Last day of the month...

.... and the start of a new bug invasion, I have been blowing like a walrus Catarrh seems to have set in, big time. Carol has recently shrugged off her viral infection after a prolonged week of suffering, is it my turn now? It started Saturday evening whilst at an 80th birthday party at the Mill Wheel at Hartshorne, the room was like an oven, I don't do well in heat. Food, drink & company were good so no complaints, I think I would have started a cold or whatever it is anyway, Carol likes to share things.
April sees the start of my treatment in Birmingham, I have an appointment Tuesday next week at my local surgery for a blood sample to be taken, followed by another in Burton with my Oncologist 08:30 on Thursday. I wonder what will happen 6 weeks later? Perhaps my planned visit to Burton may be cancelled as I should be in Birmingham.
I had a very pleasant couple of hours with Carol at a local garden centre yesterday, the weather was first class. It is a few years since I was there last. The whole place has been done up and the water side of gardening has been greatly improved, I have come away with a few new ideas, the problem then is, will I have the money to convert ideas into fact... or, will I have the stamina to do the job? Time will tell.

I have just announced that I am closing the U3A 2nd Photo group. I am not getting the interest from members, people join, then leave with no explanation, emails go unanswered. I have taken the hint, I did get two replies wishing me well, better than expected. I doubt anyone will wish to take over my role as coordinator but the offer is there.

Carol has had a 'phone call from the hospital asking her if she still wants the operation the reply was a resounding yes, She was then asked if any holidays had been planned, the answer was a resounding no. The next question was could you be available for short notice call in should a cancellation arise.Yet another resounding YES!

BroadBand Speed, or lack of, & searching for a new ISP

It is several months since I last checked my Broadband speed. It's one of those little jobs that are often put on the back burner until a reminder pops up as in say, my Which? magazine, I then check, & things are about the same, average speed is 2.24Mbps. This is slower than the average speed for E Midlands (UK)

 I have cropped out nearly almost all of the prt sc as I use two screens when working. My contract with SKY ends very shortly,so I shall be looking elsewhere for a better speed/deal. Which? has put SKY  in 10th position out of 12 ISP's, not what I would call a glowing report. Some 12 +/- months ago, I was SOLD to SKY by O2 I was not asked by O2 if I would accept the terms etc. I was constantly bombarded with emails from SKY to join early, which I ignored. Each offer was better than the last, then one day, out of the Blue, I had an offer through the letterbox. Free SKY TV, Free internet with no restrictions on usage, Free router, dish, SKY+ box & set-up. Later, a free wireless connector was delivered for the + box. All this free for 12 months, all I had to pay was line rental and 'phone calls (Free at weekends). I was notified at some stage that when my 12 months were up, I would be paying £55 per month for my SKY TV. I have never been enthralled with SKY TV, there seem to be more repeats than a cucumber eating contest. Apart from the usual 'free' channels, BBC ITV etc plus Freeview/Freesat there are a couple of channels I do look at from time to time. (My son who has been off work with mobility problems since 23rd December has taken over the TV when he comes for dinner every evening, has been watching a fair few channels, I have a slight interest in some of them, but not enough to pay the cost SKY are asking)  It will be cheaper in the long run than to pay £660 for 12 month of viewing a few select channels. I have the feeling that as SKY have their own system of telephony, I could well end up paying reconnection costs to my new provider. A lot depends on what SKY will do to keep me on their 'phone package, but as far as TV is concerned it will be gone. I understand that SKY have been charging for services not used. I do know that to use the +box there is a £10 per month to record programs, there are other charges which I forget what, are also added. If SKY want my money, they will have to work for it. My pension cannot cover their costs...NO WAY!

THE HUNT IS ON....

CT Scan

Monday  17th March was my 'D Day'. I have had scans in the past to confirm my prostate cancer, MRI, CT, Bone, and now THE CT to do the planning for future treatment. It was not the most pleasurable experience I have had. First the talk, the why's and wherefores. Then the self administered micro-enema, Moisten the end with a small amount of the contents for lubrication, insert and squeeze, still squeezing the tube remove it and dispose of. Wait up to 20 minutes then back to the toilet & do what will come naturally (It will, of that you can be certain), empty bladder, then drink 4 cups of water. Wait to be called into the scanning room meanwhile you will be subjected to a needle insertion* that will accept further liquid insertion later in the process (It is called a cannula). Move to scanning room & remove shoes & trousers lay on the prepared bed, neck in a molded receptacle, feet in restraints to stop sideways movement. Lay 'Heavy' you will be manouvered into the correct position. Clasp hands to the chest, and away we go. I was actually drifting off when I was disturbed. I had to hold a tube which had been inserted to the holder* as mentioned earlier. I was warned that I will feel heat, & if too unbearable, waggle my toes to warn the operatives. Oh boy it was a hot heat for a second or so between the testes & anus, then it spread very quickly to the whole body, it felt like laying under the hot sun, very nice, but lasted only a second or so. I cant remember if I had my tattoos before or after the injection on the bed, either way the tat's on the hips were not very noticeable, but the one in the pubic area was a short but sharp pain, nothing to whinge about though. A second session in the scanner and all was done. Dress and pick up my bag of goodies, 48 micro-enemas. I have 35 sessions of radiotherapy to look forward to, what do I do with the remaining 13? Christmas or birthday presents come to mind for certain people I know I was taken to room 6 where I will be treated as of April 14th. Shown what to do with my appointment card, various toilets were pointed out to me, then I was left to go home.

On my return to Swadlincote, we went to 'The Tall Chimney' for a belated lunch. It was here I discovered that the effects of the enema had not worn off yet. I needed 'to go' & quickly. I had just got into the cubicle when one of the biggest farts I have ever done let rip ! My pants were soaked. I dropped my joggers only to find they were clean, my pants were soaked but it was a clear semi liquid which wiped away quite easily. several feet of toilet paper later, I was able to return for my meal. Later at home I was blowing gales like there was no tomorrow, fortunately all dry ones. Tuesday I was back to normal, well almost, I still had the gas attacks, loud, but clean with no odour. Today things have settled down. Next time around, I will be prepared.

More as and when. Have a nice day

Great weekend

Had a great weekend Sat/Sun with extended family, Great food very pleasant company fantastic walk Sunday morning/afternoon at Castle Hill Country Park, Anstey (Leicester)

This was the relaxing time before my trip to Birmingham Queen Elizabeth Hospital for my CT scan. The walk took around 4+ hours, the only thing that spoiled the walk was some moron riding a motorbike like hll was after him. I guess the police would not be interested, too far to go to catch him. 

I can recommend a trip there but you might need to take food and drink.

Off to Birmingham

Yesterday I had a letter from the Radiotherapy Department, Cancer Centre, University Hospital, Birmingham. Offering me an appointment for 10:20 on Monday 17th March (I do like the offering bit, even more so as they were pleased to do the offering) I have read the letter, looked at the map & read the small booklet. There is some useful information in there, it was the last page which got me "arrive at least 60 minutes before your appointment time and use the micro-enema in the radiotherapy and empty your bladder." There other instructions as well.What I do not understand is, my appointment should be for 09:20 as what I have to do is part and parcel of the treatment. Oh well, at least things are starting to move. My son is driving me there for which I am grateful to say the least. I did mention that I would be treated in a private hospital (one of  three) due to waiting list issues. This is not guaranteed but strongly suggested by my Research Nursing Sister, Either way, it is perhaps not important as to where I have the treatment, but that I do have the treatment.
Interesting times ahead

Still walking

I make sure I am still carrying out my duties as as a walk leader every Wednesday & Thursday, Sad to say although the walking is still a pleasure, I do not have stamina I used to have. Could this be something the drugs are doing to me? The first 1/2 mile is the worst, legs feel heavy, then I get back into the swing of it. I am missing out on the 'Longer Distance walks' with U3A 6-8 miles is an average walk with then. I think I will have to plan out a route of roughly the same distance to see if I will be able to cover the distance. I know that when the radiotherapy treatment kicks in I could well be feeling like a wet rag at best from what I have read. It may or may not happen, I shall have to wait and see. Advice from the cancer websites & booklets strongly advise keeping up the exercise, as this can only improve the recovery process. I certainly do not intend sleeping on the job, in the past I have had no option to walk and the recovery took a very long time indeed. When I took my Archery coaching course back in 2000 I remember being told that it takes "6 weeks to build it, and a week to lose it" this is certainly very true.
Sometime back in the late 90's, I had a major back problem, I was off work for 6 months, I was bed-ridden for the first fortnight with a spastic back. It took a further two weeks just to walk to the kitchen door, a further two weeks to get to the end of the drive, then another 3 weeks or thereabouts to reach the top of my street, some 50-60 yds. A full 3 months pushing myself got me to walking as near as I could get to a reasonable standard. The other 3 months were spent completing a daily 5 mile round trip to the leisure centre for a 5 mile swim. On the last Friday of my self imposed exercise regime, the leisure centre was closed for a major overhaul, so I packed a flask and food, drove to Foremarke Reservoir, parked up, and completed a 25 mile walk, calling in at Calke Abbey (NT) then into Melbourne for a pint and a pasty before returning to my car. I was well spent, shattered, but extremely happy, I was back to what I considered a my old self.
Two years ago, I bought a set of walking poles, and started walking 'Nordic Style', It sets up a rhythm when walking, which encourages a steady walking speed both on the flat and uphill. great for using as brakes going downhill as well. A full body workout for an hour or so sets me up a treat, if you have never tried it, give it a go, I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the outcome.

Cancer update

I had an appointment this morning with my urologist. It was just a session to see how I was, & had I any problems, ie. could I pee yet without the aid of a compact catheter? How was I doing in general? I said that as far as I was concerned, life was as good as it gets. I have my freedom back since losing the leg bag. Cancer aside I have no problems or worries. I was offered an operation to my urethra, it would involve a 're-bore' (sounds like a car tuning exercise) I asked if it was really necessary. He replied not really, there are no guarantees that all would be well afterwards. On those grounds, I declined the offer, which he understood and accepted, we have made an appointment to meet again in June, I have the option to cancel if I still feel the same way. I also have the option to take up the offer at a later date should I change my mind, which is nice to know.
Going back to my earlier posting (March 4th) I looked for my Research Nursing Sister to give her my decision regarding my radiotherapy. I have done some research myself on the two hospitals. Birmingham have all the bells & whistles plus extras, whereas Derby has minimal information on their webpage. On speaking to her I discovered that Derby could only treat my prostate area. I do have a secondary treatment which Derby cannot see to, see picture below, whereas Birmingham can do this. Had I been told of this in the beginning, I would have been much happier.
One good bit of news has come of this, I will be treated in a private hospital as the waiting list is almost growing by the minute. As I am on the STAMPEDE TRIAL, this carries some weight, The tablets I am taking cost a fortune £2,930 for a 30-day supply of 120 tablets... Prednisolone tablets £8.68 per 28 There are cheaper versions online, which I would not even think about, I get my drugs free (it's an age related thing) Amlodipine = about £0.02 per tablet this is the one to reduce blood pressure caused by the Abiraterone.The NHS  is not funding my STAMPEDE TRIAL it is funded by the charity 'Cancer Research' for which I am eternally grateful

My first video on YouTube

Strictly not true, I have posted others but this I made from scratch. A friend sent me a link to a video. It was a mix of monochrome & colour, fading one into the other, it lasted about 6-8 minutes. I was fascinated by it, I wondered how it was done, then it hit me, Video editing could be the only way, I recently bought an editing program from Seif, having some experience with photo editing I thought it could well be a simple job. How wrong could I be?, after a few hours of sorting images, converting them to monochrome, placing them in the video track, titles etc., not to forget the music of a similar length to the play time of the images, sort out the volume  ie, fade in/out, what format to save as DVD, for TV viewing, direct upload to Facebook or YouTube (I could not do either for some reason I have yet to discover) I reduced the play time of the individual frames by one second, it made no difference. I looked up Serif forums & discovered that YouTube had altered the file types, & Serif were not up to date with the new system (as I read it). I do have a very useful program, DVDVideoSoft Free Studio, I downloaded a month or two ago. I though I might as well give it a try. IT WORKED! slow, but sure (I have a slow 2Mbps connection). Anyway I've done it, & I'm quite pleased with the result. I discovered that still had some music track several seconds down the line so to speak, hence the long wait to the actual end. Oh well it is my first.

Not very chuffed

Last Thursday (27th March) I saw my Oncologist. Blood pressure was fine after starting a new drug (Amlodipine) to combat the raising effects of Abiraterone, So far so good. Blood sample was also good. I expected to be given some news regarding my future Radiotherapy which I understood to be starting this, or next week. It has been put back by some 4 weeks and I had to fill in a form for Birmingham hospital. I had requested Derby as my first choice for practical reasons. Cost & travelling times. Treatment after the initial scans on the first session, takes around 7-10 minutes I understand. If I was having treatment in Derby depending on the time of day I could leave home using public transport and be back home within 2 1/2 hrs free of charge. Birmingham on the other hand is a 70+ mile round trip, it will have to be by train or drive, not a cheap option, the possibility of overcrowded trains 5 days a week for 7 weeks. I understand the radiotherapy is not what you might call invigorating, the first 2 week are fine, normally, but after that.......watch out . Driving perhaps is not recommended.
I have been told that Derby is somewhat understaffed, overworked and is run by a locum, so therefor, I might be refused treatment on those grounds. My Research Sister is meeting with said locum this week & will get back to me with the decision after their meeting.

Apart from my setback, I feel fine, there seem to be no side effect from my drugs, unlike some folk who are on the same course as myself. I consider myself to be very fortunate in that. My Good Lady is due for a knee replacement shortly, my youngest son has been signed off work for another 4 weeks, so both have big mobility problems. Currently I am shopping, cooking, cleaning for the three of us (4 on Tuesdays Dad come for the afternoon he has to be collected & returned home) The next few months are going to be very interesting indeed.
I have to close now, I have to take My Good Lady to hospital 1st of several weekly sessions.