Monday, 31 May 2010

During the past 3 months I've had a number of new health problems, none seemingly major but all decidedly unpleasant, mostly gastro-intestinal except for dizziness & vertigo that did not respond to the usual medications. On 21 May I saw my oncologist for a routine 3 month checkup. An MRI scan at that time showed no spread of cancer to the brain, which was a great relief, but revealed some marks of restrictions to the blood supply to the brain. Then a chest x-ray revealed that the original lung tumour has grown a bit & is no longer responding to the chemo I've been on every 2 weeks. So now I'm on a new drug that I take in pill form once a day, along with a number of other pills to deal with the side-effects. It will be a month or more before we'll know about my response.

At the moment my most obvious problem is the dizziness, which restricts my movements from left to right or when bending down or holding my head backward. And I'm not supposed to drive. Bearing all this in mind, I've decided to back out from the purchase of the apartment in sheltered accommodation (the contracts are just being drawn up) & remain at 77 High Street. I don't know how long I'll be able to take care of myself on my own, much less how I could possibly do what's necessary to make the move in the first place. Recently, between the two of them, Kate & Harry have been here with me almost every weekend, & Kate has occasionally commuted from London on a weeknight. Roy's sister, Janet, & her friend Margaret have just done well by me by providing tlc for 2 weeks.

I'm still up & about the house & garden & able to walk up the street to the newsagent & grocery store plus just across the street to the butcher & bakery. Harry is driving me up to Manchester for a few days this week (it's his college's mid-term break), which I'm looking forward to. This all sounds terribly depressing after all the up-beat news about my health ever since the original tumour responded so positively to chemo about 16 months ago. At least I had such a long settled spell, even if Roy's death cast a shadow over the final third of the period. And the verdict isn't in yet on my latest treatment. So wish me well!! Also remember that I still have our usual accommodation for visitors, who are more welcome than ever.