I'm back - well, at least most of me is.............

Firstly, I'd like to apologise to everyone who has been reading the blog (and I know from emails, followers and cards that there have been a few) for the interval that has elapsed since my last post.

It hasn't been an easy time.

Thank you Claire, for keeping the blog going over the time I was in hospital (even if your spelling of metastases was inclined to wander off the beaten track!)

I hope to write more about the period in hospital at some later date but will settle today for finding the energy to briefly update you all since my return home just over a week ago.

I'll admit that I wasn't looking forward to the transfer. Given the difficulty I was having in getting from the bed to the bathroom, coping with the many moments of energy expenditure entailed in travelling from my automated bed on the 4th floor of the QE to a 'fixed bed' many thousands of steps up from the ground floor of our house seemed an impossible task. I was firmly assured that it wasn't.

Nevertheless, the car drive felt like we were on a grand prix circuit, slewing around corners with Di apparently searching for every pothole she could find. At times like these the suspension on a standard motor car appears less than adequate.

Approaching our destination I experienced some nausea ( another word already on the move in hospital - from nor-zee-a to nor-sha. We must resist this trend to Americanisation). I stood in front of our newly painted pink door (!), bent double, hoping against hope that my body wasn't going to be wracked by a vomiting attack. The strain on my recently lacerated side would have been excrutiating. Di and Claire looked on helplessly until the moment passed. I pretty much flew up those stairs and into that wonderful bed I had so recently maligned.

Since then it's been pretty much a story of gradual progress marred by two developments; firstly, the realisation that the neurological discomfort/pain in my leg (the search for explanation to which had led to the discovery of the tumour) had not gone away and secondly; the onset in the last five days or so of a phase of d and v. This is not good news because apart from the debilitating effects it also plays havoc with the pain control regimen.

I'm just about at the end of my energy store at the moment. I can't end without telling you about the amount I owe to Diana and Claire and Joe for their care of me. They have been so attentive, so responsive to my needs - and they are faced with some time yet to come.

Many thanks too, to everyone for your support, cards and kind words. It is difficult to ensure that everyone gets an individual response but your thoughtfulness, especially at a time when my reserves are low, is much appreciated.