Tuesday 15th April 2008

Tuesday 15^th April
I had chemo okay at the hospital, all my bloods were fine.

Monday 14^th April
This was my last day before the next round of chemo so I was at my best. Actually this round of chemo had been one of the easiest for ages it may be a combination of factors; I had the 2 week break, the thyroxin is starting to kick in so I have more energy, I had lots of visitors so I was too busy to feel sorry for myself, the weather has been better so we can go out for walks.

The other possibility is that I stopped using normal milk and moved to a lactose free version this cycle (one of the books I read said that chemo can make you lactose intolerant) Anyway I’ll see if it helps with the diarrhoea again next cycle.

We took avantage of the weather and my health to go off and check out Epping Forest which we haven’t been to before. We went for a walk near the visitor centre (BTW there seem to be lots of wheelchair friend paths there if anyone of interested) then we had and excellent lunch the the nearby pub.

Sunday 13^th April
30 min walk in the woods which are still getting more and more bluebells and look more beautiful by the day.

Sat 12^th April
Spent the afternoon with Dad as we hadn’t been to see him for a little while. We did manage a short walk too though.

Friday 11^th April
Friday was great fun too; Phil was home and our friends Gaynor and Paul came over. We went to Southend which Paul used to visit with his family as a child but Gaye had never seen.

We walked along the front and had Rossi’s ice cream which I think is maybe the best ice cream in the world. Ice cream is one of my favs but I can’t have it too soon after the chemo as I have to avoid anything cold for a few days so I tend to try to schedule ice cream for my ‘good’ week. When we started to get cold we had chips in paper which always taste better at the seaside.

Originally we had intended to walk the length of the pier then get the train back but it started to rain very heavily as we had our chips so instead we went home for supper. (Actually I was quite glad cos I was starting to get cold and tired by that time)

All in all it was a brilliant day, we even managed to enjoy the rain cos it’s what you you are supposed to have happen at an English seaside.

Wed 9^th and Thursday 10^th April
Phil was working these two days but my friend Julie can over for a visit on Wednesday and we had a 40 minute walk in the woods admiring the bluebells and then had a nice lunch.

It was Julie’s birthday on the Thursday and as she had the day off she came over again we had a walk in the meadows this time and then she took me to Waitrose so we could get some cream cakes to celebrate. Any excuse for cream cakes is good enough for me!

Sun 6^th to Tuesday 8^th April
Still had diarrhoea and feeling tired and grotty but not quite so bad as Saturday and getting a little better each day. The weather has been better so we’ve been managing a short walk each day in the local woods.

The woods are full of bluebells and look very splendid at the moment.

Sat 5^th April
Diarrhoea very bad but my friend Sam come over for a visit with chips and a Chinese takeaway which was great fun.

Thurs 3^rd and Fri 4^th April
I was still feeling okay on Thursday so we took advantage and went to do some shopping at Lakeside, then we did Costco and our final stop was Borders bookshop for a late lunch and some magazine/book shopping. Mostly it worked out but the last bit was maybe a bit ambitious cos I started to feel a bit ill in the 5 minute drive from Costco to Borders; it wasn’t anything to worry about just the start of my diarrhoea side effects but I didn’t enjoy the last part of the trip as much as I would have done.

Friday was a grotty day as is usual so I didn’t do much except sit around.