64. Living in remission

Doesn’t time fly when you aren’t writing a blog each week. It’s about four weeks since the last one and I seem to have had time to do lots of other things. This one doesn’t even have a marathon analogy.

Let’s start with the state of my health. I had my monthly visit to the hospital for blood tests (which showed everything was good, with no sign of the cancer coming back yet) and to pick up my low dose chemotherapy drugs (Lenalidomide) and the other supporting medication for the next four weeks. When I visit next month, I have an appointment to see the consultant haematologist: I’d like to find out more about the state of my bones now that my femur should have healed. Just how fragile am I?

I have been to see the NHS physiotherapist at Princess Royal Hospital who has given me a new exercise regime and enrolled me on twice weekly classes in the hospital gym. Those are quite fun, with the usual queues for the exercise machines. A team of physios are there to offer advice during the session, making sure I don’t overdo it. However, the first physio that I saw sent me some exercises to do at home, where there is no one to stop me from increasing the weights and going for 20 reps rather than eight.

There is still a way to go before I can walk normally. I can put weight on my right leg but with hip and knee pain, especially going up and down stairs. At the gym using the leg press, I can quantify the weakness: I can press 35kg with my left leg but only 5kg with my right. I’m confident that the exercises will fix it eventually, although my expectations on the timescale for recovery have gone from days to weeks.

I went for a swim at the Triangle Leisure Centre recently for the first time in more than a year. I’ll try to fit that into my routine more often as it seems good, low impact exercise with the option of walking up and down in the slow lane.

There were a couple of other health related visits starting with Our Future Health in our local Tesco carpark. They have been inviting people for blood and blood pressure tests as part of the largest research programme in the UK. I met another vein obsessed nurse and was given some good test results, showing healthy levels of cholesterol although my slow heart rate meant she had to take my blood pressure three times. If you haven’t been involved, they are looking for lots more volunteers and they offer to pay £10 as an incentive. I warn you, the questionnaire takes ages, but there will be huge benefits to medical research if we all join in.

Then I went for an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm screening (AAA test) which is offered to men aged 65. That was a simple ultrasound test on the abdomen, which found my aorta to be fine, with no indication that I should ever need another screening, so that one is ticked off.

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Otherwise, I have been busy socialising and enjoying some days out. We even went to see Fall Guy on our first trip to the cinema since before COVID, a good action nonsense movie.

I went for an afternoon beer with some former work colleagues in Brighton. Sue found it most amusing that I should plan to go “drinking heavily” on my crutches in Brighton, while intending to catch the bus home at 5pm in time for tea. Last of the Summer Wine, indeed.

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Sue and I visited the Portsmouth Historic Naval Dockyard for the Mary Rose exhibition, probably the best museum we have ever been to. It was especially interesting, having recently finished the Shardlake mystery by CJ Sansom (which I have often mentioned) set in part on the Mary Rose. For those of you who have read the book, we were constantly recognising articles that were mentioned in the story. Last time we visited the museum was, we worked out, around 2006, when there was nothing to be seen but some timbers being sprayed with a preservative in the dark. Now they have been preserved, you see the original half a ship on your right, with a reconstruction of the other half on your left, displaying many of the artefacts in the cabins where they would have been found. At the end there was the chance to sit down in the 4D cinema, just when you need a rest, with a simulation of the dives made to bring the ship up from the Solent mud.

After that we managed some shopping and a meal in Gunwharf Quays, and also found an interesting perspective on the Spinnaker Tower. Now is the time of year to take some snaps in preparation for the Camera Club’s competitions next year.

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I went to Burgess Hill Runners’ AGM, enticed by the free curry. During the awards presentations, when the Head Coach listed the achievements of each winner, I began to feel uneasy when he mentioned “marathon analogies”, then I was surprised and delighted to receive an award for Overcoming Adversity. It was a great evening for catching up with friends who I haven’t been able to see for a long time.

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It’s good to try something new and I have tried a few new things this month.

At last (with an immune system, no chest infections and able to hobble about the place) I was able to attend the Camera Club’s portrait group. With a studio set up in the local Scout Hall, a dozen of us took turns to take shots of the lovely Jessica. I have a lot to learn. Many of my shots were spoiled by shutter speeds that were too slow, failing to capture the really sharp image that I was after. Then there is the skill of directing the model to adopt poses (that I should really have had in mind before I started). However, Jessica had done this before and was able to dig me out of a hole.

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At my first in-person training session as a library Digital Volunteer, I learned about staying safe online. Courier and romance are the most common type of fraud, with those and all the other kinds mainly targeting us 65+ year olds. Courier fraud is typically a phone call from someone claiming to be from your bank or from the police, telling you that your card has been compromised. They try to gain information from you and ask you to hand your card to the courier who they have sent to pick it up. The lady giving the presentation played a recording of a scam conversation and the scammer was most convincing. If you receive one of these, try asking questions – you will find they won’t answer them – they stick closely to their script. Hang up and call your bank!

You have probably heard of romance fraud, typically scammers on dating sites (not something I’m familiar with), who soon ask for money for either travel or hospital bills. The pictures are usually too good to be true but you can try the Google Reverse Image search to see if the picture really shows who they claim to be, or is a stock library picture.

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Tim and Sarah took us clay pigeon shooting at Polowood near Falmer for my birthday present. First impressions were a bit off-putting. Perhaps it was because I have just started a new Peter James crime book, but when we arrived at a quiet farmyard in the middle of nowhere on the South Downs, it seemed like the sort of place where Detective Superintendent Roy Grace usually catches the baddies. We could hear the conversations on the walkie talkies as someone came to pick us up in a minibus and we headed over the hills on a rough track. However, once we arrived at the site, our trainer, Bernie, took over and we felt in safe hands. He took us through the safety briefing and helped us individually with each shot.

I had worried that there might be a kick from the rifle, remembering my days at school in Army Cadets on the range with .303 Lee Enfield rifles, fully expecting to come away with a broken clavicle, but shotguns are much gentler. (Sue, however, is still complaining of a bruised shoulder some days later – obviously more delicate than me.) The others kindly let me win, and as a plus I figured out how to use the “top shot” feature on my phone, taking a short video clip of them in action, so that I could choose the shot showing the shot emerging from the barrel, if you see what I mean.

Finally, here I am taking down two clay pigeons in two shots.

As we went back for a coffee we saw all the other activities they have to offer: archery, air rifles, axe and knife throwing. Watching axes bouncing off the target, I realised some of those things aren’t as easy as they seem in the movies. It is thoroughly recommended as a birthday treat for someone.

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Once again, it may be a few weeks before my next instalment, as we have a number of things planned.

Thanks for reading and take care.