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Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

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Two Hours in the Tube

Yesterday, Helen dropped me off at Amersham station and I took the train into Marylebone, mistakenly thinking that the Marylebone address of the imaging center meant it would be nearby. It turned out to be about a mile’s walk on the other side of Marylebone.

I still managed to arrive early where I was immediately given three forms to complete. Joy. As I did this I got to chat with my neighbour who’s currently battling her fourth distinct cancer. What spirits she had.

It was soon time for my scan. I spent two hours in the MRI machine. The technicians here didn’t seem as sensitive to the patients comfort as those in Australia. First, the back of my head began to really hurt. I squeezed my bulb to bring help and they immediately put something quite comfortable under my head. Why they didn’t do this up front, I don’t know.

Then my back and backside began to seriously hurt. A bulb squeeze later and I have a very comfortable support placed behind my back. I never had any of these problems in Australia. I’ll know what to tell them next time.

Today it’s more or less a repeat trip, this time to Harley Street no less, to see a specialist dermatologist. The insect bite on my face remains swollen despite the latest round of anti-biotics and it is possible that my recent sickness is related.

A Tale of Two Doctors

On Monday, I saw my GP principally to talk to him about my recent knee X-Rays. Turns out I have some early thinning of the cartilage – something to watch. I also complained about the lack of contact from any physio for my shoulder and asked to start the process again, this time with my private health insurance (may as well use it). He agreed. We’ll see.

I also talked about my general health, my recent lethargy/tiredness and my even more recent recurrence of an apparant infection in my cheek ‘insect bite’. He ordered blood tests to which I had to go to Amersham hospital making their 4pm close by the skin of my teeth. Now we have to wait a few days.

Today Helen and I went to see Prof Linch. He also ordered blood tests which were taken before our appointment. Within minutes I had the results in my hand. Some of the readings were below normal but entirely consistent with what we went through last year. He was worried about my cheek infection and is ordering an appointment with a dermatologist. He gave me a thorough examination after which he decided to move the MRI forward. We don’t know if this because he saw something or because, on balance, he reckons appeasing our worries is more beneficial than waiting two more weeks. Regardless, the result is, I know have my MRI booked for tomorrow and will probably see Prof Linch the following Tuesday.

We’re so glad we can learn one way or the other sooner rather than later. Although I feel a little better today it’s hard not to dispel the dreaded ‘R’ (relapse) word from our minds. We’ve not discussed this directly but have both expressed our worries to each other which indirectly amounts to the same thing.

So hopefully we’ll get a general all clear. If not we have to find the strength to go back into battle. Can’t say this thrills either of us, particularly with our plans for this year. I think we had both hoped we’d have more of a reprieve than what we may only have got. It’s a bit tough thinking about all this at the moment.

Brief update

The trip back to Henley was a little mixed. The recent period of colder and wetter than normal (which sounds normal for the UK) had failed to abate so the town’s charms were not available for us. The property we were revisiting, on a second viewing, looked more tatty than we remembered and we both left feel less enthusiastic towards it.

(Incidentally, these are the last pics I plan to capture from my phone as I now have a replacement for my old camera still stuck in “Lens Error”)

The estate agent knows we won’t be making any decisions until after our specialist visit on June 11th. He said there already is an alternate offer on the place. We said we wouldn’t compromise our position. If the place is still available when we’re happy to make a decision then it’s still possible I suppose.

In contrast, the Star Trek movie, Into Darkness, was a lot of fun.

That evening we went to the Aylesbury Lymphoma Support group seeing some now familiar faces.

On Saturday we drove to Guildford to attend the Lymphoma Association AGM and patient/carer conference. It was a very interesting day, particularly hearing of current developments for new treatments. Prof Linch was a guest speaker. Although we were in front of him, four rows back, he didn’t recognize us.

Helen’s persuaded me to book an early appointment to see him about my recent drowsiness which is stubbornly refusing to go away.

==

A Few Days in Cornwall

The last few days have been largely influenced by my feeling unwell. It’s possible I picked up a flu or cold from a friend as my initial symptoms have been similar to his. My recovery period seems to have been a lot longer requiring long periods of rest and sleep. I’ve even stayed off the booze. Mostly.

For the last day or so I’ve been improving so that’s good news. Of course, with the big L hanging over us, anything like this has an additional concern. Got to find the right balance between self assessment and obsession.

With pretty poor weather, this has meant we’ve spent most of the time at home with Lois and Robin. We have been out and about though. We’ve had a walk around Penzance in blistering cold wind. Stuck in my mind is the image of a listtle old lady hauling herself along a wall against the wind. We’ve visited Helen’s brother Peter and his wife Dianne. And we’ve been out for a circular walk from Treen where we started, stopped and dined at The Logan Rock Inn.

Sunday was very much a day of rest. Today we start heading home. We’ll stop off again at Ben’s as we did on the way down. This time we hope to see nephew Simon who will be there at the same time. Tomorrow we’ll go back to Henley for a second viewing of the property we are looking into before, perhaps, taking in he new Star Trek movie.

To Cornwall

Taking advantage of the fact that our friends Anne and John were in the country last weekend, we decided to take a break.

First stop was Swindon on Monday to visit Anne and John who were staying with their son Martin. As the weather was nice we decided to have lunch at the Red Lion, Avebury. This pub has the distinction of being inside a stone circle.

We had a wander around the standing stones, the nearby village and over to, but not up, Silbury Hill.

John had work on in Zurich so was whisked away shortly before 5pm. Helen and I spent the evening with Anne before and stayed the night.

The next morning we were off to Yate to visit Ben, Sarah’s father. Sarah is Helen’s cousin who looked after us last year.

Another pub dinner was in order for evening meal. We drove over to the Severn River and watched the sun setting over Wales from the vantage point offered by the mount on which St Arida Church was built. This time final destination was The Anchor Inn at Oldbury-on-Severn.

The next day our destination was Penzance, Cornwall, to visit Helen’s sister and her husband, Robin. To break the trip, we stopped off at Launceton to visit the old castle there. The weather had now turned cold and it started to rain while we were there so the castle visit was brief.

For now, here’s a few pics, including some from Henley-on-Thames.