The news is good - the latest CT scan showed that the position with regard to the nodules was 'entirely unchanged'. In other words, all is stable. However, there were one or two caveats; firstly, 'stability' is defined as 'within 10% growth or shrinkage' and more disconcertingly the registrar made reference to two nodules we didn't even know existed. One is a lymph node in the chest and the other, a sclerotic lesion in the pelvic bone. Hitherto, we had been led to believe that all tumours were in the lungs. Anyway, she insisted that these were not new lesions and that this therefore meant that the drugs were still working and would continue to be provided.
I raised some questions about my increased difficulties with mobility, particularly walking and asked how far the drugs might play a part in this given that there are other confounding variables such as my knackered knees, my lumbar spine problems and the medication I take to manage the neurological pain, not to mention the general ageing process. She thought that there would have been some build-up in the body of the Sunitinib and this would create problems that could only be addressed by reducing the dosage, extending the drug-free 'holiday' or transfer to another drug. I have been on the highest dosage for more than a year and this puts me in a relatively small group.
It appears that there is an increasingly-apparent choice to be made between the quantity and the quality of life.
We agreed that I would continue on the top dosage for the coming cycle (starting tomorrow) but that we would review the situation with the consultant in three weeks time.
Meanwhile, we continue to explore and enjoy that which is available on our diesel-reached doorstep.
Yesterday, following lunch with John and Jenny at Hanbury Hall, we (that is Diana, myself as well as Joe, recently returned from his summer sojourn with girlfriend Verena in Budapest and Bavaria) travelled on to another location listed in my Betjeman's Best British Churches. This one, Dodford, is a couple of miles to the northwest of Bromsgrove and just a short distance from the A448 that heads out in the direction of Kidderminster. It is described as Arts and Crafts Gothic but as we pulled into the car park, the external appearance was unprepossessing. Squat, with walls covered in a dull pebble-dash finish, it appeared to have little to commend it. Had we - and Betjeman - made a mistake?
A solitary elderly gentleman, seated in the sun, asked whether we were with a party making its way to this point from Rosedene Chartist cottage. We confessed that we were not and he then offered to take us around the church with his party once they arrived. In the meantime, he would explain the Chartist connection with the village of Dodford......................
Through this moment of serendipity we were able to see and appreciate the reasons for the selection of this church as one of 'the best one thousand churches in the United Kingdom'. I intend to read up on Chartism and visit Rosedene, the National Trust cottage, then return to Dodford and its church. Feel free to join me.
I must also mention that a couple of weeks ago I was able to enjoy another extraordinary sight of a different nature. Neil rang and asked if I was interested in a trip to Upton Warren for a spot of birding. A migrating raptor had been in residence around the lakes for ten days, no doubt taking advantage of the fine weather and fish (a clue!) to recharge its avian batteries.
When we arrived the bird was directly on view from the car park. It perched accommodatingly on the mast of a dinghy on the far side of the lake made available for water sports. When finally disturbed by an unknowing staff member in an inflatable craft with an outboard motor, the bird obligingly soared above our knot of binoculared men.
The bird if you haven't guessed by now, was, or is, an osprey; no doubt on its way to warmer climes further south. Ten days later, when I took Joe to see it, we were told that, although present that morning, it had been missing for a few hours. We spent the afternoon in the hides enjoying other birds but there was no sign of the osprey by the time we came to leave.
Given my increased sensitivity to cold - another side effect of the drugs - I envy the osprey's ability to follow the sun without concern for passports, airport taxes, or the morally-tortuous issues of carbon talonprints.
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