Next up is my Ophthalmic examination on Monday. And then it might be a while before there is anything of substance to report - hopefully!
Colin (& Jane).
...OK at the moment! There is no change showing on the latest MRI which I had two weeks ago, thank goodness. Altho' the consultant did ask if we had noticed any changes since the last scan - evidently they don't use just the scans in their diagnosis! They will schedule more MRI scans at 3 monthly intervals because, as the consultant confirmed, Primary CNS Lymphomas have habits of returning quickly.
Next up is my Ophthalmic examination on Monday. And then it might be a while before there is anything of substance to report - hopefully! Colin (& Jane).
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Well, all continues here. I went to Cheltenham for the latest MRI scan last week. That all went OK - in that all I had to do was lie quiet and still - I'm good at doing that!! And halfway through I have someone I can't see inject into my arm with dye for the contrast scan part. One of my friends was right to decline the music being piped over the headphones - it was completely wiped out by the noises made by the machine. (I opted for silence at the start but they turned the 'music' on after the injection - I think I'd rather silence in the intervals between the parts of the scan.)
We return on Thursday 30th for the appointment with the Consultant Oncologist to hear the result of the scan. I had a visit yesterday from an Acquired Brain Injury Occupational Therapist attached to Headway in Worcester. She was very useful in explaining the likely causes of some of the problems I am having in doing more complex tasks - absorbing and understanding information, misreading and using wrong words in speech, and route-finding, for example. And a chance brief chat Jane had with her GP who mentioned Receptive Sensory (and Expressive) Dysphasia - a long name for using the wrong words and phrases at times, and misunderstanding other people. It is good to know from both of them that it isn't unusual given the circumstances, and I'm not going mad!! Just hope it improves with the help and support the OT promised and has been ages coming! Colin P.S. The shorter post and shorter words is entirely due to this being done on my own and not by Jane!! Yes - it's exactly 6 months since I collapsed and arguably the most exciting and frightening part of my life started! And...I'm still here, by some means or other. No doubt there are a number of opinions out there on why this should be - Jane and I have our own theory which we may share with you sometime.
So, in the meantime, we'd like to thank all of you who have provided us both support in any way during that time, from that fateful evening when our neighbours were kind enough to come along to help Jane, accompany her to A&E with me and bring her home, up to the present day with friends still checking me out! We've not been up to much recently - although we had a really lovely lunch with some long-time "cheerful" friends at the Three Choirs Vineyard restaurant looking out over the vineyards last week. We have also visited the exhibition at the Malvern Arts shop (the old MEB place for those who have been in Malvern long enough to remember) to view a very long lost friend's paintings - and splendid they are too! Next up is my MRI contrast scan on Thursday and the long wait for the results! Colin. "We would do well to remember that the death rate is 100%". That was the fact of which we were reminded when we visited the Old Palace Library (have you been there yet?) in Worcester on Tuesday! Of course the statement is true - none of us is immortal! It's not whether but when....So I was rather glad we have been out and about making the most of every hour God has given us both!
Looking back over the last 2 weeks we have packed in quite a lot! We made another visit to the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust reserve at Monkswood to see if we could spot some butterflies - yes, White Admiral, Comma, Small White, Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper, I think. Then it was off to Elgar's place (Lower Broadheath) for a cup of tea. We've been to a couple of relaxation type sessions at the Maggie's centre in Cheltenham. That is such a nice place to be - the staff and volunteers are so welcoming and helpful. We've gone on from there to Snowshill Lavender farm (more tea) with a walk amongst the flowering lavender, and today we went on to Chedworth Roman Villa to see the new mosaics that have been uncovered (and more tea!). On Tuesday last week (that very hot cloudless sunny day) we ventured to Tyntesfield for the first time. I found it interesting altho' they have made it into 'yet another' NT property in a way - they get a bit predictable after a while. A much quieter and more relaxed place is Kelmscott which we visited last Saturday and although we've been there a few times before, never disappoints (and the tea and frangipan was good too!). On the way home we called into Fairford Church which has the most complete set of Mediaeval glass in the country. We were really impressed with the depiction of Hell in the West window. Sunday evening saw us entertained for dinner by some 'old' friends - the meal was delicious and the company as convivial as ever - all much appreciated. And if that wasn't enough eating - I was invited out for lunch on Monday too, with equally good company! As mentioned at the beginning, we went into Worcester on Tuesday to visit libraries in the main. Firstly to the Old Palace to see about returning to my volunteering adventures there and, after lunch in their cafe (have you been there?), we went on to the Hive (the new public library in Worcester). Now there's an interesting place - gaudy on the outside and difficult to find ones way around on the inside. It's a good resource having the link to the University but why are some Journals spread about in a haphazard fashion? And why is there no list of what Journals are available? In amongst all this activity, we've fitted in a little bit of serious gardening - but not as much as needed, alas! And......yesterday came the visit to the Consultant Haematologist at Worcester Royal to hear the results of another blood test. Neutrophils and platelets are back to normal levels, but haemoglobin is still low and this might be the result of a low level of folate - so more medication to take for a while. To cheer ourselves up we went on to Hartlebury Museum, to admire the exhibits and take on board yet more tea and cakes! My next MRI scan is set for 16th August but we will have to wait until the 30th for the result from the Oncologist. So until then we will try to continue the grand tour - weather permitting! Colin (& Jane). |
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