Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated

Nigel told me that some friends at work were concerned that further chemotherapy treatment meant a relapse in my condition. I reiterated that the treatment I am under going is to prevent/reduce the chances of recurrence in the future. When I finish in early October I will have completed my 'nuclear' journey (hurrah!). 

Just before we went away last week I lost another dear Aunt, Shirley. Her death was totally unexpected and very sudden, she was a feisty woman, full of life who worked up until 3 weeks before she died. This was another terrible blow for the whole family, I have managed to rearrange my chemotherapy appointment to attend her funeral later in the month.

Devon was a bit like the Parson's egg, good in parts, for all but 2 days the weather was atrocious. I managed the drive down on the Saturday after my infusion but was shattered when we arrived. The extreme sensitivety to cold that I suffer in that first week after treatment meant that I could barely stand going outside in the inclement weather.

This picture shows how pathectic I am in that week, the gloves are thinsulate and my feet were already numb by this point. The beach was only a 10 minute walk from the chalet.
Stella ended up doing a lot of walking and taking the kids to the beach in the week, including taking Martha swimming in the sea! I on, the other hand, spent most of the time in the chalet reading or sleeping. The kids watched a lot of videos.

It wasn't all bad though....

Gabriel at Baggy point.

The kids enjoying Pasties and a sausage roll at Clovelly. Stella and I had a hot mackerel bap here and they were superb.

We also had some nice meals in 'The Thatch' at Croyde and 'Squires' in Braunton.

Unfortunately I picked up a virus and we came home a day earlier than planned, I became progressively more ill through Friday night and ended up in Pembury hospital in the early hours of Saturday morning only to be discharged at lunch time. The problem is that my treatment does have an impact on my immune system which makes me more susceptible to this type of thing, that said, talking the consultant even a 'normal' person would have succumbed. I just have to be as careful as I can to avoid contact with any such virus. I must confess that, in the early hours of Saturday, I thought this may be more sinister than it was.

I have learnt a lesson here, that first week after infusion is probably best kept with a low profile, certainly up until Wednesday. I think that driving down and back, the return journey took 9 hours and was very stressful, depleted my strength too much and contributed to the resulting illness. What I am relieved about is that so far none of the misfortunes I have suffered during this phase of treatment are directly attributable to the chemotherapy.

Finally, I am still receiving cards and well wishes from friends specifically, this month, cards from White and Blue watch Wandsworth. But everybody continues contact either through texts, phone calls, email, comments on this blog, visits or invites to 'brunch'. This contact is beyond value and continues to bolster my spirits.