Clatterbridge time again

Last Tuesday I had my 3 monthly scan and nothing had got any bigger which is a huge relief, so I must be doing something right. My consultant did say that the nodules that had appeared at the last scan where my Kidney was removed had disappeared, this also was a huge relief as he had played them down 3 months ago, I guess he didn't to scare me to much, which to be honest would have scared the life out of me if I had known something new was growing. Well that at least will keep me settled over my birthday, Christmas and New Year. The clinical trial I was supposed to be starting in October has now been put back till January at the earliest, due to red tape between the EU and the Pharmaceutical company in the US, I am quite pleased about this, as I do feel pretty healthy, and wasn't looking forward to starting a course of treatment during the winter, especially as this week is one year since I first went into Hospital, which as you can imagine gives me very mixed emotion.

 



Well that's all the medical stuff out of the way, so next week I am going on a road trip to Italy! I really am not sure what I have let myself in for, it started of as a day trip to Belgium, now it is two nights in Switzerland, two nights near Milan and a night in France on the way back, I am doing the driving and I have never driven abroad, and at this time of year, so I think I am a little crazy! 'He who dares wins!' as Del would say. It really is just a case of get off the ferry and head south, we have no where booked for the nights, so anything could happen, this maybe my last blog post, one thing is certain with Sarah it will certainly be an adventure, we come back on the 1st December on my birthday, so it will certainly be a contrast to the 1st last year, in agony in hospital!

Liverpool Water front



Talking of Sarah, bless her, she had told me to not go out last Saturday as she was sending a surprise present for my birthday, and didn't no what time it would be delivered, the surprise turned out to be her, which was rather amazing, so we had a trip around Liverpool Saturday and Sunday, Saturday night we managed to drink a very large amount of wine and nothing to eat, so were ever so slightly drunk, ooops!

Lime St

Warrington Central

Barley Mow

 



Sarah does drive me nuts at time and we do have a bit of an unusual friendship, but I love her to bits and do make the trip to Southampton once a month to see her, so it rather special that she came up to see me, especially as this was the first time she had been here when I wasn't in hospital.

Anfield

The Beatles



Raining Cats and Dogs

I generally walk into town to go to the shelter where I walk the dogs, along the way I meet a lot of cats who are quite friendly on the way out, but by the time I return, smelling of dogs, they run a mile!

Tia







I have got into the habit of walking the larger dogs as they seem to be the ones that get out least, they are certainly lively, one of them Bernie, is a big black shaggy affair who goes nuts once he is let of the lead, he charges you then at the last second turns, so his body slams into your legs, he hasn't knocked me over yet, but it will happen.

Bernie



Tia is a St Bernard, and is as nuts as Bernie, once of the lead they both chase me round the field, trying their hardest to send me flying! There are two other St Bernard's I have not walked yet, Kayla who is larger than Tia and looks just as nuts, and Teddy who is massive and will probably pull me along on my face, but I will have a go.

Tia up to her usual tricks



 

Hearing Aid

This morning I went to have a hearing aid fitted, can't say I am very happy about it, hearing aids have always been associated with Aunty Doris and her infernal whistling! Its not that bad to be honest, very small and I have got used to it straight away. My hearing is really not that bad, just in some circumstances I struggle hearing people, so I thought I would give it ago.

South Wales

 

I have just got back from one of my jaunts south, was really good fun, South Wales and Hampshire. It was freezing cold in Wales, my friends are renovating an old house, so was not the warmest place, but was great to see them and be back in the Valleys, the house really is gorgeous, detached 4 bedroom and large walled garden all for a fraction of what they would have paid back in Sussex. After Wales I went to Andover and spent a few days with a fab friend and her partner, their house is the complete opposite, newly built so it is very well insulated, even with no heating on it was very warm.

 

Mr Tank

 

I was really very glad to get back north, while I did have a great couple of weeks in the south with some great friends, I have got into a bit of a routine now, what with dog walking most days and getting on with my photography and exercising daily. I have neglected the cycling in recent weeks, mainly because I have been walking so much, 7-8 miles a day, this includes walking the dogs. I can now walk most of the large dogs, and some of them are very large indeed, they are not difficult just very strong and a bit boisterous.

West Meon Station

Privet Tunnel

 

Whilst in Hampshire I went on an organised walk with the Railway Ramblers, this was on northern section of the long closed railway from Alton to Fareham and included visiting Privet and Tisted stations which are both now private homes, and very attractive ones as well. The following week I went back on my own to have a look at West Meon and Privet Tunnels, the south portal of West Meon tunnel was rather overgrown, it involved a lot of climbing up and down cuttings and hacking through the undergrowth, quite proud of myself as almost a year ago I was in hospital fighting for my life.







Raining Cats and Dogs

Most weekdays I go to my local RSPCA dog shelter to do some dog walking, I have only been doing it for a couple of weeks, but it is now part of my routine and I love it. Most of the dogs are subject to a cruelty case so unfortunately I can't post any photos. I do love dogs, but it would not be sensible for me to have one, so this is the next best thing, most days I will walk three dogs separately, and each day will be with different dogs as there are around 35 at the shelter. It is very relaxing, the paid staff are very friendly and easy going so apart from the rain today it is very good therapy, and also it gives some purpose to my daily walks into town.
I had a visit yesterday from a couple of ladies from The John Holt cancer centre, this was to arrange for me to be part of their little buds scheme, basically someone comes to see you once a week as a buddy for a few hours, to get you out in the community doing things. I do feel rather strange about doing this as for the last few years I have been acting as buddy to other people, and now the roles are reversed which is not a nice position to fund myself in, but as always there is an upside, I myself could become a buddy to someone with cancer, I just have to wait until a year has past since my diagnosis, this will be at the end of November, so hopefully after Christmas I will be able to support other people struggling, to be honest I will be much happier doing this as I am not really one to go out asking for help, so we shall see.

 The Forth Bridge

 



Now the weather is taking a turn for the worse I am starting to catch up on a lot of PC work with my photographs. I have around 30,000 negatives, around a fifth of them have been scanned, so I still have a fair bit of work to do.. Through a couple of Facebook groups I have been posting some of my collection of Motor Racing photos from the 1970s and 1980s, I am quite taken a back by the interest they have generated, it is so good to be able to share them with people who either remember the days fondly or are involved in running some of these cars today, I even had some correspondence with a chief mechanic from one of todays F1 teams! It makes all the hard work worthwhile, just a little sad my father isn't around to see its he used to take me to Silverstone and Brands Hatch and he would love all the You Tube clips and photos that are on the net now.

1984 Donington 500



Long time no post

When I started this blog the idea was to chart the progress of my cancer, and how it affected my day to day life, it has certainly changed my life but not in the way I would have expected.

CT scan at Clatterbridge

 



I have been incredibly lucky, my scan at 9 months since diagnosis showed no change to the Tumour on my  remaining Kidney, of the three Mets in my Lungs, one is the same size, one is smaller and the other has disappeared altogether. To put this into perspective, this last Monday I went to the funeral of my amazing friend Roz, she was in a better position 9 months ago, her cancer hadn't spread, so when her Kidney was removed at the same time as mine, it was hoped that was the end of it, sadly it returned with vengeance. Seeing the way Roz had to fight every inch of the way for the last 6 months of her life has left me with very mixed feelings, why her and not me?

Near West Kirby, on the Wirral

The river Dee at Shotton

 



While I have always been reasonably fit, this past 6 months I have worked very hard to get extra fit, partly through having the time, but mainly through the desire to not let my cancer beat me, I have and still do struggle mentally, although a  lot of that is caused by my position in life rather than just the cancer, and I am now making some life choices to be able to move forward.
So what have I been doing this past month! Unfortunately I have been to another funeral, the father of a very dear friend, who also died of cancer, like buses they tend to come at the same time. I have also been trying to get a PIP claim sorted, but it now looks like that could take up to 10 months from application, from what I have read online, this is a complete shambles and a disgrace, poor Roz died before she even got an assessment for her claim.

At long last I went to see Les Mis, incredible show

 



Its not all doom and gloom, apart from walking 5 miles a day, I have been doing a lot of cycling, around 15 a day, including a ride into Manchester the other week, a ride around Chester and a ride back from Southport. At the weekend I came back from a couple of weeks in the south, mostly spent with Sarah in Southampton, where we went indoor Skydiving, now I really don't like heights, but I really enjoyed it and now want to do the real thing, I no it will freak me out completely but I will be so proud of myself afterwards, that's if I survive of course! To be honest me and Sarah were rather lazy, last weekend we watched the whole of Ashes to Ashes, a fab TV show, around 24 hours worth I think, 'He's killed the Quattro, he's bloody killed my Quattro!' Gene Hunt, what a legend.

Ashes to Ashes





Clatterbridge once more

CT scan at Clatterbridge today, not much news as I wont find out the results till next Tuesday, but I did speak to Roz Vaughan, a remarkable lady who has had a horrendous time with her cancer, when I think back to December last year and we were both in identical positions, yet she is now fighting for her life. Of to Whiston hospital tomorrow to visit her, the very least I can do.
Funny sort of day today, recently I have been so listless and disinterested in anything except walking and cycling, but today I have been far more productive and positive than I have for a long time, I think it is because several people very close to me are really suffering, either with their own illness or the illness of a family member, this has really brought it home to me how lucky I am, I am sure I will have problems to face soon enough, but I need to make the most of this time and stop feeling sorry for myself and getting upset about the things missing in my life, and instead use to the full the things I do have in my life, especially the freedom and fitness that I have.

Keep eating the salad

 



I am off south again on Thursday, going to London to see Le Mis with a couple of friends then a few days in Southampton before heading back north on Sunday. I quite enjoy the driving these days, I put some good music on, then the distance just flies by. If I could get a Disabled Railcard I would quite happily go by train, but I need to be awarded a PIP claim to qualify, the PIP claim can take up to 25 weeks, mine has already been 15 weeks. What seems to happen, is you apply for these benefits when you are at deaths door, then by the time they have got round to assessing you, you are either dead, or not nearly so bad so they say you don't meet the criteria. I am not holding my breath on this one.
Almost forgot, I have tickets to see John Bishop in Bournemouth in October, should be really fab.

John Bishop



August Bank Holiday

Its been a month since I have posted anything, not really sure why, but I have been out and about enjoying myself.
I have my next CT scan tomorrow, always a difficult time, its funny but I get more worked up about the scan, than I do about the results when I go back a week later. I should find out more about the clinical trial and when I have to have Biopsies done etc. I really don't know how to feel about starting the treatment, the thought of getting ill is not nice, I rely so heavily on being fit and active, to start struggling is not a nice thought, especially with summer coming to an end, once the wet cold weather starts it is always hard to be motivated to go out and exercise, so feeling rubbish through my treatment will be doubly hard, but I am determined to keep at it and get out on my bike as much as I can.
Don't mess with the Tax Man! I put in a claim for mileage allowances over the past three years, and I was told that I was not entitled to them, but that they have re calculated my tax and I now owe them £400, if its not broken, don't try to fix it!

Sunny morning in Bruges

 



I went to Bruges the other week with Sarah, just a day trip but it was so much fun, we set of from Southampton at 9pm on the Tuesday evening for Dover then got the 4.20am sailing to Calais, with Sarah driving we got to Bruges around 8am, was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm, we had a boat trip down the canals and climbed the 366 steps up to the Bell tower.

 

 

366 steps later



Sarah did an amazing job driving on the right, I have not done it yet, so well done to her, we got back to Southampton around 1am Thursday morning. Friday lunchtime she had to go to Eastleigh and her car wouldn't start and it was terminal, so we were extremely lucky to do the miles we did without any problems.

How to overtake on the left

 



When it is good between me and Sarah, it is amazing, we do have our ups and downs, we both have issues of various sorts, but the spontaneous times are the best, on the way back from Bruges we called in at Adinkerke, and Sarah saw a sign for a War Cemetery, which was quite small so I suggested going to Ypres. Ypres cemetery is on the edge of the town with over 2000 stones including one German, the only other person there was someone tending the gardens, it was the most perfect moment, so peaceful and so moving, we were both very affected by the place, we spoke to a couple of locals who then pointed us in the direction of Tyne Cot cemetery not far away, so off we went. Over 10000 stones at Tyne Cot, an incredible place, although quite busy it was so peaceful, there is no way to put into words the feelings you have when you see these regimented rows of stones, so many with no name, an experience that neither of us will forget.

Tyne Cot Cemetery