The Past Month

OK. Lots has happened since I was here last.  To my dear, dear friends who read regularly, I apologise for not having posted for a whole month.

Leigh and I had a wonderful few days in Melbourne at the tennis. Great hospitality from Marie in South Yarra, bit of shopping, bit of dining out, bit of dining in, bit of catching up with friends - oh and two great days at Rod Laver Arena to see the quarter finals of the Australian Tennis Open.  The weather was sensational the whole time, our flights were on time and our chauffeur, Bob Speed, was right there to drive us back to Wollongong from the airport.

The shooting stick did its job as the pain increased. So - this pain situation had to be dealt with at a higher level!   I called the palliative care team, as pain management is their specialty, and the lovely doctor came to see me at home. We talked for a long time about - well about the pain, and he prescribed some more drugs and suggested we talk on the phone each day to discuss how things were going. So, those telephone conversations went on for quite a while as I was adding, increasing and altering different medications. Finally, on 14 February, I had my first pain-free day.  It's hilarious to see the collection of pills I have (several colours of the rainbow), and watching the process of sorting which ones need to be taken at which time of day. One morning I couldn't remember whether I'd taken them or not, so, not wanting to double up I didn't take any. By the afternoon I certainly knew that I hadn't taken the morning dose. No harm done, I downed the evening dose a bit early and was rewarded with almost instant relief.

In the meantime, on 7 February, I commenced my radiotherapy treatment at the Cancer Care Centre at Wollongong Hospital. My time slot each day is usually some time between 1.30pm and 2pm.  Leigh came with me for the first week (then she went home to Canada) and we went on the Gong Shuttle - a free bus that goes from close to my home right past the hospital. It all worked really well. The treatment is not invasive - I just lie on a metal table with my abdomen exposed, the therapists make sure I'm in the right position and then a big machine moves around me making noises at different stages. Since Leigh left for home, her husband Bob has been driving me to the hospital, waiting for me and then driving me home.  He's reading Peter Fitzsimon's book, "Kokoda", and looks forward to his reading time while he's waiting for me.

Week #1 of the therapy came and went without incident or repercussions. The pain was finally under control by 14 February and, apart from it raining every day, things seemed to be going swimmingly. After the first day of Week #2 of treatment things started to go haywire. I threw up for most of the night, and the second night, and the fourth night. Consultation with a radiotherapy doctor concluded that it probably wasn't the therapy that caused the nausea. There are a few options as to what has caused it but no-one is really sure. Tonight is the fifth night. I've reduced my diet to fluids and soft food, not eating much at all, and am hoping that there won't be a repeat performance tonight. It's horrible, it's exhausting, it's messy, it's painful, it's....well, it's just YUK.

I'm still pain-free, still taking loads of pills and still hoping that tonight will be incident-free.

Sunday 19 February @ 8pm

Bone scan all clear !

As the title says - the bone scan shows no metasteses (secondary tumors) in my bones. Good news, eh? Saturday morning at 9.30am and I'm still in bed with a cuppa.

Shooting stick acquired, thanks

The power of the www is amazing. A Wollongong friend has delivered her father-in-law's shooting stick this morning. A visit to Dr Chen today has topped me up with all herbal pills for the next 3 weeks. He also recommended a bone scan as he is concerned that the pain is not abating with the amount of medication I'm on. Have made appointments for a referral and then a scan in the next two days. Better to check it out, I think. Wednesday 18 January @ 7pm still watching the tennis.

This planet!

http://justpaste.it/3ky

Am I a little less wise?

Last week I had a wisdom tooth extracted. Does that mean I'm a little less wise?  What is the origin of this dental term?

Have also had my hair cut and coloured, battled with both Optus and Telstra re internet connection to my laptop, iPhone and iPad.  All satisfatorily resolved without too much angst or money. Lots of dinners and lunches and visits and fun.

Still lots of pain and am increasing the medication accordingly.

I've had my tattoos applied in preparation for the radiotherpay which will now commence on Tuesday 7 February.  I have to have 20 days of treatment, all consecutive, except for weekends.

Next week Leigh and I are going to Melbourne to the Australian Tennis Open. My most comfortable position is sitting, so I'll be fine most of the time.  Standing around gives me my most uncomfortable moments. I'm going to try to find a "shooting stick" to take with me so that I can rest on it on those occasions when we are wandering around. Let me know if you have one hidden away in a cupboard.

Right now I'm watching the second day of the tournament on the television. It's Tuesday 17 January at 12.50pm

Some pics that tell the story

My sister, Leigh arrived from Canada at the beginning of December. We have been lucky enough to stay in a friend's apartment together until the end of December. She was very pleased to visit two of her Sydney grandchildren, Percy and Ophelia, very soon after she arrived. Their 3-month-old brother, Felix was sleeping during the photo shoot

Late in December I flew to the Gold Coast to spend Christmas with Tim, Debs, Oscar and Debs' parents, June and Ross. On Christmas Day, Spiderman Oscar helped his Daddy in the office at his work for a few hours.

When it was time for presents, Spiderman helped Tim and Debs

The lunch table was magnificent, as was the delicious meal we ate there.

It wouldn't be Christmas in Australia without a visit to the beach with Daddy and the new surf board.

The surf was very rough, so there were only a couple of rides on the board - close to shore

A 'togetherness' moment

On 30 December I was invited to officiate at the wedding of Saffron and Remi. They are saying their vows.

                                         And now they are relaxed after the formalities

Leigh and I celebrated the coming of 2012 with friends at dinner at a beach cafe. It was great fun and we managed to stay awake until midnight.

Yesterday (3 January) I celebrated 65 years on this earth. Who would have thought I'd still be here. Hip hip hooray! Life is good and I'm making the most of it.

Nothing to report on the health front. The painkillers are doing their job. Next week I see the radiotherapist and receive my 'tatttoo' and the treatment starts in early February.

So................... Happy New Year, everyone. Thanks for reading for another year.

The Last Month

Yep. I've realised it's a month since my last post. So, here goes....

More of the same, more of the same in Durban, expecially lots of walking around the estate and some partying with the children. There are photos which will appear on this blog as soon as I can figure it out again :)

We also went to a beautiful game lodge - Phinda Game Reserve - for 2 nights before I returned home. Nikki and the children and I drove 3 hours north of Durban to this magnificent game reserve and had a brilliant experience. We saw The Big Five as well as lots of other beautiful African wildlife, birdlife and flora. Our accommodation was first class and all-in-all it was a brilliant experience- I've already said that once, but it deserves to be said 'at least' twice :)

Sadly, since our return Zeke has been sick with tick fever which he contracted at Phinda and Nikki has been ill as well. At the time of writing this, they are both hail and hearty again.

The day after returning from Phinda, it was time for me to return home. Nikki and the children took me to the airport in Durban where I boarded a domestic flight to Johannesburg and then an international flight back to Sydney.  It was my great fortune to know the Captain of the flight who very kindly arranged for me to be upgraded to Business Class, to be looked after beautifully by the cabin crew, to visit the cockpit after we had landed and then to chauffeur me home to Wollongong, as he also lives here. Now that's really door-to-door service!

 See, I wasn't kidding about being in the cockpit - or any of the other stuff!!

And since then - whew! It's been a whirlwind. Nice to be hoime, but not for long.  I moved into a friend's apartment to house-and-plant-sit.  Among the many advantages of this is that there is room for my sister, Leigh to stay with me. Leigh arrived from Canada a few days after my return and we've been having a very sisterly time since.

Among the things that sisters do for each other is to come to medical appointments. We visited the radiologist who confirmed that I will need to have radiation because of the severe pain caused by one of the tumours putting pressure on a nerve in my back. Because the pain killing drugs are doing such a good job, this treatment can be delayed until February, when I will have the time to attend the clinic for 20 doses of radiation on 20 successive working days. The aim is to reduce the inflammation and subsequent swelling in the muscle which houses the tumour, hence taking pressure off the nerve.  Hope it works! Then I can give up all these drugs.

And now I'm in Queensland.  Arrived yesterday on the Gold Coast to spend a week, including Christmas, with Tim and Debs and Oscar and a few of those days with Debs' parents who will arrive tomorrow. Lots of present wrapping today and now they are under the tree until the big day.

Her are a few photos from my holiday in South Africa

Arriving in Durban on 2 November, after being delayed for 2 days by QANTAS being grounded due to an industrial dispute.

Willow performing her one-girl concert for me in my bedroom. And she can hold a tune!

Zeke is an 8 year old who never has a book out of his hands. I like it!

The Hadidas bird, of which there are many, whose job it was to screech loudly as it flew past my bedroom window at about 4.45am each day. Aaaagh!

The monkey who had a lot fo mates, all of whom raided the house and took all available food from kitchen bench, if no-one was alert enough to call out "Monkey alert' so we could close doors and windows. Oh yes, they look very cute, but .....

High tea party in Willow's classroom for end of year celebrations.

All of us at brunch with friends at a favourite restaurant.

That's all for now - 12.42am on Friday 23 December.