A lot has been happening.
I did make an effort to blog about my journey to Norfolk a week or so ago but after spending many hours (I kid you not - these posts are not run off in a trice, as though things of fleeting fancy) but I managed to lose it, owing to my incompetence with technology, not once but twice. After much weeping, wailing and the replacement of a battered keyboard, I decided that this particular post obviously wasn't meant to be shared with the blogosphere. I let it go. All that remains of it, ground-breaking and post-modern as it was, is now consigned to my imperfect and rapidly fading memory.
But this is a new day and so I will start from here. My most up-to-date medical bulletin should include reference to the visit I made to the Eye Clinic at the QEH last week. Diana dropped me close to the main entrance of the new hospital because my feet were too sore to make the half-mile walk from Harrisons Road, where we usually park, in order to avoid the car parking fees. Lest you think us skinflints, we must have made more than 50 visits to the hospital in the last 18 months. 50 x £3 or £4 helps to defray the costs of our membership of nearby Winterbourne Gardens and the copious quantities of green tea and baked potatoes we have consumed there as part of our post-appointment therapy.
So, as I crossed the road and approached the curving pedestrian path that leads to the hospital's huge revolving doors, I was a little surprised to see a number of camera crews confronting me. Surprised, because we hadn't mentioned my appointment to anyone so I hypothesised that this was another instance of the regrettable practice of leaks within the NHS (viz; recent episodes of The thick of it).
As it turned out, the interviewers allowed me to pass unmolested, for which I was grateful if a little perplexed.We learned later that these crews had been distracted by the arrival of a young girl from Afghanistan.
But the headline news from the visit was good. The consultant announced that there was no further trace of the small haemorrhage in my right eye. I have been discharged.
Ophthalmology ticked, just orthopaedics and oncology to go.
Writing of oncology; there is news here too. The week before last we had visited the Cancer Clinic to discuss the sore feet side effects of the chemo. We were greeted warmly by the consultant, another doctor on placement and two specialist nurses. Though the team were interested in all side effects over the course of the last few cycles, I explained that it was the sore feet that were seriously impairing my quality of life. The consultant agreed that 'the cure should not be worse than the condition' and after examining the soles of my feet agreed that the dosage for my next cycle would be reduced. He also said that very few patients reach this point on the maximum dosage, which was some consolation.
I say consolation because reducing the dosage must entail the possibility that the efficacy of the drugs will be reduced. The next CT scan in approximately three months will reveal all.
Our fervent hope of course is that our efforts on exercise, meditation and particularly diet will give me an added advantage.
We are discovering however - or rediscovering - that however far you travel with diet, there are always further steps you can take. So, last weekend we went to a gathering at St. Columba's church in Moseley. We had been drawn by the promise of an appearance by Jane Plant (author of 'Your life in your hands' and other titles). It was Professor Plant we had consulted soon after my diagnosis in May of last year (see post, Friday 1st July). Unfortunately she had to withdraw owing to illness but we nevertheless found ourselves in a strange world of alternative therapies and spiritual healing.
The focus for many of the talks we attended however was on the benefits to be derived from raw and living foods. It is for each of us to undertake these journeys. Ours has already taken us through organics, to vegetarianism to veganism. I don't wish to proselytise but despite our difficulty with some of the ideas we were impressed by the promise of raw veganism.
If you were about to invite us to dinner, don't worry! We are not planning to be total converts - we will continue to have our omnivorous, even carnivorous and certainly cooked moments. At this stage we simply plan to add more juicing, raw food smoothies, sprouting seeds, salads etc to our diet.
However, if we are about to invite you to dinner you may want to consider whether the flowers are edible and the chocolates caffeine-free!
