Well here I am well in to my 4th week of chemo therapy. I couldn’t have imagined it was going to go so well, at least so far. I have just returned from a walk up to the waterfall with Barbara and Skipper. This would have been unthinkable just a few short weeks ago. I am learning to be grateful for what now seems like small mercies. 5 or 6 weeks ago, it was a struggle to get out of bed in the morning, going for a walk would have seemed like winning the lottery. I never dreamed of winning the lott
I woke again at around 3am this morning; I don’t even bother to look at my watch anymore. What is time all about anyway? There are 24 hours in a day, and the way things are at present, it doesn’t matter how I divide them up. It’s now 9-30am and we have walked Skipper along the Silverburn and had breakfast. The parrot Orry has been bathed and fed. The chickens are all out, watered and fed. The ducks, geese and swans on the river have all been attended to. Nothing has been left to nature or God. W
I woke up at 3am once again. It’s not a problem as I’m feeling fine. I just couldn’t sleep again. Never mind, I now have a nice long day to plough through.
It is now 7-30 a.m. We have had breakfast and tea and now Barbara will feed and tend to the 80 odd cockatiels and canaries in the aviary, let the hens out, sort out Orry our African Grey parrot, feed the ducks, swans and geese on the Silverburn and then it will be Skipper’s turn. I am now in to my 4th week of chemo. I started to loose my
Its 7-35 a.m. I have been awake since around 2-30. Don’t know why, just one of those things. I’m on my 2nd day of my 2nd course of chemo now. It went well yesterday, however, my hair is now falling out in droves and my skin is starting to dry up. I think I might shave all my hair off today and get it over with in one swoop. I’m not bothered about losing my hair. It will grow again and is a very small price to pay towards my recovery.
On Monday night I received a phone call from a man called
Its 3-35 pm and I have not long returned from my second dose of chemotherapy treatment. All went well again at the hospital this morning. When I woke this morning, I had no idea what I might write about on the blog today. Barbara has just read some of the comments on the forum. I did not know that today is no smoking day until I turned on my little dab radio whilst plugged in to the chemo machine. When I was a smoker just a few short months ago, I loathed non smoking days and all the other very
It is 5-15 a.m. I have been awake since around 4am. I can hear the wind howling outside. I thought I heard a curlew about 20 minutes ago. I love the sound of the curlew. A single duck is quacking its head off on the river bank. The dawn chorus has not yet started. I have just made my first pot of tea and have decided to write today’s blog.
I have been thinking during the night of the many characters I have met down through the years. Every one of them has enriched my life and so this mornin
Monday morning 10-20. I have walked through the park and wandered through golden meadow mill with Barbara & Skipper. It is a beautiful sunny day and difficult to believe that yesterday I heard nothing but severe storms forecast for last night and this morning. Well last night it did blow a bit but probably no more though than gale force 9. Yes that is quite a blow but nothing more than we should expect for this time of the year. Today for some reason they talk of winds reaching 60 or 70 mph
Sunday morning 8-55.a.m. I lost out on my morning walk with Skipper this morning. I woke up at 1.50 a.m. to listen to the boxing on the radio and didn’t get back to sleep. Barbara is presently walking Skipper at Langness. It’s a bad forecast for tonight, though they are talking of wind speeds of 70/80 mph with heavy rain and big tides. The last forecast said the wind would be from the Southeast which is not as bad as it would be if they were blowing from the Southwest. Of course those of you who
9-15am Saturday morning. The wind is blowing strongly from the Southwest, a good 6 or 7. A severe storm is now forecast to cross us on Sunday evening so it might not be very pleasant out there at present. However, it’s just about as good now as its going to be for the next 48 hours or so. I had a little scare yesterday morning as I woke up with a cold, or at least what I thought was a cold. I am now so close to my second course of chemo coming up this Wednesday that a cold now would be disastrou
Its 8-15 and I am about to head off up the Silverburn with Skipper. Yesterday I reported to Doctor Smith at the hospital for a check up. Good news as I am in such good condition he does not want to see me again now until my final chemo session. All appears to be going well. We are not yet out of cancer’s black hole. However, the hole is not so black at present, there is a light and I am heading towards it.
I guess everyone at some point in their lives has been in a pit of despair and felt t
Thursday 8-45 a.m. I am now just 6 days away from the next course of chemotherapy and so far I have got away with almost no side effects at all. I'm feeling good again today and it looks like I will get out this morning probably to Langness. I no longer wake up thinking about lung cancer. Almost all of the daily reminders, shortness of breath, coughing and tiredness have gone. I believe that there is a reason for everything, although not everything in life comes along with an explanation. Why wo
Its 7-45 a.m and I have woken up feeling really good once again and its now exactly two weeks into chemo. Skipper is bouncing about ready for his morning hike; today I think we will head up the Silverburn to the waterfall again.
Yesterday we had a visit from IOM newspapers, they have heard about our blog so I guess something will appear in amongst the skeet shortly.
I have been thinking during the night about the small seemingly insignificant things in life that in the end can play a maj
It is 9-30 a.m and it is a fantastic morning. I have just returned from my walk with Skipper. This morning we ventured to the waterfall at Ronaldsway and back. In the old days and by that I mean 5 months ago. I would have gone on and sat on the steps of the footbridge and lit my pipe for half an hour before venturing on to Ballasalla. None-the-less a pipe less walk along the Silverburn in the early morning sun is still a wonderful and enriching experience. I have tried sucking a hard sweet, but
Monday morning, 10-30 and I’m just back from walking Skipper, my first solo walk since I began chemotherapy now nearly two weeks ago. It was only a trip around Poulson Park with a free run for Skip in the fields along the Silverburn. It’s yet another sign how things are improving. I am beginning to get parts of my old life back again. Last night my old pal Michael called round and we discussed sailing and fishing plans for this summer in my new boat Silverburn. A couple of months ago I was stari
Here we are, Sunday morning and we’re just back from our walk with Skipper. The wind is blowing at about 6 or 7 from the Northwest. They are giving force 8 again for tonight. Yesterday proved to be yet another milestone. Not long after they had told me I had cancer I sold my boat, Scarlett Queen. Well I was already going to do that this year, however, the news that I had cancer sort of speeded things up a bit. After all I wasn’t going to need a boat. It’s a long time since I have been boat less
Its 9-15 on Saturday morning and it has been a very stormy night with the wind blowing from the Northwest at around force 9 for most of the night. Thankfully things have calmed down now and I will be able to get out today. Sorry I did not manage to sing my way along Malew Street yesterday, thankfully the weather beat me. You may well have wondered what on Earth I was going on about yesterday, talking about the birds and the dawn chorus. I don’t think I mentioned cancer or chemo therapy once in y
What a special day today is then! Feb 29th, it only comes round once every four years. To many of us, four yearsis neither here nor there. They hold the Olympics, every four years. World cups and general elections usually come around every four years or so. To someone that is terminally ill, four years is a vast ocean of time. Time is something we all measure using different criteria to suit our circumstances. We often get different answers to the same sums. To a high flying busy person, there a
Today is going to be an eventful day. For one thing shortly, Pooil Vaaish will arrive to fit granite work tops in our kitchen. Barbara has wanted granite work tops ever since we owned our first kitchen. Brother Lenny and wife Rosie own Pooil Vaaish so after securing a very favourable rate the work will finally commence today. This means it would be probably in our best interests to go out for the day. So the camper van is loaded ready and within the next hour we shall head for the Point of Ayre
So here we are, one full week in to chemo therapy and we are still rolling along. Yesterday was the worst day so far with lots of tears, yet I have no explanation. I didn’t feel any worse than any other day. I just felt tearful and sad for most of the day. Maybe this is part of chemo, I don’t know but I have woken up feeling fine again today. Who knows what it might bring. Yesterday just about everything brought tears to my eyes, thoughts aimlessly wondering in my mind, comments regarding the bl
Well I have woken up feeling fine once again. I think I might I had one or two signs of the chemo side effects for the first time yesterday. I felt tired by 7-30 and by 8 could hardly keep awake so, I gave in and retired to bed where I slept right through until 6am. Today the wind is blowing hard from the Southwest. The forecast tells me it’s going to reach around 55 mph. I guess that will mean no walks for me and Skipper today so, its looks like its down to Barbara to do the honours once again
So, here we are deep in to our first week of chemotherapy. It’s Monday morning. A couple of months ago, Monday mornings would have been a busy time being the first day back in the office after the weekend and all that. The business has now gone and the office where I am now typing this blog is a quiet peaceful place where the phone has now fallen completely silent. Today I have woken up feeling good again. A couple of friends called round last night for drinks, Michael my lifelong seafaring frie
Its 9-35 A.M on Sunday, February 24th. I have woken up feeling really good once again. Yesterday was a very good day for me. I managed to walk all the way from Poulson Park to the waterfall and back. This is the most I have ventured since my cancer broke out just a few short months ago.
It's quite amazing how your life can be changed or turned on its head in just a very short time no matter how much long planning you might do. My daily routine up until about mid November was to rise every m
So we hit day 3 or is it 4 after chemotherapy. I have decided to stop counting the days. It's a rather meaningless task. It's a bit like sitting and watching the hands on the clock go round. What matters is that I have woken up feeling really good again. I had friends round last night for a few drinks, old sailing friends and we really enjoyed the evening. I went to bed feeling good and I have woken up with a feel good factor. The wind is blowing from the Southwest today at about 6 or 7. Its goi
This is day 3 after my 1st Intravenous chemotherapy session. I also had to take chemo tablets yesterday and today . So far I have experienced no side effects whatsoever. Still, we have a long way to go and who knows what might be in store. It is strange how when you are aware that you have cancer you start thinking of your life in days. Days start to matter. You don’t know how many you might have left so you want to use them to the maximum. Hopefully my chemo treatment will turn my days to week
An old friend of mine, Norman Kelly, the former custodian at Castle Rushen, sat on a bench on a summer's day on Castletown square chatting to a bunch of tourists. After listening to his fascinating tales one of them asked him had he lived here all his life? After pondering the question for a few seconds, he replied, "No, not yet."
I was in Nobles Hospital yesterday; it was my first day of chemotherapy. At some point during the day a nurse asked me if I had been a smoker all my life. I recal
