Another Picture Book......

 
My weekend started with the long awaited update from the surgeon who said biopsy showed no sign of cancer and he had booked another cystoscopy for three months. 

Time is important for processing...... then the clocks were put forward and we lost an hour! 

Yaay it's not cancer, so I now know what it wasn't but no mention of what it was so more questions I need to ask. 

As always I then let all my closest family and friends know which of course created lots of online conversations back and forth. 

I gave myself a mental break and painted my nails yellow for Easter. 

Hubby really hasn't been enjoying the Lion Jigsaw he got for Christmas, it's so difficult and when he doesn't like to sit for long sessions it's very slow progress. But he's not giving up he's just moved it to the side for now. 

I've sat at it and done a few pieces and hopefully I'll help some more. 

He has however started and finished this one this week

Put it all away and started another.

I've sent a letter (actually by email) to PALS = Patient Advice and Liaison Service. Our NHS admin and record keeping that comes through to the patient keeps changing and is getting so confusing, and mine has so many errors because of inconsistencies that it was making me cross and fearful of mistakes waiting to happen. So I needed to tell someone and if PALS are not the right people I know they will let me know who are. 

Because I still had post-op questions I left a message with the urology team and had a very successful call back from one specialist nurse that remembered me and she was very happy to answer them and also put any documentation and reports I hadn't seen onto the MyChart app I have access to. 

I went for a blood test this week and the young guy doing it saw me clenching my fist and told me I didn't need to, how things change eh? 

When I got home I rang Oncology and the nurse's admin support person rang me back. She said she would put another blood test request on the system and also put through another prescription and I confirmed I had them delivered. A few days later I was notified on the MyChart app that my prescription was ready to collect from the hospital pharmacy grrrr! I didn't complain as I'm at the hospital next Tuesday and while I'm having a CT Scan Hubby will stand in the pharmacy queue. 

Our lovely NeighbourAB popped in for a quick visit with flowers. She had wanted to get some as the post-op gift but was dealing with her husband's health issues, hence the delay, but still a lovely thing to do. Hubby put them in a vase for me but they looked very snug so the next morning as I can't reach the high cupboard for another vase I went to a display cupboard that our crystal is kept in and pulled out my rarely used crystal bud vases.

Same day we had a much longer visit from NeighbourAM who had bank problems and also had an uncooperative laptop and a bank help desk person on his phone. Apparently they'd been at it for quite a while and not succeeding so brought it in for Hubby to take over. Not easy but he succeeded. 

Wednesday night the group ate at Prezzo, which we haven't for so long that the staff made a fuss of us. FriendsT&F went home after eating so the four of us went back to friendsM's for coffee and to meet her new puppy, a little pug and very cute. 

Thursday eight of us went to Colchester to meet for a meal and a long awaited hug and catchup of four couples that started as neighbours more than 45 years ago and very soon became close friends and we still are.

FriendVS made each couple an Easter Simnel Cake, what a lovely thing to do, plus on the way out she quietly whispered to me that she made mine with thicker marzipan as she remembered how much I loved it WOW!

Good Friday certainly was good. It started with O releasing his new album as his alter ego Charlie Blackwood, this one is called Our Life In A Picture Book. He puts it on all the platforms that people go to for their music, I go to YouTube. 

I listened and loved it of course, I also shared it on my Facebook and X posts. 

We had our family Easter get together here for a big roast dinner. Not all of us as E had to come without her boyfriend and Son had to come without fiancé as they have a new puppy who can't leave home yet. 

This pic has all the important ingredients still in the oven. 

By this pic all the important ingredients are in our bellies. 

E had brought a game and four of them really enjoyed playing and four of us left them to it. 

Easter eggs were handed out and as full up as they claimed to be the game players still managed to open them and scoff chocolate while playing. Daughter actually ate all of hers hahaha. 

It's also the Jewish Passover at the same time as Easter this year, so whatever you are celebrating enjoy this long weekend with two Bank Holidays and school holidays and the sunshine which keeps coming out.

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Sweet Dreams.....

 
Won't be long before all of this year's garden fruit, that we don't eat fresh will need freezer space so I need to use what's in there now. 

This experiment of a treacle and spice plum upside down cake was a success. Easy as the plums were used without thawing. 

Sunday afternoon Daughter and I went to our favourite theatre for a matinee. 

Proudly performed by The Gold Chainers, which is a remarkable group of young people with learning disabilities. R is Community Project Leader and runs this group (as well as the other community groups), she also wrote this play which they all had as much fun acting as we did watching. We left as very proud mum and grandma and my next-door neighbourC whose daughter is part of this group, said it was their best one ever. 

I've still got half a box of Rice Krispies in the cupboard and when NeighbourA said she had a full box sitting in her cupboard too I felt motivated to create. 

Melted chocolate, oats, raisins and as many of those cereal beads as I could stir in, shape then fridge, made these little snacks. I will have a second attempt as although yummy the Krispies didn't stay crispy in these but I'll have to wait as the oats are back on the shopping list. 

I've not been taking the evil pill for nearly six weeks as the bladder cancer needed invasive treatment and they would inhibit healing. Meanwhile all their side effects healed too, lovely, unfortunately though mid week I had to start them again. I'm hoping that the side effects will take their time although I know a main problem that usually arrives quite quickly is the sore mouth and changes to how things taste, so no guilt in enjoying extra cake and chocolate while I could. 

Had a Tuesday afternoon WhatsApp requesting last minute Doggy Day Care for Wednesday and thankfully we could. Daughter got back a little earlier than she thought she would so time for tea and chat which is always lovely. Soon after Daughter left we got ready and went to Felixstowe for our usual pub with our usual friends. This week the pub had Open Mike Night and thankfully a couple of the acts were good, a couple were bearable and the others were pretty awful. Don't know why we keep going. 

Thursday evening we did our regular Jay's YouTube Quiz, which started at the start of Covid and has continued and grown stronger. This week he did a six year anniversary celebration quiz! Wow six years! Hubby and I actually got the worst score we have for years hahaha

Other news this week was Son and fiancé have a new puppy, a rescue French Bulldog which I haven't met yet as she won't be able to leave the house for a while. When I do I'll introduce you. 

Have a good weekend and remember the clocks spring forward Saturday night/ Sunday morning, officially 2am. 

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The Sun Has Got Its Hat On......

 
Sunday was Mother's Day and both Daughter and Son messaged me early. Son and fiancé came here early afternoon with flowers and a card and a chocolate bar with my favourite marzipan filling. They also brought hot cross buns. Just as we were on our second cuppa Daughter arrived with R and the dog. She bought me a new rose for my rose bed. We all had tea and buttered buns yummy. Much later we debated on choices and phoned in a very large Chinese Takeaway order and when it arrived Son paid for it all. Yummy and spoilt what more could a loved mummy want. 

After the happy and busy Sunday, Monday was a really tired day so after coffee morning with nothing else planned that's what I did, nothing! 

I'm not sleeping all the way through at the moment, normally I would go back to sleep after every toilet visit but things aren't normal yet. Surgery, medication changes and lots of thoughts running through my head it's not surprising Tuesday caught up with me and I  was having a bit of a feeling down day. I know it's all temporary so no extra care needed.... well maybe some extra chocolate would help. 

Hubby is on the patio maintenance project again, a little harder as he's ignored it for a few years. We get a lot of white spot lichens which had really built up and needs treating but all has to be swept and cleaned first. 

This paving goes round three sides of our house, one side is just path between house and garage, it's where we keep our wheelie bins plus the giant water butt and a compost bin and leads to the back gate. The side in this photo is path and wall the full length of the back of our house and the other side is our main patio surrounded by the wall. So a big job, especially when the original colour of the slabs pressure washed on the left are nearly all as dark as the ones Hubby is pressure washing now. 

I'd had two bunches of "get well" flowers that were mostly tulips and some were starting to droop over although their heads still looked pretty, so pinched off and floating and still looking pretty. 

There were a few roses amongst them that still looked happy so they went in with my mother's day flowers Son and fiancé bought me. 

With the anti-lichen treatment all over the patio that Hubby didn't want to keep walking over and he'd also done the anti-moss treatment all over the grass which Hubby didn't want to keep walking over, but the sun still shining and Hubby definitely wanted to be outside he suggested we took a trip out. We chose Alton Waters

That's not a good picture but best of the bunch hahaha. 

The views all around us on a lovely mostly flat walk are beautiful. 

Son and Daughter are both serious walkers, as you know, and told me all around the reservoir is eight miles but I was proud of my two and a quarter, as my life is basically quite sedentary these days and expecially through the cold wet months. 

   

I sent them my screenshot and they replied with suitably impressed comments. 

We had earned lunch in the on site tea rooms.

I really ached at the very end of our walk and stiffened up having sat in the cafe, struggled to get into the car and then to get out of the car once we were home. We got home quite early afternoon and knowing how easy it is to stay sitting till bed time I made myself have a walk around the house as often as possible. Pleased to report my step counter went over 6,000 before bed. 

Hope you've managed to enjoy the sunshine.

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Op Week.......

 
Time to get rid of bladder cancer for the seventh time! 

The operation was booked for this Tuesday as a day patient, however I doubted that as not arriving until noon and from previous experience I'd needed to stay in at least one night and sometimes more. 

This time we arrived and went through the whole thorough and repetitive admissions process with various members of staff including the surgeon and anaesthetist, during which I sent Hubby home. Next was to struggle into those awful compression socks and gown. 

I'm guessing it must have been around 2pm ish when I was walked to Theatre a few doors down. 

Prepped and sedated by a full team of lovely, chatty, calming staff with one thing I've never had before which was a strip attached across my forehead which was to monitor brain activity while I was under (clever eh?). 

Then I was being woken and told all went well. Bit of a problem as I couldn't breathe or speak but thankfully they resolved that quickly. Another problem is always my blood pressure which will rise just because I'm in hospital. Plus I've extra medication adjustment issues which I'm explaining to each person. Eventually they decided I was stable enough to be wheeled to Lavenham Ward. I've no idea how long I was in recovery or even in surgery.

On the ward and reunited with my stuff so turned my phone on and let Hubby, Daughter, Son and then others know that I was out the other side. Told those others that "I will chat more but not tonight", I was still sleepy of course. Think there were four different nurses that came to take my obs and panic over my high blood pressure and listen to my probable reasons why. I'd asked a few times for tea (I'd been nil-by-mouth for hours) each time promised but not arriving. When I had a little moan on WhatsApp to my children Daughter immediately said she was coming with her full up travel mug. While we were still chatting the tea trolly man arrived miraculously! Daughter came anyway, turned up about the same time as Hubby, think that was just after 6pm ish. I couldn't eat the sandwich, crisps and yoghurt I'd been brought as my mouth was making everything taste awful, I was brought more tea and drunk three jugs of water and went to the loo twice so they said I could go home. WOW

I still hadn't had any surgery feedback in person or on the MyChart online record system but I eagerly got dressed and Hubby brought me home. 

Wednesday I woke from a good night in my own bed and only feeling minor discomforts. So grateful I hadn't needed a catheter as I had every time before. 

My phone was pinging nearly all the time. Flowers came up from neighbourCM with a card and she brought a card from my nails lady too as we both use the same one. Flowers also came up from neighbourLW

And Son came to visit and brought his own vegetarian sausages to take the place of our ham and we all had the eggs, croquettes and beetroot and sat down for dinner together. 

It took until Thursday before I discovered one of the stickers they wire their monitors up to, stuck to me pre-op and missed at post-op removal. 

By Thursday night I couldn't put up with those painful compression socks any longer so I got Hubby to pull them off before bed. Awwww bliss! 

Friday NeighbourAB messaged to see if I was ready for a visitor. I was ready for a change of scenery so invited myself to her house as it's only two doors down. Lovely tea and chat. While there Daughter messaged to say she was coming over with the dog and we arranged a delay as I was already out. Also friendNH phoned and we decided what time I should call her back. I'm feeling so loved and so lucky. 

When Daughter came, R came too and it was lunch time. R made tea and I made the sandwiches. I would never have been capable of being this active after previous surgery's... am I super woman or a complete forgery hahaha. 

I'll leave you now, if you don't mind, as I'm still busy counting my blessings.

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Through Rose Coloured Glasses?.......

 
Last weekend Hubby noted it was a very full laundry box, so feeling very blasé I confessed that I'd spilled food down my thick jumpers three days running. One of those days we'd had fried egg sandwich for lunch and I hadn't noticed at all that I'd been wearing an uninvited bright yellow broach all afternoon. 

This week started with a lovely family day. Because I'd had a break from the evil pills that ruin my appetite and I was eating almost normally Son gathered the flock and booked a table at The Ship Inn for eight of us:  2 parents(us) + our 2 children + their 2 partners + our 2 grandchildren = my family

Our third grandchild E couldn't make it to the pub but Daughter picked her and the dog up on their way back to ours and Hubby and I were in Son's car so very nearly a full list when I called the register but M didn't come back with them. We'd gone for a late lunch at 2:15pm and they all stayed till late evening. Lovely! 

Busy Monday with coffee morning and still quite a few missing with coughs and colds. They left and we had a quick lunch then across town to have my nails done which always makes me feel good. After we got home I had an unexpected phone call from my lovely friendNH and it was a proper catchup long chat. She is also a cancer patient and has taken on an effort for her, physical fundraising challenge of walking a mile every day in March so of course I'd sponsored her as I do most people I know raising money for cancer research and Macmillan Nursing. 

Another special friend and I used to do so much together but our daily lives and family commitments went in different directions and our get togethers got mainly to a couple of theatre trips a year. Thursday friendKK and I planned a day together and the sun shone all day. She came here to pick me up, (she drives a convertible and the top was down) and Daughter had actually just walked over with the dog and KK and Daughter had a good chat before we left. First stop was back to her house so I could inspect her new kitchen (I'd heard about all the disputes she'd had with the kitchen fitters) and see all the redesign and hard work she'd done in her garden. Next stop was to Milsoms Hotel Restaurant for lunch which she paid for as she'd been given a voucher. Oooooow ladies that lunch hahaha! As the sun was still very much shining we did a lovely drive through our beautiful villages before she brought me home. She very kindly swapped me at home for the large amount of charity stuff I had waiting to take and filled her boot as she had a heap of her own for it to join and it would get there sooner than if it stayed here. 

So much of this week has been medical too with test results coming through and phone calls and my appointment for surgery being confirmed for next Tuesday!!! Of course a worry so all distractions gratefully taken on board, hence the rose coloured glasses, and pics of my beautiful flowers to keep my mood 'in the pink'.....

Indoors the Orchids

Outside the Camellia

Hyacinths all coming up suddenly

And the top patio bordered with the bright blooms of the bergenia 

I wish you all good health xxx

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Medical With Social Punctuation.......

 
Last Sunday Daughter and Son surprised us by coming here after their walk, didn't know they'd planned one for this week. Tea biscuits and chat then Son had to leave but Daughter stayed longer to help Hubby hedge shredding and took over excitedly using the new shredder. 

There were fewer than usual at Monday's coffee morning as there seems to be a coughing virus doing the rounds. 

Tuesday started medical with my monthly blood test.  Confusion at the clinic as before because the system has changed so as well as putting the request on 'Epic' online my Oncology care team also sent me paperwork and stickers. However when I handed them the form it wasn't accepted because it states on it I've refused to have bloods taken there, which I haven't, so they had to print it off 'Epic' anyway.

Bit of a rush home as I was then being picked up for lunch out with friendM and Hubby had arranged on the same day to have lunch out with friendRA so we didn't have to even think about an evening meal. 

Wednesday afternoon we headed to the hospital for an MRI scan. I mostly have CT Scans but MRI are so much louder and take so much longer, I survived. Just the same I'd removed all my jewelry and left it at home.  

Again we had a very short gap between getting home, getting all my jewellery back on, getting changed, hair wash and blow dry and getting out again as this week the usual gang were meeting earlier than normal as friendM was catching a very early next morning flight, so Wednesday a big rush for us but fun as it was the pub's open mic night. 

First thing Friday morning back to the hospital again for the pre-op assessment appointment. Actually both times this week we've been lucky with both traffic and parking. Pre-op included lots of question answering, usual height, weight, bp, ECG and another blood test for the flavours that weren't on Tuesday's list. 

No appointments today (Saturday) medical or social so I'll try to act normal with a bit of housework, some knitting or crochet (I've both on the go) and mostly relaxing. Have a good weekend. 

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Time To Celebrate.......

 
Last Saturday, 14th February, is a double celebration day in this house

Valentines day when we give each other a card and Hubby gives me flowers

And Hubby's birthday and all the rest of the cards are his. 

I suggested he gets a new shredder as his birthday gift from me rather than use friendA's that he often complains about.  He thought that a great idea, however, he had to do his own research and do his own order as he has the online account, and of course he paid for it, then collected it and finally put it all together. 

We know it works well as he has been hedge cutting and shredding and already made three trips to the tip this week. 

Saturday afternoon Son&fiancé came round and brought him a new jumper and cake to share. 

It was also a Doggy Day Care day so she was very pleased as Son&fiancé are her favourite people too. 

Tuesday pancake day didn't go unnoticed, but nothing special as our favourite is our childhood traditional of thin crepes with sugar and lemon juice mmmmm

Wednesday evening our usual pub shared their new entertainment of music bingo.  Each bingo card is filled with song titles and their artists then it's luck what tracks are played. Out of our group of six only friendP won a dishcloth hahaha

We were very recently told of an old fried Charlie who had been very ill for a couple of months who had just passed away. Thursday was his funeral so Hubby and I and Son joined a huge crowd to celebrate his life. . Charlie and his family were good friends of ours way back in the days when Hubby and Son were heavily into 10 pin bowling but we had all lost touch for far too long. It was a pleasure to join everyone and remember the good times with these good people. 

I was hoping Friday's hospital appointment was also going to be a celebration but unfortunately I'd had to ask for my annual Cystoscopy to be a month earlier than it was due and unfortunately my suspicions were confirmed they had found another tumor mass in my bladder and it will be surgically removed as soon as possible. As this is now the seventh time I'm not panicking and we even managed to find it funny when the nurse was doing an update of my online records and when commenting on the shear extent of my heath records asked if maybe I was being sent in as an NHS Secret Shopper hahaha 

Maybe give each other a hug or kind word more often eh?

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Pick n Mix.......

 
Early Saturday morning I get a WhatsApp hello from my children who are out on one of their walks. The view behind them is The Orwell Bridge (I think). 

The next pic I received was the empty mugs and plates inside an eatery of some sort. 

My beautiful orchid has been naked since Christmas and now it is full of buds all taking their time to gradually try on their new dress and show it off. 

Schlumbergera often called the Christmas cactus  or Easter cactus depending when yours flowers. This one has never made up its mind when it wants to flower and most years doesn't bother. So that was why I got excited when I saw a bud, a single bud but a promise of a flower. 

Long before Christmas we bought the stuff to clean our ovens with. It never happened. Every time I used either oven it was a poke to my conscience but it still never got done. 

Finally I got round to it when I knew the ovens would be redundant for two evenings running. I have to confess that I started it all off but when I stopped (too early in the proceedings) Hubby took over and did a great job as he always does. 

Monday evening we were out to eat at a really lovely Italian restaurant, 

iI Palazzo, Chelmsford. 41 miles away from home but worth it as it's about the same distance from the friends we were meeting. We met friendsL&K and friendsL&M. Always too long a gap between meeting up and catching up with each other. 

Wednesday night out again as our usual group of six, in our most frequented pub..... The Grosvenor which has recently been refurbished. Last week was my first visit there. It's mostly OK but we were reserved one of those horrid booth tables which isn't really big enough for six and both friendT and I had difficulty sliding along, also the backs are very high which made seeing round the room and the entertainment tricky and a couple of dinners even had to be served over the seat back. I was at the wall end and just above me was an opening/window that was covered with a wire grid, I felt like I was inside the rabbit hutch!

This week when we arrived it was quite empty and we noticed they had replaced the small round table in the far corner with a large round table, the way it used to be years ago. Made us remember all the fun social things we've done as a group and friendM and I found our old coach trip holiday photos to laugh at. 

Sadly another horrid thing to report about our NHS. On Friday our neighbour,  the one that had suffered hours and hours before getting a hospital bed two weeks ago, then caught noro virus while in there which got passed to his wife and daughter. He was brought home by hospital transport and was home for less than two hours when his wife had to call an ambulance again as he was sick and then passed out and did it again when the ambulance was there. Apparently the paramedics said it was definitely a failed discharge as their tests showed he had low magnesium and low potassium and was dehydrated. We all need to worry about this! 

Back to happy things, today is a celebration day and a Doggy Day Care day so I'm off to get ready.

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Getting Springy.....

 
While Hubby was looking out of our lounge window this little chap was looking in. 

Around the garden so many of the spring bulbs are now showing through.

It's still cold and quite damp most days. 

Cuppa at Daughter's and we were there as Hubby had to help her get her broken dishwasher out of the back room and removed to the tip ready for the new one to arrive the next day. Hubby was there for the new one to install too. 

I hate moaning about our NHS as they have certainly given me all they have over the years, however there are now so many problems! Last week our neighbour had to leave home in an ambulance. It arrived with three paramedics from Colchester as Ipswich didn't have one to spare. We heard later he had to spend nearly eight hours on the ambulance as there was no room inside A&E. That stopped the ambulance and three paramedics able to take more calls!  He then spent 24 hours in A&E before there was a bed on a ward for him! For me two things this week. On Monday I ordered more prescriptions online and left a message on the answerphone of the urology consultant's secretary. Tuesday the NHS App showed my prescriptions had been issued direct to my chemist. Thursday I still hadn't heard back from urology so asked my Oncology Nurse to chase for me, she did and rang back to say I can't get a more urgent appointment than the end of the month. Friday when Hubby called in the chemist they had no meds for me, so I rang the surgery who said they had been predated for next Monday..... they have never predated meds before and she didn't know why these had! 

Friday was the funeral for Jo Carrick, owner and director for The Red Rose Chain Theatre and R's boss. I knew the town centre church would be full and I joined them online at the live stream. The front choir pews were filled with her theatre performers, including R, who all came out to the front four times and performed songs Jo had written, with Vincent on guitar and R on accordion. Her husband and son both gave very emotional tributes and poems were read. It was a beautiful service. 

Enjoy whatever you have planned for the weekend. I'll see you next week.

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Ho Ho Ho Again.....

 
Saturday 24th January and the table is set for 10.

Gifts are wrapped and ready for those that didn't make it here on everyone else's Christmas day. 

And we are ready to have our own 2nd Christmas day. 

It didn't go totally to plan, which is as expected, R didn't come as she was feeling unwell. We all knew it was mostly exhaustion and stress from the chaos at work the theatre is under, however E was worried about R germ spreading if she was brewing an illness of any sort. So Daughter ate with us and plated up a dinner for R and left early. She was going to leave anyway as she was working, rehearsing then performing with people new to her. 

M arrived just as we were finishing our dessert, as he had been working, but we had saved plenty of dinner and dessert for him. 

Lots of stories from Son&fiancé's holiday. Board games and chat. Tea and cake of course and a really lovely day. 

The consultant's phone call appointment happened to be right in the middle of coffee morning, but that wasn't a problem as he likes a very short phone call. His last call was back in September but he still doesn't linger and I'm not sure how much he even listens to my answers as his report letter afterwards slightly distorts the facts, though nothing that I would need to correct. 

 

I found an unopened jar of lemon curd in the fridge that needed to be used and the quickest way is a basic sponge mix thrown into a cake case and dollops of curd swirled in then baked. Yummy. 

We had a phone call from one of our neighbours whose garden backs onto ours, they had caught photos on their garden camera of two otters that had been disturbed before taking all the fish from their pond. They had got into their garden through a hole they had made in our fence. So finally we had confirmation of how all our fish had disappeared from our pond late last year, we knew it hadn't been a heron or fox as the pond was netted and when ours was attacked so had at least three other neighbour's ponds. There was speculation of otters but no proof and we did seem a long way from the Brook. So Hubby repaired the fence, warned the rest of our neighbours and we have decided that for now we won't restock our pond just keep it healthy for wildlife as we can't compete with otters. 

Within two days this week we heard of an old friend, Charlie who died after about four months in hospital. We haven't seen him or his family for quite some time so it was really appreciated that they let us know and we will definitely go to his funeral. Very sad. 

Then my niece messaged to let us know that her daughter, my great niece, is pregnant. Life goes on eh?

Remember to make memories. 

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