POETS day!

Well it's Friday afternoon and we have a glass of wine in hand and are watching a cruise ship getting ready to leave the harbour full of excited people either on, or just starting out on their holiday. It wasn't a great day for them in Sydney, grey, windy and overcast, nevertheless it is a great city.

Another week of radiation over and Alan still has his hair so far - in fact longer than he ever usually wears it!  He's still doing very well, starting to get a little more tired in the afternoons but still managing to walk home from the hospital which takes about 40 minutes.

He made some scones today! I think we'll be role changing when we get home - I'll be doing the DIY and grass cutting and Alan will be in the kitchen although Vision Australia gave him a few tips on how he could find his tools (lol) they didn't say he'd be able to use them though!  I might need some lessons on the chain saw Karen!

I saw Stella's post on Facebook so know that we've had some much needed rain at home and hope that it filled everyone's tanks.

We have another busy weekend planned (are there any others?) so I'll update you when I can. 

Here we are again

I said I'd give you a review on the Thai food - awesome - lamb pancakes! Unbelievable! It was Thai Fusion fused with Indian roti bread, I think. Delish! 

Today was a long day with a visit to Vision Australia before the radiation.  We had a 2 hour session and believe it or not, turns out Alan could read with 20/20 vision on the charts. But.........come to actually reading a newspaper or the iPad not so good.  Also, no vision at all on the left hand side.  They are coming to visit and have some aids to help him with the computer, iPad, iPhone etc.  and a folding white stick mainly for other people who may be crossing on the left side, lol.

Other than that, we saw the radiation specialist today, who is very happy with the way things are going so far. His blood platelets are good and they've reduced the steroids again.  We had a couple of big walks today, fortunately the weather was kind to us apart from this morning when it was pouring down.  No matter, we were dry and warm because our son in law gave us a lift to our appointment! We are very blessed to have such a great support team down here.

I haven't posted any photographs in a while but promise to do one tomorrow - maybe of the two of us! Even though I hate my photograph taken. Alan says I should do a selfie of us both - can you really do that? Hope I'm not boring you all with my ramblings, but for all who are following, thank you.

Week 2

Sorry I haven't blogged for a couple of days but I had a bit of a meltdown when I was writing - it's all good though - I suppose it will happen from time to time.  We found rather a lot of fluid on Alan's head on Monday  after radiation and I freaked out a bit.  Anyway, I dragged him back down to ask the nurse about it, 2 nurses and a Doctor later, they said they didn't think it was anything to worry about! We see his oncology specialist tomorrow so I will ask her to explain properly what's happening and why.

It's a bit of a change to blog a bit of negativity as has doing so well. Sometimes I think the blog is more like Julie & Julia as it's been mostly about food!

Since the reduction in the steroid dose, he has stopped craving so much chocolate and lollies but still has a healthy appetite and is really enjoying his food (not so much of a surprise, of course).

We are still managing to walk every day and as soon as the rain clears up are planning longer and more difficult walks to keep up the muscle tone and leg strength.  We made apple crumble the other day - crumble topping courtesy of Alan!!!  I'll make a cook of him yet - he wants to try bread next - lol.

Tonight we are going out for Thai food so I'll give you a review tomorrow!

Tuckered out!

Another busy day with lots of walking.  Helen and Scott brought Mia (our great grandaughter) over to see us and take us to the "Secret Garden" and then for lunch.  Alan manged to get to the garden without too much effort until we were faced with about 45 steps!  Luckily, at the top, there were a couple of seats which were immediately sat on lol.  Mia had brought a friend with her so they were running around as girls do and of course I had to go with them - it was exhausting!  Nevertheless, I somehow managed but am now feeling a little weary.

I think I said on Friday that we were looking forward to a weekend of rest - ha,ha.  Somehow I don't think we know the meaning of the word.  It's another beautiful day in Sydney so how can we be couch potatoes (Alan only looks like one in the photo!)

I'm managing to get a little bit of cooking done in between eating out - thank goodness as I'm getting withdrawal symptoms.  Fish cakes and mushy peas on the menu tonight, followed by apple crumble and ice cream - have to go now, Alan's hungry!!!!

Weekend Off!

We are having our first weekend off from radiation treatment and this is what we woke up to this morning - amazing!

The weather changed and we decided to take a ferry to Balmain heading to the Cat and Fiddle Pub only to find that the kitchen was being renovated and they had a very limited menu!  No matter, we'd had to walk so far to get there and it had started to rain so we decided to stay and hope for the best (there was no way Alan was going anywhere without refuelling!). 150 Lashes and a Porky Pie kept him insanely happy and able to attempt the long walk back to the ferry.  We had a short interlude at the frozen yoghurt shop and a rest while Jill and Alistair picked up the Macarons from Zumbos!

We took the ferry, going the long way on our own Harbour Cruise, needless to say the Macarons didn't make it across the water, eaten with relish on our way home!

Another day of our journey - sounds like more of a holiday than what we are really going through, but we need to make the most of it.  Alan is going extremely well, gets tired easily, but keeps going.  I am so proud of him. We'll have another fun filled day to report tomorrow.

Day 3

It was a beautiful day in Sydney today and the first day we didn't get wet going for treatment! Anyway when you've got the big C who cares about a bit of water!

We saw a professor today who seems happy with the progress, although it's early days. He is going so well that she said he could half the steroid dose - could mean that he won't have such a craving for sweet things and I won't have to slap his hand so much as he reaches for the lolly jar! Lol

We had another big day heading off to Macquarie Shopping Centre to buy a pair of walking shoes - all this walking needs more supportive footwear and he's used to wearing work boots most of the time.  Got them straight away in the first shop, thank goodness.  Then on to woollies to pick up (of all things) dried peas and lentils to make mushy peas and pease pudding! Just popped up out of left field!

Back on the train and the walk to Kirribilli (how come I'm not losing any weight?), a quick shandy on the verandah before lunch, then the long anticipated wait for Friday night fish and chips. Yum (maybe why I'm not losing the weight!)

We have a two day break from Radiation but keep up the Chemo tablets over the weekend so we are looking forward to a bit of a rest.

Day 2 of treatment

Second day and a bit exhausting! Could have been because we stopped off at North Sydney to visit Hungry Jacks for onion rings - it's worse than being pregnant!

However, starting from next week, community transport are kindly going to pick us up each day.  We will continue to walk home to keep up the much needed exercise mainly to keep Alan's legs strong as one of the drugs causes the thigh muscles to weaken, but also to counteract all the cups of coffee we seem to be stopping for on the excuse of a rest!

Another bit of good news is that Vision Australia have fast tracked our appointment for assessment so we will be able to learn about the aids available to assist with reading and the computer.  When they spoke to Alan on the phone they asked if he could make a cup of tea, he replied yes.  They then asked  if he over filled the cup, he replied yes I must have put in too much milk!

We had an early Fathers Day treat last night with a trip to China Republic with Jill and Alistair for Peking Duck and have another one to look forward to with David and Jenny - can't wait for that one as David is working on perfecting sour dough bread and grilled scampi in his Pizza oven - watch this space.

Our grandchildren are spoiling us rotten with gifts of lollies for Alan and wine for me both gratefully received.  Thank you.

We are overwhelmed with everyone's good wishes and thank you again for caring.

Treatment starts

Well here we are at the end of the first day of the rest of our lives - treatment has started.  Chemo tablet early this morning followed by radiation. Tolerated extremely well as you can see.  Hopefully it will continue in this positive way.

We had a 10 minute walk to the station, hopped on a train for a couple of stops, then a 15 minute walk to the hospital - it's a good plan to keep up fitness levels and strength and we will keep doing it for as long as we can.

We caught up with our good friends, Mike and Pam yesterday.  Had lunch at the Kirribilli Club and are looking forward to many more outings with more of our friends.

I spoke with Vision Australia today and have an appointment in a couple of weeks to discuss various aids to help Alan with reading and his beloved computer - the main things that are frustrating at the moment.  They are confident that they will be able to help.

Back in Sydney

To all our followers an apology for not posting anything for the last few days. we didn't really have anything to report until today when we had our appointment with the medical oncologist.  He was very nice and went through the regime we will face starting on Wednesday 20th.  6 weeks of both Radiation and Chemotherapy together - radiation 5 days and the chemo, which is in tablet form, every day.  

A multitude of other pills for nausea, constipation, antibiotics etc. etc. have to be taken - he'll be rattling!  The good new is that although the steroids have heightened his appetite for lollies and sweet things, he hasn't actually put on any weight (yet) probably because of all the walking we are doing.  We will continue to do this everyday as long as he is able.

Ålan is in good spirits but gets frustrated at times because of the loss of vision, however, we will be working with Vision Australia to make sure we explore every avenue to try and improve whatever sight he has.

Meanwhile, we are still enjoying the city life and the plethora of restaurants it has to offer. (As most of our friends know, we really enjoy good food and wine).  We have always tried to do a lot of things together over the years - golfing, fishing, decorating and walking and now he is starting to take an interest in the actual cooking of food and not just the eating so will continue to do things together, they'll just be different!  Hope I can cope with him in the kitchen!!  Jill says she'll buy him some talking scales for Fathers Day (lol)

Once again, thank you for caring. Love from us both. X

Hi from Doon Doon!

Well - here we are back home for a few days. Alan made it through the flight with flying colours and lots of help from jelly snakes!

We had a great time in Kirribilli with Jill and Alistair and are looking forward albeit, with a bit of trepidation, to going back there.  It was good fun to be "citified" although we ate far too much and drank copious amounts of excellent coffee.  We will have to keep the exercise up so it's a thermos to Crams Farm and a walk around the circuit before we can drink it.

We have lots to do and little time to get through it, so if we don't get round to seeing all our friends, please don't be offended.  We are very grateful for your thoughts but as you will appreciate, Alan gets quite tired and can only tolerate short visits.

I'll try to update the blog in between jobs!  Thank you for following our progress.

Much love, Helen

Oncology

Today we went for a mask fitting!  A bit ironic as we have loads of masks and wigs at home! As all our friends know.

Alan needs to keep his head perfectly still while having radiation so has to wear a mask - he felt a bit of discomfort but said it wasn't too bad.

We fly home tomorrow for a few days, just to pick up a few more clothes and sort a few things out, then back to Sydney for the treatment.  He is still in good spirits and eating like a horse (could be something to do with the steroids!) We've had a really good week here since he came out of hospital - hard to believe he's only been out for 1 week today.  Hope to catch up with a few people in the next few days - will keep you posted.

Radio Oncologist Appointment Update

Helen says..

"More waiting! We had our visit with the radiation oncologist and radiation treatment will start in about two weeks. We are waiting to have another scan and an appointment with the chemo specialist hopefully early next week.

All being well, we shall be home for about one week after that, then back to Sydney for the treatment which lasts six weeks. We can then come home and will continue to have chemotherapy at John Flynn.

Alan is in good spirits and keeping up his fitness level by walking every day, has the odd glass of wine and loads of lollies!"

Recovery..Day 5

Helen says.. "What a great day it turned out to be today. The doctor said Alan was so fit that he could go home tomorrow (Monday). All that walking up and down to the shed must have been good for him! Can't believe its only one week today since we arrived in Sydney, although its seems like an eternity.

To all our friends who are following the blog we send a big thank you for caring so much. In the next couple of days we hope he will have a big rest - hospitals are not the best places for sleeping. Then we wait once again for this coming Thursday for our visit with the oncologist and the next step.

Watch this space and bless you all. x"

Recovery..Day 3 & 4

My apologies for not posting for a few days, and thanks to Anne Coveney for reminding me the importance of these updates to those afar. Alan has visibly improved over the last few days. He is semi-mobile and can walk around with assistance. His energy levels peak and trough throughout the day, and he can seem a little vague at times. When you consider it was only four days ago he was receiving major brain surgery, these symptoms seem insignificant. Helen continues her undaunted bedside vigil (until the nursing staff kick her out).

It looks like Alan could be leaving hospital on Tuesday, which is great news. Alan and Helen will be staying in Sydney for possibly another week. Alan has an appointment with his Oncologist on Thursday.