26 February 2012

Birthday cake made by ten-year-old Isabel for Harry's 45th yesterday.

Good news at the hospital on Friday: my blood analyses were fine and a chest x-ray showed only the tiniest bit of growth to the lung tumour. So I continue with no chemo, and my next scheduled appointment with Dr Podd is not until the middle April.

Meanwhile, during March I'm attending workshops at the St Elizabeth Hospice on Thursday and Friday afternoons. I hope to visit Janet and Margaret in Gloucestershire for a few days, and Kate and Harry along with a number of friends, are much in attendance. Willa arrives after Easter for six weeks, so I have lots to look forward to.

I get awfully tired very easily but can still manage to walk up the street to the grocery store for milk and enjoy being driven out to lunch or a movie. The weather has improved over the last couple of weeks, although I haven't written off winter yet.

12 February 2012

There's been no word from me for a long time -- no blog messages, emails or Christmas cards. Many thanks to all of you who have kept in touch regardless, because it hasn't been the best of times.

I got more and more tired when having chemo every two weeks, so Dr Podd has given me a six week holiday, but it doesn't seem to have made much difference. I hope to see him soon.

I have had numerous problems around the house (tv, telephones, central heating, roof leaks, mice) and dealing with transportation for all my medical appointments plus the collapse of my old car that Kate has been using to visit me. At least the weather was unseasonably warm until recently (see photo of my back garden taken yesterday). The worst thing was that I had to have my beloved Dizzy (about 16 years old) put down two weeks ago. At least I don't have to worry anymore about what would happen to her after my death.

Kate and Harry ensure that I have house guests at least on weekends. My friend Audrey who now lives near Vichy will be here for a couple of nights this week. I spent last week in Manchester with Harry and family after a nine hour car journey from Needham -- three hours of which was spent stationary, in the dark, on the M62 in the snow just about 10 miles from Harry's house!

I have recently attended a series of introductory sessions at St Elizabeth's Hospice in Ipswich, where I hope to be taken care of eventually. It's a really wonderful place -- even the food is reasonable!

Monday 31 October 2011

Thank heavens it’s over! I made it to my 80th birthday on Tuesday, 25 October, with proper celebrations. The whole family gathered gradually over the preceding weekend and the temperature picked up until noon on Tuesday, when we were joined by just a few local friends. We began with champagne and nibbles and then trooped down to the Barn Café at Alder Carr Farm for a main course, then back home for coffee and birthday cake.

There were two stands of goodies – a pile of meringues topped by the number ‘70’, and a collection of cupcakes by ‘80’ – as we were marking 150 years: Willa’s birthday this past January as well as mine.

Willa was here for the past 6 weeks and helped me with all sorts of tidying up of papers, pictures, household things, etc. We had some nice excursions around Needham, plus visits to Manchester (Imperial War Museum North, BBC Media City, City Art Gallery) and Woking (Wisley RHS garden, Winkworth Arboretum, the Watts Gallery – the Surrey Hills are incredibly gorgeous just now). Willa flew home yesterday and I miss her awfully.

I continue to be very lucky in my response to the chemo I was changed to in June (Gemcitabine), which I have every 2 weeks and which isn’t debilitating. I get tired very easily but can usually recharge with lots of rest stops during the day and can manage to sit up talking for hours. But I am planning ahead for difficult times, so looking into carers for when I can’t manage for myself anymore and visited St Elizabeth’s Hospice in Ipswich for an introductory session today. See a picture of the Halloween mask I made during the craft session on my Skype profile.

Meanwhile, Kate and Harry manage to visit Needham regularly on weekends and lots of friends come for a night or so. Janet and Margaret were here in August for 2 ½ weeks. So anybody is welcome especially if you are prepared to go to the fish and chip shop or prepare a meal.

Thanks for all the cards, emails and gifts that I carefully saved to open on my birthday (unlike Roy, who was always an immediate opener). They were greatly appreciated as all your messages, prayers, phone calls, etc have been over the past 3 years. I’d like to acknowledge everyone personally but just can’t manage it and hope you’ll accept this apology for not doing so. Please keep the messages coming in.

Saturday 7 May 2011

What a weekend! We gathered in front of the TV watching the royal wedding from about 9am on – we being Willa & me; Kate & Chris; Harry, Helen, Isabel (who at 9 has been a bridesmaid at least 2 or 3 times) & Gabriel (at intervals from his laptop games). On Saturday we read every word in the newspapers & looked at the photos & all agreed that it was an impeccable affair unsullied by anti-royalist considerations.














We were joined by Janet & Margaret on Sunday, when we visited a lovely bluebell wood near Needham Market. (See photos) This was yet another beautiful day typical of the unbelievable run of warm, sunny days we’ve had for a month or more (surely our summer season). Willa & I especially spent much of Monday watching breaking news of Bin Laden’s death, as we have continued to do daily. Indeed a memorable weekend, full of spectacular happenings as well as lots of joy & happy times together.













I had an MRI scan recently for something new that seemed to have developed; fortunately it was okay. But a regular chest x-ray showed a slight increase in the size of the original lung tumour, indicating that it is no longer responding to the protein-inhibiting Tarceva that I have been taking since last June.

On Thursday I saw Dr. Podd, who has recommended that I return to an intravenous chemo (gemcitabine) similar in effects to the vinorelbine I took for 18 months after my diagnosis nearly 3 years ago. These effects did not destroy all my quality of life, although they were not as easy on me as the recent Tarceva. (For instance, I didn’t lose my hair although it thinned considerably, & I was terribly tired ). Other good news is that the steroids are keeping the polymyalgia muscular pains under control. I may make 80 in October yet!

Willa is here for another month, during which there are possibilities of all sorts of excursions, including a visit to Manchester. So I hope to report on more jolly times soon. Please keep me in your thoughts & prayers.

26 March 2011

No news for 3 months has been both good & bad. On my last cancer checkup 2 weeks ago everything was okay. However, there's something new to contend with since January: polymyalgia rheumatica, a kind of rheumatism affecting the muscles of the neck, back, arms, shoulders, thighs. It's quite painful, the cause unknown & the duration usually 2 to 3 years. It causes excessive fatigue (picking up a pen or getting on line on the computer is diffcult much of the time) & the treatment is steroids, the chief problem being finding as low a dosage as possible to relieve the pain without incurring too many of the steroid's numerous side effects (no fat face so far). I need lots of little rests throughout the day & have to take things a day at a time. There seems to be a lot of polymyalgia around these days, & friend in Needham has even organised a local support group, so I am not on my own.

The sub-zero temperatures & snow stopped about Christmas time, but it has continued to be very cold in the 5C/40F range with dismal grey skies & frequent hard frosts. Just this week, though, there was a real feeling of spring in the air, & today has been beautifully warm, so perhaps we will emerge from this awful winter after all. I'm sure that will help my mental as well as physical state.

I can manage cooking very light meals, trips to the grocery store by foot or in the car, evening meetings in Needham & bus rides to Ipswich for matinees at the Film Theatre or an exhibition. Recently I've had a few days in Manchester with Harry & family & also in Woking with Kate and Chris, which included some interesting excursions. Now that the weather is improving I hope to have more visitors (in addition to the faithful family who have kept coming regularly in all ditions)-- and Willa is flying in on 20 April for 6 weeks, so that will be a wonderful diversion.

A final thing. My old e-mail address of julanne@royarnold.com was changed over a year ago to julannelynnarnold@btinternet.com . I thought Harry notified everybody on my mailing list at the time, but recently I discovered some messages sent to the old address, which is no longer active, & some people have written about difficulties in getting through to me. So please check to see that you are using the up-to-date address.

A happy Easter to you all!

12 December 2010

It's been three months since my last entry. The highlight of the period was Willa's six week visit, during which we kept very busy here in Needham, where we celebrated my 79th birthday in October. We had a few days in Manchester, where we moved all round the city via buses and the Metrolink trolleys. Everybody laughed when I spoke of going to Rochdale, which has a particularly fine town hall with a higher tower than Manchester's and the original Co-op shop -- but we liked it, as well as the Imperial War Museum North.

Since Willa left I've been besieged with a plague of problems around the house (leaking roof, misbehaving computer and TV, electrical faults, broken window frames, etc). Also a number of physical ones, fortunately not to do with cancer, but very niggling nevertheless. I bashed my left shin and it's just healed up after being dressed with honey (yes!) for a couple of weeks. But at least everything on the cancer front was ok when I saw my oncologist two weeks ago.

The past few weeks have been desperately cold, bringing frost, snow and ice, and temperatures hovering on zero and below. It's warmer today -- about 10C/50F -- but another cold spell is forecast next week and who knows what for Christmas. It's the coldest weather I can remember since we moved to England in 1968.

It's hard to believe Roy died a year ago. I miss him most when I notice something such as this year's crop of quinces -- the best we've ever had -- and want to talk with him about it. As I've written before, Kate and Harry have supported me by visiting whenever they can manage on weekends, sometimes even on weekdays. And friends have telephoned, written cards, letters and emails and visited -- sometimes bringing meals and even bedding with them. Thanks to all of you for such loving support, which has helped me get through this year.

All the family are gathering here for Christmas and we are marking Roy's absence by having turkey with all the trimmings on the big day for the first time. I'm sure he'd have approved.

My very best wishes to all of you who read this for a happy Christmas and a good new year.

11 September 2010

My visit to the oncologist on 27 August brought the good news that my lung tumour has responded to the new medication begun in June. Also, a reduction in the dosage of the medication seems to have almost eliminated its unpleasant side effects. So I have been feeling better and stronger. It was two years ago – 10 September 2008 – that I was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and just months to live, and here I am writing away!

It’s been a reasonable summer. I went to London for a couple of special lunches – David Gadsby’s 80th birthday and a gathering of Roy’s Durham friends – and I’m off on Sunday to Kew Gardens with my local horticultural society. I’ve had lots of guests for the day, and as we have taken the house off the market I continue to have plenty of room to put up people overnight. Either Kate or Harry has been here for a day or so every weekend, so I’m being well looked after. And Willa arrives next week for six weeks, so there will be a burst of activity then!