Busy, Busy, Busy

The two weeks before my treatments are always packed with things and this time has not been exception. I have been so busy that the blog has taken a back seat. So what have I been up to.
Saturday, 15th May and Sunday, 16th May
Not a weekend to write home about. We did nothing. My husband worked in the garden and I just played on the laptop and watched catch up TV. As I said earth shattering.
Monday, 17th May
This is now the start of an interesting week. Today the upholster is taking our sofa and arm chair away to be upholstered. This can only be a good thing I hear you say but we now have at least five days without anything to sit on and I have visitors?! Spent a lovely day in the conservatory, did some sewing and just chilled.
Tuesday, 18th May

Today I was going to Cheshire Oaks, but changed my mind and visited the Trafford Centre. This retail therapy lark is getting expensive, but very enjoyable. Made another batch of lemon cup cakes. Just I was finishing them off my visitor turned up. She watched as I put the finishing touches to the cup cakes and we had a good chat in the conservatory and of course a cup cake tasting.
Wednesday, 19th May
Not a great deal to report. Another day in the conservatory. I went to Marks and Spencer and bought the dream picnic, got home and started putting it together for tomorrow. My husband went to see Iron Man 2 with a friend.
Thursday, 20th May
ANTIQUES ROADSHOW - TATTON PARK

Well my friend came over on time. I had spent the morning getting ready and putting the finishing touches to the picnic. I drove and we got to Tatton Park on time, 09:30. I could not believe the number of people that were already here. We queued for nearly two and half hours, we finally got to the reception and were give our chitties for the sections we were going to. In the time we spent queuing I met up with a mate my pops and caught up on what was happening in his life and then arranged to meet up again when my pops comes over.
We then went into our next queue for Collectables. We finally met our first expert who was pleased to see our little treasure trove of Guinness goodies. We had a very favourable valuation, a little surprising I have to say.
We went to our next queue for my friend. We then met the books expert who shed some light on the little prayer book.
We then sat in some shade before going to our next queue for ceramics. I briefly sat in the company of Henry Sandon (Mr Royal Worcester). Unfortunately he was whisked off to lunch and I had to be directed to another expert. Again it was a fascinating glimpse into their knowledge. I have a selection of Royal Lancashire/Pilkington Pottery. All were very favourable valuations and one very shocking one. I just don't want to tell mother how much they are as she may want to take them back with her.
After our queuing my friend and I decided that we would head back to the car and have our picnic. We sat in the car and slowly ate our way through the picnic basket. Pate, Smoked Salmon, Couscous salad with chicken, Mixed summer berries and cream. We even had food to spare.
Once returned home it was time to put my feet up and rest up after a very interesting and informative day.
Friday, 21st May

Hurray! The sofa has returned. What a job? It just fits in with everything. Just hope I can find some cushions and other accessories to go with it.
It is now a lot firmer, forgot what it was like. Just hope our little visitor (Tom the cat) does not get ideas with his claws.

Third treatment and beyond

The accumulated effect is really taking hold. Not that I have been or felt sick as such I have had other digestion issues. They say about constipation and diarrhoea but to happen one after the other in a couple hours is the strangest of things. Once one has clears then the other comes with vengeance and also keeps me up in the middle of the night. I am now up to at least 3 months of not sleeping a whole night through.
As soon as the house starts waking up, that is my husband makes his way to the shower room I am awake and then dose until he either leaves or within an hour of his departure, at 06:30 is a little early if you at home all day. Then I go to bed and still can not settle properly, either knowing which side to best sleep on or just to get comfortable.
I have taken to having the laptop on and watching catch up TV or listening to iTunes on shuffle (which can come up with some surprising selections.) I have blogged on this already and some of the other things that I have been doing, but when you can not get comfortable or are very tired it takes on a whole new meaning.
I am thankful for people posting things on Facebook or emailing me just to break up my thoughts, which this time round have been very depressing. It does not help that my neighbour is now going for an operation - I wish her well and will be there for her as she has been there for me. I have been close to tears but this time I have actually spilt some, which is not me. I don't want to be like this and have tried to be 'brave' for everyone but sometimes it is just a step beyond what I can do alone.
I will not be able to talk to my mom and pops for the next couple of weeks, they are going on a cruise round South East Asia, I think this will be a strange thing as I have enjoyed being able to switch on my computer and within a couple of minutes my Skype rings and I have a chat with mom, either face to face or just voice. Either way it has been useful to know that they are there.
Well I have rounded the corner and will have a weekend to do stuff and full packed two weeks which I am sure will make for interesting blogging. I have lunches planned, days out, the theatre, visits from colleagues and of course more time to play on my computer.

In sickness and in health...

Firstly, please, please, please, PLEASE, don't let my husband read this. Not that I do not want him to see what I have written it is just that it will go to his head and we all know where that will lead. I for one will not hear the end of it and I am sure he would love to trot it out at any family gathering, to anyone who will listen. Especially as it will now be in black and white for all to see.
When I was walked down the aisle by my father, over 16 years ago, and stood in front of the vicar did I really understand the enormity of what I was about to say. The oath that you say may be antiquated and have been written many centuries ago but it still holds true today, well at least for some. For richer and poorer, in sickness and health etc. may seem many miles away from the enjoyment of the day but they are very sure ideas.
Since taking my oath to love my husband, but not obey, we have had what I have always thought a partnership of understanding, even if the compromises have been something to work on.
I met my husband through a youth organisation and I really remember him through the careful introduction by a very good friend, we are still very good friends with him today. We were there for each other from the very beginning with job losses and promotions. We had the usual misunderstandings over the phone and spent a lovely summer in 'love'. It was the summer of Bryan Adams and Robin Hood - not something now I have as a flag but then it was a testament to how long we had been going out with each other. We met each others families and so on. By the Christmas we had decided to get married, date to be decided, we enjoyed being with each other enough to give it a go.
We set about raising money for house deposits and arranging the finer things like where and when we would get married. At the outset it all seemed pretty easy. We moved out of the confines of Birmingham to something a little smaller and moved to the Staffordshire town of Tamworth. The initial bedding in of living together was fraught. We would argue like cat and dog, even to the point that the neighbours complained that the noise was scaring the kids! The one true thing was that if anything was wrong or difficult we had each other.
After about four or five years of living in this semi sleepy town my husband was offered a job in near Manchester. I was at this point trying to establish myself as a contractor and was spending a lot of my time in London. The move was made and in the end my work in London had to be re-thought and I even ended up with a job in the centre of Manchester as well.
Personally I think the move was the best thing we ever did. Not only for the friends we have met, being reunited with the friend who got us together, but also we had full independence from family and friends in the Midlands that we would both run to if there something was wrong. We had to work it out for ourselves!
I know some of you are saying that you know all that, or that you would wish me to get on with it. What I have outlined is probably the usual things that go on in a marriage. The oath, the compromise, the working together and so on. No one, not in the help books or in conversation say about what the oath really means or how it works. We live in a time where people give up too easily and move on to the next relationship, the next big test. When we moved to the North West it was not even on my horizon to turn round and say I want to carry on with what I am doing in London you can go on your own. I just stuck with my husband for richer for poorer.
Now to the reason for this blog entry. The line in sickness and in health is very apt. I saw my in-laws work through their cancer battles and saw my own parents work through theirs. It must be hard for my husband to see me in such pain and discomfort. I know I am not a good patient so it must be double. Having the tables turned I really don't know how I could cope with it all.
In the past couple of months my husband has been patient beyond the requirements of anyone. Has kept his own counsel when needed and asked questions when I had none. He has made sure that I have been comfortable. He has not complained about my little extravagances or purchases. He has been a wonderful chef. He has looked after my car, even though it is not being driven. He has worked on the garden even though I have not shown the interest in what he has done as before. He is keeping the house going, even if he has complained about the increase in the phone bill and heating bill. More often than not he has shown little flashes of caring, from the gentle kiss goodnight or good morning to sitting up with me while I am trying to get comfortable to sleep. It is always the little things that mean more.
So if he does get to read this or someone does say something about this blog. I love him very much and think that he is the best friend I have ever had.

General hobbies while at home

I know the following blog is not about my treatment and what is happening directly to me but it is my way of saying that I am not just lying in bed after a treatment that I am trying to keep brain active if not totally bodily active.
I am catching up on films and TV programmes as much as possible. As you will have seen in previous blogs I have found ITV iPlayer and BBC iPlayer as well as others. My latest viewing was an episode of Ultimate Force with Richard Armitage in and not forgetting Ross Kemp.
I have taken up talking books so that I don't have to hold a heavy tome for too long, with this I subscribe to Audible.co.uk - a great site if you want to follow Stephen Fry and myself with being able to do two things at once. I probably don't follow Stephen's reading list but I do listen to him. I am currently listening to Richard Armitage reading Slyvester and Venetia - both books by Georgette Heyer. I will probably keep this up after treatment to help with my journey to work and doing more walking/exercise.
I am playing around with poetry, that is reading and writing it. I will post some samples at a later date. I have even taken the step of submitting examples of my work to competitions. I am also trying to plan and write short stories and possibly expanding to something a little more substantial. Not that Elizabeth Gaskell or Jane Austen will have anything to worry about.
I am updating my knowledge of classical music by acquiring a selection of CDs on some of my favourite composers and even trying to discover others. My current selection includes Sir Edward Elgar, J S Bach, and new to the fold Sir John Tavener and have then gone a little left field I have bought Dean Martin, as a member of the Rat Pack he was a brilliant entertainer and singer.
I am still working on sorting my photo library I have not touch it since at least 2007, they get taken off the camera and put on my laptop without naming or filing them in to some sort of story. I am getting through 2008 as I type but it is a bit boring and I cannot always remember who or what the picture is of. I am working on a whole load of photos that I scanned when my grandmother died in 2007 as well, this is taking longer as I have no idea who people are and in most cases they died a long time ago.
My next thing is working on my Family History. With the help of some of my grandmothers photos and documents that she had in her possession I have managed to make some head way, but now I need to tidy up the Family Tree software and the links within of some of the family members I have found. This is going to take a lot of time and it is surprising how quickly time goes as you delving into the past. I have managed with some luck get back to 1645 or there abouts with the EVE family (my grandmothers direct family). I have even managed to link up with family on my dads side over in Canada. The big surprise is that Mom and Pops are not the first family members to sell up and head off to Australia. Of course I have been doing this for sometime I just have time now to confirm my findings and cross reference with other research done by my many cousins around the world.

If I am not found on the computer, which now seems to be strapped to my wrists, I could be found doing cross stitch. This is my next project. One of the girls at work is due to have a baby later in the year and thought that I could spend a little time doing it. I have done this project a couple of times before and it is quite straightforward. I just have to wait for the name of said baby and the date of birth so that I can put it at the bottom. Once framed it will make a nice little present.
So I have so many things that I am doing that I don't know where to start sometimes. There again if I did not have anything to do I would be bored and the phone bill would be out of this world. Most of the time I am doing more that one thing at a time, not that I would call it multi-tasking! If you have any new ideas for hobbies, books to listen to or narrators to try then just leave a comment.

Warm up to treatment

Wednesday, 5 May 2010
Due to mix up on my part I missed out on a lunch with the friend. So as a change to my diary I decided to take myself off to the cinema. A place I have not been for while. Mainly due to time and the fact that there has been very little released lately that has inspired me to hand over money.
So what was my choice for this return to the cinema. Well there was a limited choice and I thought I would try out 3D, something that I have always had problems with due in part to the glasses. As a glasses wearer it has been difficult to co-habit two pairs of glasses on your face when they are flimsy paper/card versions. Thankfully now they are robust and go over a pair of glasses with no problems. The only thing I did feel was some sort of motion sickness effects at some points.
Not that I am a film critic and I know I have certain likes and dislikes within film. I do understand that viewing films is down to personal taste. I have to be honest I was not a fan of Alice in Wonderland. I love Tim Burton and he has a habit of breathing new life into certain genres but on this occasion the saintly Johnny Depp could not help this film. Ann Hathaway was so hammy and camp I thought I was watching the wrong film. All the British acting talent was mainly through voices and minor roles. Overall it was a couple of hours in my day and something that I could have waited till was on DVD. However, all that said at least 3D is now something that will not stop me from watching a film and if it is dedicated to 3D then I will see it.

Thursday, 6 May 2010
First thing of the day was to go to the hospital for my blood test, this will determine if I am fit enough for my next treatment. She took two attempts to extract the two files of blood required. I am now bruised and marked again. I hope people don't think that I doing anything else?!
I think I should have revolving doors fitted to the front door. At lunchtime I had two colleagues from a previous office come in their lunch 'hour' to see how I was getting on. It was great to have the banter and carried on from where we left off.
Not long after they left Tesco came round and delivered my weekly shop. I can really recommend online shopping with your local supermarket. People worry about the substitutions or not having the quality that you like. So far I have had few disappointments. The only problem has been the idiot who has been doing the shopping through the website (oh, that would be me - I have so far managed to order a frying pan that was tooooooooo small. I did have to go back to the supermarket to return the pan and buy a more suitable version.)
On the back of the delivery man was another friend. She is now over 6 months from finishing her treatment from ovarian cancer. I have had great conversations about what to expect and what to expect as it goes on. We had a laugh and caught up on family things and then planned our spouses diary. I have found that some friends are just happy to get on with life as usual even with everything that is going on.

Friday, 7 May 2010
Early start as we had an early appointment at the hospital for my third treatment. We are now officially half way through.
This was a treatment that I felt for the first time. I could actually feel it enter and make its way round my body. A very strange feeling. We then went on to a local pub for a quick bite to eat.
When I got home by the evening it was taking effect, for the first time I was taking the third set of anti sickness drugs. I struggled to get to sleep and then woke up at 04:00 and struggled to get back to sleep.

Saturday, 8 May 2010
As I could not sleep I decided to make use of the time and called my Mom. We had a good chat and started planning their trip over. I was really phoning to also apologies for not sorting a Mother's Day card out for her. That it would be late arriving. I have to be honest that I was going to put my foot down and we would only have one Mother's Day and one Father's Day, but it is difficult as I have all the cards over in England in March for Mother's Day and then they have all the cards in Australia in May, plus Mom gets all the questions from friends if I would be sending her anything or if she is doing anything special for the day. The same sort of goes for Pops for Father's Day.
I had a dose and then my husband brought me up my breakfast and provisions for the day. I am still not one hundred percent, not that I was expecting to be dancing round the garden, but the accumulative effect of the drugs is taking its toll.
Managed to set up the computer to watch the F1 qualifying and catch up on other TV that I would not normally watch. By the evening I was watching Doctor Who - still not sure about the new doctor and his companion, still early days.

Catch up with friends

Friday, 30th April 2010

Another weekend of social whirl.  It started with a reunion with work colleagues. I know it was actually a sad occasion in that it was a leaving do for my manager and another colleague. I went all out and as they had brought me a scarf and necklace so I put them together for a more glamorous look.
It took me over an hour to get to the pub due in part that there were an increased level of caravans as we have a public holiday this weekend.
Finally arrived and everyone was pleased to see me, thankfully I had not missed much. We had a good time chatting and catching up. Stayed long enough for the presentations.
Then it took another hour to get home. Arrived around the same time as Ivan who then went out to pick up our friend from Brum, while I cooked tea.

Saturday, 1st May 2010
Woke early and readied myself for a day out. We left on time and set the sat nav. As we were on our way the plans changed and where we are meeting, but not problems we just adjusted the sat nav to the new location and carried on our way.
We arrived at Chatsworth and waited for the others to arrive. Not long later the first of our friends arrived and then we all retired for cup of tea and chat till the others arrived.

The girls went off to the house and the boys went to the farm and adventure play ground. After the audio tour of the house and a look at the Tulip festival flower displays in each room. We went on for the main event of the day - afternoon tea!
We had finger sandwiches of Ham & Mustard, Cheese & Cucumber, Smoked Salmon, Egg. This was followed by a Lemon Mousse. Then the discussion started which is first the cream or the jam for the scones, also how do you pronounce 'Scone'. We then had a chocolate brownies and a meringue. All joined by a lovely cup of loose leaf Earl Grey (named after the lover of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire).
Everyone enjoyed the conversation and the food. We then went for a wander around the shops and picked up a few choice items.
This was followed by a walk around the gardens and meeting up with the boys.
Once home we had Fish n' Chips. The only thing was that I was shattered!

Sunday, 2 May 2010

My friends partner joined us today and arrived in time for breakfast. Once ready we then went out to the archetypal Tudor black and white building. Little Moreton Hall is a National Trust property.
We had a guided tour of the ground floor and then made our way up to the long gallery at the top of the south range.
We then went home and had a lovely roast dinner.  Good conversation and a couple of drinks round the dinning room table. All in all a good weekend.

Monday, 3 May 2010
May Day Bank Holiday
A much required duvet day.

Tuesday, 4 May 2010
Another duvet day - it is surprising what you can not do when you have the time not to do it. I have managed to run down the digital box to only 18 hours remaining. During the course of today I managed to record some more operas for my dad and watch a couple of things as well.

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