41. Hill training, again

Mile 38 – The hills are becoming easier.

I know I have used this analogy before but it is particularly apt for this week too. Whatever race you are training for, hills are the place to go.

On Wednesday we tried to push my (and Sue’s) boundaries by walking a bit further, along the bottom of the hill.

I felt okay, no problems from the right ankle that bothered me last week. I think the morning physio exercises are helping strengthen my hips and back for this sort of activity.

On Sunday I pushed a bit further, going up to the top. It was a solo expedition, Sue opted out. I managed to set out early enough to beat the rain, and I took a few pictures on the way. It was great to bump into a couple of groups of friends on the way home: I even had a request to show off my hair do (which hasn’t grown beyond being a layer of fluff).

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Healthwise, I continue to improve. I still find that I have a dry mouth from time to time, but now I can eat almost anything and it tastes as it should. We enjoyed a curry from the Nupur on Saturday (Pallak Chicken for me, with a Peshwari Naan) so it’s not all bad. Often I have indigestion, but I usually cure that with a snack, so I guess my digestive system is 90% recovered. That said, a friend sent me a picture of a Calippo ice lolly the other day – the sort I was given when the Melphalan chemotherapy was administered during the stem cell transplant: that turned my stomach and I’m sure it has set me back.

We heard from the consultant haematologist and now have an appointment for early December, to prepare for the next stages of chemotherapy. That will give us another chance to ask about socialising. It is ten weeks on from the Stem Cell Transplant now, and after all this isolation, it is hard to believe we will ever go back to sitting indoors without masks on.

You may have noticed there is less and less health related content each week and I hope that will continue to be the case up until the New Year when I pass day 100 and start the consolidation chemotherapy some time in January. The further I can get without an infection, the better and the care we have taken so far has paid off.

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Since September we have had a car sitting in the garage, unused, the one I usually drive. After all that time it needed jump leads to get started, then when we took it for a longish ride, it promptly displayed an array of engine warning lights. It was due to a faulty sensor in the exhaust, so we had that fixed at the garage, but as I drove home another warning appeared for a water pump. It looks like the traditional pre-Christmas unexpected bills won’t let us down.

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Chris and Alex moved house on Tuesday. Unable to join in with the lifting and carrying, we dog sat and provided some garage space for temporary storage. We visited and they kindly kept the windows open so we could take a tour, wearing our masks. It looks lovely with plenty of space and is very quiet. I think they will need prints of some of my photos on their walls.

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I made a start on Tim and Sarah’s shelves by cutting everything to length based on the plan and measurements agreed last week. It took much longer than expected when my workmate bench needed repair before I could start, and I had to look around for the tools (spanners upstairs, screwdrivers in the garage). I’m not planning to buy any more screws or fixings, I have loads, but all in different places. That looks like another rainy day job: sorting my screws into size order. Once I have everything together, I’ll pop over there with everything I need and quickly screw them to the wall, when they are not at home, with the windows open and a mask on. What can go wrong?

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I found a video on the camera club website by David Garthwaite explaining how he edits his fine art pictures. I spent hours following that, learning far more about masking in Photoshop than I knew before, and came up with this edit of the BT Tower shot that I took a couple of days after having the stem cell transplant.

Now I need some more architectural shots so that I can build up a collection. My next puzzle is how to do that while isolating, but I have an idea. I’ll see what I can come up with.

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Thanks Liz and Alan for braving the cold to sit outside at the garden centre. It was a nice lunch, although I declined the Christmas menu on this occasion. It is great to go out and meet people for a proper chat.

Thanks for reading and take care.