Time at home always means....

.....doctors and blood tests and scans and MRIs (this week anyway), patches and physical therapists AND RESULTS

So, out of all that, the news is sweet and sour. The sweet is VERY sweet as the blood test shows that the tumour markers have gone down again. And the liver function has improved. Yeah!

The sour is that the pain is not going away and not really being masked by all the medication and patches that are being used. CT scan and MRI both show that the tumour in the (psoas) back muscle is impinging on the nerves at L2 and L3 (for those in the know) ie lower back.

So... I have more medication than you can poke a stick at, and than I've ever had in my life before, with instructions for consumption that I need to make notes on - to be sure I'm taking the right one at the right time. Phew! It's more than a full-time job.

And I have them in bulk, because on 31st October I am flying to Durban, South Africa to stay with Nikki and her family until 7 December. I'll need a whole separate bag just for the drugs and the herbs :-). And, of course, letters from relevant medicos explaining why I'm carrying such a stash of drugs.

And now to move totally away from all that drama....... the sweet, exciting news is that Tim's 40th birthday party is on tomorrow night. Big celebrations for the family and his friends.

Yes! I have a 40 year-old son, and a 41 year-old daughter. I must have been a child bride :-)

And Nikki is flying in tomorrow morning in time for her brother's party and a week catching up with family in QLD. She and I arrive in SA on the same day but on different airlines. She's using frequent flyer points on Cathay Pacific and I'm using hard-earned $$$$ on QANTAS.

The Hopemobile is about to be put into hibernation until at least after Christmas.

As soon as I return from SA, my sister arrives from Canada to stay until March. So, it's busy, busy, busy.

I hope your life has the sweetness in it that mine does.

Friday 21 October @ 4pm