Saturday 14 June 2014

A bit of a roller coaster week

For us, it's been a good news week.

We were delighted to hear that our friend, fellow meso warrior Mavis, will be taking part in a Phase 1 trial at the Royal Marsden Hospital, starting next Monday.  Good luck, Mavis!

We were proud to see both Mavis and Steve featured in Mesothelioma UK's summer newsletter, talking about clinical trials.  Hopefully their experience will encourage others to take part in one, if offered the opportunity.

We were relieved to be able to rescue next door's cat from the roof of our house, where he had spent the night too frightened to get down the way he had climbed up. Thank goodness for roof lights - no need to climb out, just open the window and grab.  I think that Snuggles (the cat) was relieved too, not to mention our neighbours....

We were pleased to hear that the charity we helped out last Sunday by taking photos of their sponsored 5k run liked the pictures very much, and may use some of them to promote the work of the charity as well as raise more funds by selling photos to the individual runners.  A good morning's "work".

Another cause for celebration is a commission to photograph some public art in Bicester, a town to the north of Oxford.  It's been on the cards since last August, but a long last the contract came through, has been signed and sent off, so that's something to look forward to doing over the summer.

Plus, the weather has been wonderful - warm and sunny - and it's been great to be out and about without a jacket, enjoy a glass of Pimms, eat salads and BBQs...And our travel plans have come together nicely.  More of that in a future blog....  

Before then, we have a very special event to celebrate on Monday, 16 June.  No prizes for guessing what we will be marking with a glass of fizz.  If you really can't guess, then you will have to wait until the next post!

However, while nice things have been happening to us, the news from friends and neighbours has not been so good.  Lou is Australia is having a tough time with the side effects of chemo, finding it harder to stay positive, but giving it her best shot. Sending you a big hug Lou x.

Fellow UK meso warrior Tess has decided to discontinue chemo; her body can't take any more poison. Understandably, she has been feeling sad and depressed by this turn of events, but we are hoping she will feel better as the side effects of treatment wear off.  Much love to you, Tess x

After a wonderful holiday in Italy, Amanda and Ray returned to find a poorly cat and Ray developed a pain near his ribs - always a worrying symptom for anyone with mesothelioma. However, both cat and meso warrior seem to be on the mend now, so here's hoping that improvement continues!

The last piece of sad news is nothing to do with mesothelioma.  We heard this morning that one of our close neighbours (younger than us) had died unexpectedly. He had been to the doctor about a pain in his back, was diagnosed with cancer in his spine about a fortnight ago and died earlier this week. 

He had grown up in our street and was a familiar figure out and about on early morning walks, which he had been doing regularly after recovering from a heart attack some years back.  So sad to think he conquered one major illness, only to succumb to another...

I thought I was being a bit of a hypochondriac when worrying about whether the pain in my lower back might be caused by cancer.  Now I'm relieved I've been checked out and know that it isn't a spinal tumour.  I'm still waiting for an appointment with the specialist team to see what can be done....  

However, in the meantime, we are determined to make the most of this period in between the side effects of the Vansel1 clinical trial wearing off and the start of whatever clinical trial Steve takes part in next.  

Seize the day, as they say....So that's what we will being doing, very shortly!





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