it would have to be in the right time frame within my treatment cycle, and will need the agrement of my other consultants. The other good news is that a very good proportion of the tumours on my liver have started to turn jelly like, this means they are starting to die. This is quite unusual after just 2 cycles as they are normally quite slow to react. So all in all, this news is just about as good as I could have hoped for. We just hope this improvement continues. What it means long term we don't know, but as usual will continue to do all I can to keep improving.

As you might know I start my next cycle on Monday, and have quite a busy few days before then. Today I am going into work to say hello to everyone. Tomorrow Adam and Jerermy are coming round to fire up the Nissan, it's sat there for a few months now and really needs a good run, not on the roads of course as its still not legal. Sunday I am taking the family out for brunch to the areodrome, which they are all looking forward too.

Hope you all have a good weekend

Freaky or what!

Just returned from my CT scan today and had to share this with you. Whilst I was having the scan, Sarah was reading an old copy of Hello magazine dated 21 November, which was the week I was diagnosed. I have written my horoscope, Virgo, as shown in the magazine that week below.

Diagnosis, as they say, is half the cure. If you know what's wrong, you are on your way to putting it right. The worst problems we face are the ones we can't understand or see how to deal with. Are you now of the opinion that you have a problem you can never solve? Be wary this week, of those who seem to feel sure they know what you need. Be equally suspicious of your own tendency to assume that something is hopeless. This week brings a discovery that leads to a revelation. This has the potential to alter everything for the better.

Spooky!

Also quick update on my working at the Olympics, spoke to the organisers this morning and my training is set for 5 June, so hopefully treatment will be finished by then.

Also I have turned on some advertising, which will appear in a coule of days on the blog. Any income from this will be used to help fund my planned round Britain on a scooter charity fund raising trip, not for my personal gain.

Money Money Money

Well after my last post moaning about what has gone wrong, and the money it has cost me, guess what? Yesterday Sarah left to take Freja to the doctors, 5 mins later I get a call saying the car has a puncture. Luckily she has stopped next to a garage. Both of them used their womanly charms, and they get some help from the garage, who reinflate the tyre. They then scoot quickly down to the local tyre fitting place, who tell them its a screw in the tyre. Not only that, but its in a place that can't be repaired, so it needs a new tyre. Nearly another £100 lighter, she is back on the road. We are pretty much afraid to touch anything at the moment, let alone think about the MOT same car is having on Friday.

Anyway back to good news, still feeling really good, and again have really enjoyed the visitors over the last couple of days. Plans for the next couple of days include, the scans of course, plus Sarah and doing lunch (oh the life of the non-working). Really looking forward to it, provided the car actually gets there, the food does not give me any issues, the cards work, neither of us has a fall, a meoteorite does not fall on the car, see I am trying to anticipate what could go wrong !!!

Lastly today a message for those at Towers Watson in Reigate. I plan to call in to the office on Friday, all being well, around 1pm. I will be near my desk, provided its still there of course. If you want to come say hello please do. For those in other offices and countries, I'll speak to Nick about a roadtrip to say high to you all too. Nick???

Riding the hobby horse

No posts for a few days, just been so busy. Good news is I am over the chemo and feel better than at any time since I started the treatment. Been sleeping really well, so well that on a couple of days I have not needed a sleep in the afternoon. The outcome of feeling so well is that it seems like I am living in Clapham Junction. Have had so many visitors, its been really good. I can't name you all as there have been so many I would probably miss some one out, suffice to say it's been good to catch up with everyone. Expecting more of the same today too. Bad news is that we seem to keep finding faults at home to spend money on. Earlier in the week I went up the garden to let the chickens out, yes we still still have 9 of them, and noticed that part of the garden fence had decided it did not like our garden and had decided to move to Pauline's next door. So need to get that back. Then, yesterday, the big car decided it was going to have a falling out with the battery. Calls to Dave then Adam, sorted a replacement and fitting. As the big car is the one I can still drive ok, this needed doing. Right time to ride that hobby horse ...

... this time it's motorcycling, so jump to last paragraph if you want to bypass most of this bit!

I was always a little interested in getting a motorbike, but never followed it up untill I was in my early 20s. I remember talking to Dad at 16 about getting a bike. Dad was against it big time, so much so the bribe came out. If I did not get a bike, he would buy me a car when I was 17, buy a bike, and I was on my own when it came to a car. Now I was very naive and accepted it, as my own car was so important to my cycling that I decided to wait. Why was I naive, well if Dad was so against it, if I had bought a bike, he would still have bought me that car just to get me off the bike, but I did not think of it back then. As it turned out Dad actually came round to bikes as we both got older, so much so, we spent several weekends away at race meetings at Brands Hatch watching the World Superbike races, camping, drinking etc. They were very special times. Only , got hom on the back once though, that was enough for him!

Anyway, think I was 22 when I got my first bike, scared me to death at less than 30 mph. Bearing in mind I often rode my push bike at that sort of speed, it should not have done. I rode little bikes for a while before Adam decided to join me and we pushed on to get our full licences. We had great fun getting as much experience as we could, often doing 100 mile plus rides in the summer evenings, on bikes that struggled to do more than 50 mph. We finally got our tests through, and both passed first time. I had a big incentive to pass, as I did my test with £2,000 in my pocket as I was going straight to the dealer to pick up my first big bike, a 600cc Suzuki.

Adam soon had his own big bike, and many Sunday's were spent out early, breakfast at a cafe by the coast, then a coast ride and home. A bigger challenge was to follow, France. We agreed to a 2 week tour in France in early September. Sarah and I would sometimes take separate holidays and she was fine with this. Well we had a great time, with many happy memories, unfortunately the next time we went did not ave the same outcome. A couple of years later Jeremy also had passed his test and we agreed another tour. We actually ended up at the same camp site on the Med that Adam and I had found on our previous trip, bit rough and ready, but cheap, close to the beach but most importantly, a great food outlet with monster bottles of very cold beer, just what you need after a day on the beach. We stayed a few days and then decided to make our way home, via Marseille, as we had some bike bits to buy. Within a few miles of leaving the camp site, there was a very bad accident, where a drunk driver, bearring in mind this was about 10am, lost control n a mountain bend and drove straight at us. Unfortunatley Adam could not get out of the way. He was in a very bad way for quite a while, but thankfully he is still with us, as you can see from the start of this post.

Even though this was a bad accident, it did not put me off, and I have continued to ride ever since. I enjoy the immense feeling of freedom, the speed, the ability to bypass traffic, the commoraderie (all bikers nod or wave at each other), the race meets, touring, in fact the whole shbang. let me finish this bit with a little road safety message about speed. Speed does not kill, bad driving and inappropriate speed kills. If speed kills then I and many others would be long gone. I agree that if you combine it with bad driving, then you had better get used to the fact you might not be here long.

I am already planning some biking for after my chemo, one trip for me, and one as a fund raiser. The trip for me would be to the Tour de France, to follow it for a few days, and to see the race in the high mountains, something I have never done. Will need a better bile for that trip, so had better get saving. The other is something I had always thought about for my retirement, but might be good to bring forward. I fancy a fund raiser, a round the UK, by the longest coastal road route, ie that nearst the sea, on a moped, camping and b&b on the way. The fact its on a moped would make it fun, I think, but certainly different, and slow. I have already started thinking about this trip, and will be seeking some sponsors provided I am recovered enough to do it, raising funds for St Catherine's Hospice and Cancer Research. So what does the week ahead bring, well hopefully a few days out with Sarah, doing lunch, but mainly getting as well as possible, as a week Monday its round 3 already.

Watching soaring Eagles

What a couple of days for sport. The main climax being CRYSTAL PALACE beating Cardiff in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi final. For those overseas, the Carling Cup is THE soccer cup competition on the world for club teams. It takes the best of the league teams in a knockout competition, and just by being in the semi finals, the Palace (known as the Eagles) have proved themselves to be in the top 4 teams in the world, as I have always known. They have a 1-0 lead going into the second leg in Cardiff, which means it will be a tight game. Look out Wembley, we are coming back. The other semi final is between two village teams, one from Manchester who play in powder blue, and one from Liverpool, who play in red. Either way I think Palace will do the job and win.

I have also had the chance to watch the BDO darts world championships coverage on TV. Now I am not sure how this counts as sport. Darts is traditionally a game played in the pub accompanied by lots of beer. Looking at the top players, they make me look slim, and untill recently mid match refeshments were, guess what, beer. This has been reviewed in recent years and now they have water to make the sport appear more healthy. Garish shirts are the preferred kit worn by the players, often with thier nicknames on the back. Looking at the crowds present, its a almost a mirror image of the players. Lots of groups drinking beer, eating un-healthy food, cheering, chanting and laughing, plenty of fancy dress - sounds great, anyone want to join me next year?

As for me, its a slow process, each day feeling better in the morning but still need to retreat to bed after lunch, but later each day.

Bye for now

The rough with the smooth

Well, thats been tough. I promised myself when I started this blog that I would be honest, and the past week has certainly been tough, more mentally than physically I think. The chemo followed basically the same pattern as before, except the last few days have really dragged, unlike the days before which are just a blur. Yesterday was my first day out of bed and I felt good all morning, however after lunch I felt really tired so, as promised, I listened to my body and went back to bed. Next thing its evening time and I cant face getting up as just so tired still, so I stayed in bed, and sleep, open eyes and its just before 6 this morning. Where did that go. I find it incredibly frustrating being so tired, after leading an increadibly active life, that I have the occaisional down moment. I have to draw on my reserves of PMA to tell myself that this is actually part of the process I must go through to help me through this, and that this down blip is only temporary. This mornng I feel better than yesterday and have started making some plans for the next week or so, little hobbies that I can pick up again simply, which will help me focus. The positive side is I have 2 weeks now before the next treatment, so thats 2 weeks of getting better when the roller coaster will start again.

Anyway, the good news over the last week, is once again, more old friends have been in touch, some I haven't spoken to in many years, and I find that very comforting. I hope once the chemo is finished, to catch up personally with everyone, as that would be so good. Sarah has again been working so hard looking after me, and the kids, she really is a star. I also spoke to my oncologist yesterday regarding my blood test results, and he is pleased with them, they are in line with his best expectations, so that's good news too. He is sorting a new scan before my next round of chemo, so we can see how the tumours are reacting, fingers, legs, eyes all crossed for that result then.

Time for brekki, boiled eggs today I think, then more time on the sofa as I need to be careful. Maybe I will take the dog for a short walk later, as I need to keep active.

Hi again

Hi all

Quick post to day back in the world of the living - just

More tomorrow

Thursday update

As promised a short update

Thanks to DT PC SK and AK for their visit last night, very helpful, great nights sleep. Woke feeling quite good, but now sleepynes has kicked in again, so just going to spend the day in bed

Morning after the day before

Hi all

So far it seems as though this round is following the same pattern as the first. Got home last night and had fish and chips, well a little fish with no batter and a few chips, nice and easy to eat. I had hiccups for nearly 2 hours after leaving the hospital, then awoke with indegestion and heartburn, plus a barking dog. This kept me up for nearly 2 hours, but this time there se no deep and meaningful posts fom me. I know they can give me something to help, so next visit I will make sure I take it. Awoke this morning and made the kids lunches, and theu have now left for school.

I have also learnt another lesson I should share, in case any of you have the misfortune to have chemo, which I truely hope you do not, and loose your hair. I think it will only apply to the men, but you never know. As your hair falls out the scalp gets quite sensitive, almost like sun burn. Well before i shaved my head, the longer hair protected the scal to a degree, especially when sleeping. As I have now shaved my head, it does not have his protection, so when lying down, if I move, then it can be quite sore, just a warning for ou all. I understand once its all out this will go away.

I expect i will be quite quiet on here for the next few days, do not worry, I will probably just be sleeping and recovering. Will try and do a short update when I feel up to it

Good news

Just had my blood test back from this morning and its excellant news. My primary marker has dropped 80% and my secondary by 50% which shows I have really responded extremely well to the first round of treatment. Just having my first chemo drip of 2 today, bring it on

Thanks to everyone for all your help, support, prayers and thoughts, they are really helping

Fed up waiting ...

...for the hair to fall out so shaved it all off again!!