Hi Guys
Well I got the diagnosis 5 weeks ago today and I feel better than I have in months. I'm eating normally. No longer tired, no discomfort or pain. Now I know that after France I've got the dreaded chemo again but it (and prayer) is working so I'll settle for 1 crappy week out of three.
We had a brill night out with our friends Dawn & Richard last night - great meal, loads of laughs - some wine! Tonight (Friday) is the first night I've had in since Monday and I went to bed at 7.00 then. Must try and stay awake for Teresa's sake - it is Friday after all!
James is off to Aspen and we're off to France tomorrow so no post tomorrow but I'll report in from Brittany on Sunday night.
See ya Dave xxxx
Friday, February 8, 2008
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Man Flu Too!
All that prayer and positive thought in my direction is reaping rewards! I feeling so well at present, eating is normal, tiredness has gone, don’t feel sick. In fact I have more symptoms from the ‘man flu’ I’ve caught than the cancer. All the chemo side effects have gone now too.
We had a great night at our friends Nick & Sarah last night – had a great laugh. They bought me two cool beanies (trendy skull caps like wot Enrique wears); so I’ll be ready when the daily ‘tug test’ yields in a handful of hair! Poor old Nick & Sarah – they were the first place we headed when I got the original diagnosis and after the ‘no hope’ consultation. It was a relief for them to see us without any news, they’re joining us on holiday in the summer – at least I won’t have to diet or trim chest hair this year (yep vain old Dave does both – what a wuss!).
I was able to lay down 2,000 words on the old dissertation this morning working with Teresa in the office – great to be with her 24/7; one of a number of positives to come out of this mess.
We are seeing our mates Dawn & Richard Bauling tonight in Sharnbrook which will be great – not seen them in ages.
Keep praying guys, it (the prayer) and the fantastic attentions of the NHS’s chemo mixing dept. are working wonders!
We had a great night at our friends Nick & Sarah last night – had a great laugh. They bought me two cool beanies (trendy skull caps like wot Enrique wears); so I’ll be ready when the daily ‘tug test’ yields in a handful of hair! Poor old Nick & Sarah – they were the first place we headed when I got the original diagnosis and after the ‘no hope’ consultation. It was a relief for them to see us without any news, they’re joining us on holiday in the summer – at least I won’t have to diet or trim chest hair this year (yep vain old Dave does both – what a wuss!).
I was able to lay down 2,000 words on the old dissertation this morning working with Teresa in the office – great to be with her 24/7; one of a number of positives to come out of this mess.
We are seeing our mates Dawn & Richard Bauling tonight in Sharnbrook which will be great – not seen them in ages.
Keep praying guys, it (the prayer) and the fantastic attentions of the NHS’s chemo mixing dept. are working wonders!
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Family Photos - did a normal post too earlier!!!
Pictures from the top:
Carys - our youngest; she's 7.
The whole gang on the harbour at Concarneau in Brittany near to where the cottage is.
Chloe our mad and much loved Scottish Au Pair, great friend and general bottlewasher.
James - he's the middle one and now 12. The one on the left is Rosie our Boarder Terrier.
Finally Amy (19) and her husband-to-be James from Aussie who were home for Christmas.
What Cancer Cannot Do! (Much really!)
Made it to the youth Group Pancake Party! Even (wait for it) managed a glass of wine when I got home – this was the first time I’ve fancied a drink in two weeks. Must confess that a lack of desire for a glass of vino was one of the most worrying symptoms…he, he..
I mentioned yesterday a great little book I’d been sent by the guys at ‘Word of Life’ Church Great Barford called ‘What Cancer Cannot Do’. It’s brill. When it arrived I thought ‘Oh no, here goes death by a thousand cuts by Patience Strong’. I was wrong. No platitudes, just lots of stories of hope and encouragement. The chapter headings are:
Cancer is so limited…
It cannot cripple Love
It cannot shatter Hope
It cannot corrode Faith
It cannot kill Friendship
It cannot suppress Memories
It cannot silence Courage
It cannot invade the Soul
It cannot steal eternal Life
It cannot conquer the Spirit
All this is spot on. Since this little nasty was diagnosed we have felt more loved by friends and family than ever, since that point our faith in God and hope for a future have grown, we have seen friendships restored with those we love but had drifted apart from. We have realised that we have been so blessed in the past with a great marriage and fantastic kids, we hope we can continue to be brave, our souls are strong, we are 100% certain that God has a home for us after this life no matter what and feel the presence of the Holy Spirit each day.
If the worse cancer can do is kill you and death is defeated in Jesus then it is really VERY limited and so can bog off to where it came from.
Oops – once a preacher, always a preacher. Must behave!
Life does, must, and should go on regardless of a daft disease.
Health wise – feeling very well this morning – 48 hours now without chemo injections and the tablets. The nasty (but good for me) stuff must be working its way through my system. We are really looking forward to a week at the cottage in France for half term with little Carys. James is starting to get excited about his week in Denver with school – he’s practicing his skiing at the indoor snow dome in Milton Keynes each Thursday and hasn’t broken anything yet.
See ya all...
I mentioned yesterday a great little book I’d been sent by the guys at ‘Word of Life’ Church Great Barford called ‘What Cancer Cannot Do’. It’s brill. When it arrived I thought ‘Oh no, here goes death by a thousand cuts by Patience Strong’. I was wrong. No platitudes, just lots of stories of hope and encouragement. The chapter headings are:
Cancer is so limited…
It cannot cripple Love
It cannot shatter Hope
It cannot corrode Faith
It cannot kill Friendship
It cannot suppress Memories
It cannot silence Courage
It cannot invade the Soul
It cannot steal eternal Life
It cannot conquer the Spirit
All this is spot on. Since this little nasty was diagnosed we have felt more loved by friends and family than ever, since that point our faith in God and hope for a future have grown, we have seen friendships restored with those we love but had drifted apart from. We have realised that we have been so blessed in the past with a great marriage and fantastic kids, we hope we can continue to be brave, our souls are strong, we are 100% certain that God has a home for us after this life no matter what and feel the presence of the Holy Spirit each day.
If the worse cancer can do is kill you and death is defeated in Jesus then it is really VERY limited and so can bog off to where it came from.
Oops – once a preacher, always a preacher. Must behave!
Life does, must, and should go on regardless of a daft disease.
Health wise – feeling very well this morning – 48 hours now without chemo injections and the tablets. The nasty (but good for me) stuff must be working its way through my system. We are really looking forward to a week at the cottage in France for half term with little Carys. James is starting to get excited about his week in Denver with school – he’s practicing his skiing at the indoor snow dome in Milton Keynes each Thursday and hasn’t broken anything yet.
See ya all...
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Do You Know The Muffin Man? It's ME!
Unbelievable – actually managed to eat English muffins for breakfast, pizza at lunchtime and curry tonight! I needed a glass of water but no choking, spluttering or gagging. This is really encouraging because my next scan is not until 25th March and in the meantime the doctors have said that they’ll use symptoms to monitor progress. As swallowing difficulties are my only symptom this bodes well! Also today has been the first day I’ve not felt like ‘hitting the sack’ at by 6.00 p.m. so should make it to the youth group’s pancake party (and might even manage a pancake).
Seriously the week following the intravenous stuff was harder than I expected, the tiredness is the strangest thing for someone who normally managed on 5 hours a night. It’s now 12 hours every night and a few more during the day if poss. I have resisted the strange allure of peasanty day time TV (so far!).
I went to see Clarrissa Robinson yesterday. She is a professional councillor I visited a year or two back during a ‘wobbly patch’ (stress related). She specialises in counselling the ill and works a lot with a local hospice, she’s also been through cancer herself. She’s a fantastic listener; it helps me a lot.
Had some great chats with friends tonight Rachel Chiou, Stuart Simms and Nick Hearn . Rachel and Tony popped in this afternoon but I had nipped out to help Teresa at the office with some new computers for the tutoring so missed them.
Today has been the first day on no chemo tablets, I must admit I’m looking forward to a week off.
In signing off I was sent a great book by the folks at ‘Word of Life' Church Great Barford. It’s called ‘What Cancer Cannot Do’… I’ll highlight some of the chapter headings tomorrow.
God Bless. Pancakes here I come.
Seriously the week following the intravenous stuff was harder than I expected, the tiredness is the strangest thing for someone who normally managed on 5 hours a night. It’s now 12 hours every night and a few more during the day if poss. I have resisted the strange allure of peasanty day time TV (so far!).
I went to see Clarrissa Robinson yesterday. She is a professional councillor I visited a year or two back during a ‘wobbly patch’ (stress related). She specialises in counselling the ill and works a lot with a local hospice, she’s also been through cancer herself. She’s a fantastic listener; it helps me a lot.
Had some great chats with friends tonight Rachel Chiou, Stuart Simms and Nick Hearn . Rachel and Tony popped in this afternoon but I had nipped out to help Teresa at the office with some new computers for the tutoring so missed them.
Today has been the first day on no chemo tablets, I must admit I’m looking forward to a week off.
In signing off I was sent a great book by the folks at ‘Word of Life' Church Great Barford. It’s called ‘What Cancer Cannot Do’… I’ll highlight some of the chapter headings tomorrow.
God Bless. Pancakes here I come.
Monday, February 4, 2008
How Much Sleep Do I Need????
Hi Guys
Sorry I didn’t post over the weekend – I’ve been asleep! I have never slept so much in my life. Normally I'm a 5 hour a night man. Over the weekend I've been managing as much as 18 hours out of 24! Must be doing me some good.
I started to feel better yesterday; I suppose the intravenous stuff is beginning to work its way through my system. I was able to preach at Church yesterday morning - this was fantastic as its one of my favorite things in the whole world. I can’t tell you how much we appreciate our Church. What a brilliant bunch of people. The worship yesterday morning lifted the rafters, the singing would have made Charles Wesley proud!
My appetite has come back and I’ve even managed to put some weight on up to 12 stone 3. Since the summer hols I’ve lost 2 ½ stone, the first stone intentionally the next stone and half without any effort – this was one of the things that sent me to the doctors in the first place. For the 72 hours after the chemo you really don’t feel like eating anything and the thought of wine – argh!
My fingers and mouth are still as sensitive to the cold. The mouth is strange, it’s like the sparkle dust I had as a kid. The stuff that crackled in your mouth as you ate it….remember? Anyhows I take the last of my chemo tablets today. Nothing now again until the next cycle begins on Wednesday 20th.
I’m working on my master’s dissertation for Cliff College this week. I have to finish it by 31st March. I hope I can concentrate! I really want to graduate June 28th.
Hope you guys all had good days. God bless. Dave.
Sorry I didn’t post over the weekend – I’ve been asleep! I have never slept so much in my life. Normally I'm a 5 hour a night man. Over the weekend I've been managing as much as 18 hours out of 24! Must be doing me some good.
I started to feel better yesterday; I suppose the intravenous stuff is beginning to work its way through my system. I was able to preach at Church yesterday morning - this was fantastic as its one of my favorite things in the whole world. I can’t tell you how much we appreciate our Church. What a brilliant bunch of people. The worship yesterday morning lifted the rafters, the singing would have made Charles Wesley proud!
My appetite has come back and I’ve even managed to put some weight on up to 12 stone 3. Since the summer hols I’ve lost 2 ½ stone, the first stone intentionally the next stone and half without any effort – this was one of the things that sent me to the doctors in the first place. For the 72 hours after the chemo you really don’t feel like eating anything and the thought of wine – argh!
My fingers and mouth are still as sensitive to the cold. The mouth is strange, it’s like the sparkle dust I had as a kid. The stuff that crackled in your mouth as you ate it….remember? Anyhows I take the last of my chemo tablets today. Nothing now again until the next cycle begins on Wednesday 20th.
I’m working on my master’s dissertation for Cliff College this week. I have to finish it by 31st March. I hope I can concentrate! I really want to graduate June 28th.
Hope you guys all had good days. God bless. Dave.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Hard Day
Today has been a real struggle. I've spent most of it in bed feeling very tired - much more so than yesterday. I'm also feeling sick but the medication they've given me helps.
Had a call this morning from my brill Upper GI Nurse Elenaor Church to see how I was. Also from my mum and Mu and Ken from church.
I've been sent a great CD of 'soaking prayer' from Rupert & Uli Banqhart - great music and prayers a real encouragement.
Hopeing for more energy tomorrow - I've got things to do!
Had a call this morning from my brill Upper GI Nurse Elenaor Church to see how I was. Also from my mum and Mu and Ken from church.
I've been sent a great CD of 'soaking prayer' from Rupert & Uli Banqhart - great music and prayers a real encouragement.
Hopeing for more energy tomorrow - I've got things to do!
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