The fatigue. The Hopemobile. A new baby coming. A new house in Atlanta, USA

Wow! This fatigue from radiotherapy really is strong. But then, some say that all the pain killing medication I'm on will also make me feel bleary, zonked out and hardly able to get off the couch.

I know that in my last entry I said that the dexamethasone was helping me feel more chipper. And it has - for a while - I've had energy in the mornings and then flopped on the couch or into bed in the afternoons.

ANYWAY - that is all about to be remedied, I hope.  Yesterday was a good start. It was time  to go see the oncologist and to hear the results of the blood test I had last week. The blood test revealed that one of the tumour markers was well down to the normal range (Yeah!) but the other was up (Boo!).  The dear doctor prefers to rely on the first reading and was very happy and congratulated me on how well I looked and how well I was according to the results. My liver function has improved and all else is in order.

He had a feel of my tummy, as he always does, and we discussed the tumour that has been sitting on my left side, bulging and making me uncomfortable while not actually growing or causing pain.  He says it needs a little message to stay at the size it is, so he recommended that I restart oral chemotherapy in small doses to send that message.  I've taken it before and it really doesn't have a noticeable effect on my lifestyle.

He also noticed how spaced out I seemed to be compared with my usual sharp, chirpy self and suggested I consult with the pain management doctor about reducing some of those drugs.  When he saw the list of drugs I was on he was surprised at the strength.  He expects the effects of the radiotherapy to start taking effect soon. So.... on my arrival home, after an icecream at the beach with my trusty off-sider, Roslyn, I called the pain management man and after brief discussion he agreed that I should come off some of them and that he will call in tomorrow to discuss, review and amend dosages. I love that he will come to me and I don't need to go and sit in a waiting room to see him.

All good news conspires to make you feel better. My son's new baby is due to be born in Brisbane on 12 April - very soon.  My daughter and her husband have bought a house in Atalanta, Georgia, USA and are moving there, from Durban, South Africa, in June.


Maybe I'll make it to the POWERtalk Convention in Hawaii in July on my way to visit them in Atlanta.

And I've asked my dear friend, Grahame, who cares for the Hopemobile for me when I'm not careering around the coutryside in it, to take it out of moth balls because I plan to set off in early April, heading west and then north and then east again, so that I can be in Brisbane for the arrival of the baby.

Right now I'm sitting up in bad with tea and toast, writing to you and ready to face a new day. It's 7am on Tuesday 20 March here in Wollongong, Australia.

Enjoy your day. I'm looking froward to lunch with two lovely friends.