I had my scan 2 days ago, and see the oncologist on Wednesday. I am still well and keeping very busy, but I don't put too much faith in that as I was well and busy right up to the day before I obstructed last April. If I hadn't had the CT scan in December I wouldn't know there was anything wrong, and if after Wednesday I am back on treatment it will be for the radiology, not the symptoms! I suppose that's progress!
Sally and Joe have been here for the weekend which has been lovely. Yesterday afternoon Dave and Joe watched the Rugby and Sally and I sorted my stash of fabric. She loved all the vintage lace in the trunk upstairs, so she has taken that and will enjoy going through it again with Jodie. When she had finished setting aside all the material she wanted, I rang Tes from church who has taken up patchwork, and she came and fetched another load. There is still some left so I e-mailed one of the craft club ladies who responded to my Freegle about paper patterns, and she is coming tomorrow. By tomorrow afternoon I hope to have the cupboards under the stairs cleared for May-Ann's vacuum and the boys coats and wellies. I shall also be guilt free about all the material I have acquired and stored and never used.
Sunday, 13 February 2011
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
I am very pleased with myself. Today we went to Hickling to see Ced and Suzie, had a leisurely coffee then set off for a walk. We walked for over two hours down to the Broad and round the nature reserve. They have bitterns and cranes resident there, but it was a 'misty murky' day as the weather-men say, and we didn't see them. Dave and I reckon we walked b etween 4 and 5 miles, which is further than I have walked in the last 18months. The last time was our holiday at Weybourne in autumn 2009. I wasn't short of breath and it is hard to believe I have cancer in my lung.
Suzie made us wonderful veggie mulligatawny and salad from the garden, then a cup of tea and chat until after 4 0'clock. I am very stiff around the hips, even after a hot bath, but feeling good.
I disposed of four big boxes of paper dressmaking patterns this morning before we went. I put them on freecycle thinking someone might want one or two of them, and got about a dozen replies, all desperate to have them and adamant that they mustn't go on the bonfire. The lady who was first in the queue is doing some sort of research! I was just a little reluctant to part with the 1940s dress pattern that I actually made up about 10 years ago. It was very flattering and I loved wearing it although the material didn't do it justice. In the end I thought it highly unlikely that I would use it, and suspected that it was of more interest than all the rest put together, so I let it go. I have made a sizeable space in the cupboard under the stairs. Another lady is coming all the way from Heacham tomorrow to collect oddments of knitting wool. A large chest in the living room is full of same, so that will be another clearance and space for something or other that I can't bear to get rid of. It makes me feel very organised and virtuous.
2 more days until my CT scan and a week until the verdict that will put an end to this happy interlude one way or the other. It's a great way to live - no pressure, no expectations of me, taking advantage of each opportunity to enjoy outings, theatre, meals, visits. Ah well, mustn't be too precious.
Suzie made us wonderful veggie mulligatawny and salad from the garden, then a cup of tea and chat until after 4 0'clock. I am very stiff around the hips, even after a hot bath, but feeling good.
I disposed of four big boxes of paper dressmaking patterns this morning before we went. I put them on freecycle thinking someone might want one or two of them, and got about a dozen replies, all desperate to have them and adamant that they mustn't go on the bonfire. The lady who was first in the queue is doing some sort of research! I was just a little reluctant to part with the 1940s dress pattern that I actually made up about 10 years ago. It was very flattering and I loved wearing it although the material didn't do it justice. In the end I thought it highly unlikely that I would use it, and suspected that it was of more interest than all the rest put together, so I let it go. I have made a sizeable space in the cupboard under the stairs. Another lady is coming all the way from Heacham tomorrow to collect oddments of knitting wool. A large chest in the living room is full of same, so that will be another clearance and space for something or other that I can't bear to get rid of. It makes me feel very organised and virtuous.
2 more days until my CT scan and a week until the verdict that will put an end to this happy interlude one way or the other. It's a great way to live - no pressure, no expectations of me, taking advantage of each opportunity to enjoy outings, theatre, meals, visits. Ah well, mustn't be too precious.
Monday, 31 January 2011
Nearly February! I seem to be busier than ever. We moved into the annexe bedroom last night. Our fancy Spanish mattress was the wrong way up and very very hard. The room was too warm for sleeping under a 12.5tog duvet. I discovered the radiator was hot in spite of the fire being on a very low setting, so once I had turned the room thermostat down we settled. It's lovely having the toilet a few steps away, although I crept around in the dark in case the light woke Dave. I am sure we will get used to it very quickly. We moved some of our clothes down today, and threw out lots of things for Kate's clothes sale. Her pre-school collects jumble and charity shop type clothes or blankets and a big van comes periodically and takes away the lot.
We are very pleased with the new decor in the bedroom. The walls are paler than we intended, but the woodwok is a beautiful restful shade of very light olive - gooseberry fool they call it. I gave up on the stencilling because I couldn't justify spending anything between £65 and £90 on the stencil alone. So I sketched some dog-roses from google images and painted them above the bed freehand. Dave likes them so that's the i mportant thing, and in any case we can't see them when we are in bed, only when we walk into the room.
The colours are not very good, as the wall looks blue rather than hint of green, but at least the design is there.
Last Wednesday Dave and I went for our Christmas present Chinese Circus. (Pressie from Mary-Ann and Dom). We had a lovely time. It was at the Kings Lynn Corn Exchange, and you can park right outside in the Tuesday market place, which is a big bonus for Mrs.We'll-Never-Park! On another side of the square was Prezzo, where we had a lovely Italian meal with wine and a cup of tea to follow. All very relaxed because we had left home at 5.0 for an 8.0 o'clock performance. Then the show: mind-blowing, impossible bodily feats by acrobats and martial arts monks. (Yes, really. They had the permission of the abbott to appear!) We had to use the satnav to find our way out of Kings Lynn, and arrived home just after 10.30. A brilliant present thank you Mary-Ann and Dom.
It was cold today, but sunny. I got fed up sorting out clothes with sunshine coming through the window, so I had an hour cutting down old dead stalks of last years plants and re-filling the brown bin which was only emptied this morning. There's not much growth showing yet, but a few hyacinths poking through and I am sure there will be daffodils and crocuses showing soon.
I am really enjoying my respite from intervention. It turns out that my oncologist's idea of the first week in Feb was the week beginning Feb 7th, and my appointment has come through for the end of that week, the 11th. I see him for the result on the 16th and we take it from there. This means I still have 2 1/2 weeks to do as I like!! Hooray! If I was symptomatic I would be getting agitated, but I feel almost normal so I am just taking things as they come. I know I have to have more chemo whatever happens, so it looks as if it will be another summer feeling the cold and hiding from the sun!
We are very pleased with the new decor in the bedroom. The walls are paler than we intended, but the woodwok is a beautiful restful shade of very light olive - gooseberry fool they call it. I gave up on the stencilling because I couldn't justify spending anything between £65 and £90 on the stencil alone. So I sketched some dog-roses from google images and painted them above the bed freehand. Dave likes them so that's the i mportant thing, and in any case we can't see them when we are in bed, only when we walk into the room.
Last Wednesday Dave and I went for our Christmas present Chinese Circus. (Pressie from Mary-Ann and Dom). We had a lovely time. It was at the Kings Lynn Corn Exchange, and you can park right outside in the Tuesday market place, which is a big bonus for Mrs.We'll-Never-Park! On another side of the square was Prezzo, where we had a lovely Italian meal with wine and a cup of tea to follow. All very relaxed because we had left home at 5.0 for an 8.0 o'clock performance. Then the show: mind-blowing, impossible bodily feats by acrobats and martial arts monks. (Yes, really. They had the permission of the abbott to appear!) We had to use the satnav to find our way out of Kings Lynn, and arrived home just after 10.30. A brilliant present thank you Mary-Ann and Dom.
It was cold today, but sunny. I got fed up sorting out clothes with sunshine coming through the window, so I had an hour cutting down old dead stalks of last years plants and re-filling the brown bin which was only emptied this morning. There's not much growth showing yet, but a few hyacinths poking through and I am sure there will be daffodils and crocuses showing soon.
I am really enjoying my respite from intervention. It turns out that my oncologist's idea of the first week in Feb was the week beginning Feb 7th, and my appointment has come through for the end of that week, the 11th. I see him for the result on the 16th and we take it from there. This means I still have 2 1/2 weeks to do as I like!! Hooray! If I was symptomatic I would be getting agitated, but I feel almost normal so I am just taking things as they come. I know I have to have more chemo whatever happens, so it looks as if it will be another summer feeling the cold and hiding from the sun!
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Home again
We had a very good journey home on Sunday. It's certainly easier travelling by road in January provided it doesn't snow. It took just ov er 51/2 hours including two stops. (I suppose I shouldn't admit that, as I am sure it signifies an unacceptable average speed!) Joe cried after we left - which was gratifying. Realisation suddenly hit him. James couldn't understand why, if we had gone 'home', we weren't there!
Dave didn't have any work booked in for Monday, so we measured rooms, furniture, curtains and bought some green paint. We are going to get our annexe bedroom ready first, replacing the magnolia with a pale olivey green which should go well with our curtains. Then we'll decide if we need to paint the doors; there are four including the bathroom and two wardrobes, so rather a lot of white gloss. I feel a wall art session coming on. I thought we might have wallpaper on the wall behind the bed, but when I started looking at them on the internet I realised that the repetition of pattern makes me feel quite panicky and claustrophobic. Also the patterns I was looking at were £40 - £70 a roll! When did that happen? There are some gorgeous stencils around, so I might splash out on that, but it would have to be an adaptable one, so we finish up with a one-off mural. I think I'll wait until the walls are painted and the curtains hung.
We need to extend our upstairs shower for Dom. Standing in a 30" tray with a solid pivot door, poor Dom can't lift his elbows to wash his hair! The shower tray exactly fits the space where the bathroom floor goes over the stair well, so we have to build an extra piece of wall in the bathroom to extend out level with the window, and install a rectangular tray. Jewson's do one which should just fit, so we should be able to get that done before April.
I am well. We had a couple of panicky days in Devon when I had some pain and had to get things moving again. (It's the change in the water, as they say). Apart from that, things are normal, and I feel a bit of a fraud to tell the truth. I haven't had the appointment for my scan yet, but expect it will be in a couple of weeks, which is two months after the last one. Then I guess reality will set in again.
Dave didn't have any work booked in for Monday, so we measured rooms, furniture, curtains and bought some green paint. We are going to get our annexe bedroom ready first, replacing the magnolia with a pale olivey green which should go well with our curtains. Then we'll decide if we need to paint the doors; there are four including the bathroom and two wardrobes, so rather a lot of white gloss. I feel a wall art session coming on. I thought we might have wallpaper on the wall behind the bed, but when I started looking at them on the internet I realised that the repetition of pattern makes me feel quite panicky and claustrophobic. Also the patterns I was looking at were £40 - £70 a roll! When did that happen? There are some gorgeous stencils around, so I might splash out on that, but it would have to be an adaptable one, so we finish up with a one-off mural. I think I'll wait until the walls are painted and the curtains hung.
We need to extend our upstairs shower for Dom. Standing in a 30" tray with a solid pivot door, poor Dom can't lift his elbows to wash his hair! The shower tray exactly fits the space where the bathroom floor goes over the stair well, so we have to build an extra piece of wall in the bathroom to extend out level with the window, and install a rectangular tray. Jewson's do one which should just fit, so we should be able to get that done before April.
I am well. We had a couple of panicky days in Devon when I had some pain and had to get things moving again. (It's the change in the water, as they say). Apart from that, things are normal, and I feel a bit of a fraud to tell the truth. I haven't had the appointment for my scan yet, but expect it will be in a couple of weeks, which is two months after the last one. Then I guess reality will set in again.
Wednesday, 5 January 2011
Exeter
We have been in Exeter for 6 days, having a lovely time with the family and thoroughly enjoying the boys. The weather has not been kind to us - cold and wet - but the house is warm and we have generated a fair bit of heat most evenings playing various games on the Wii, which we brought with us. Even little Joe had a go, scoring a strike on his first attempt at bowls but after that not quite sure how he had done it. I know the feeling!
At the weekend Mary-Ann and I took Joe to Exeter to shop for school clothes, and we now have everything to hand except a school bag and a sports bag, both of which we think may be available from school. I have labelled most of his clothes and two pairs of shoes, but am having to take the grey socks a couple of pairs at a time. How did Mum and Nan manage to label all my socks? If you stretch the rib while you are sewing the label is bumpy when contracted, and if you don't the stitches or rib is in danger of splitting.
Now I can broadcast what is happening to the Knee family within the next few months: they are moving to Norfolk! They have decided to come and live with us and share our lives while I am still around and able to enjoy them. They will rent out their house and try to get career breaks from their jobs. Dom already has, but Mary-Ann's is more complicated. There have already been redundancies in her department, albeit voluntary, and so the timing needs to be right to avoid someone losing that and having to re-think the rest of their lives. She actually thinks that further cuts are unavoidable, so it is unlikely that Devon will want to hold her job open for her when other people are being forced out. She says there is no possibility of a job like hers in Norfolk, as most counties are actually having to close down this service, but hopes to get supply work initially. That will come hard. I am not all that happy about it, no pension and uncertain income, but they are both convinced that this is the right thing for them at the moment. Poor little Joe will have yet another change of school, and there is no certainty that we will get him in to Toftwood as apparently all the applications have to go directly to County Hall. Dom is going to see how he takes to boiler servicing. He is not that happy in his desk job, and this is the chance for him to learn a skill that is particularly suitable to rural life. Hardly any of the villages round us are on mains gas, so oil is the favoured option. He enjoys exams, so will do well with OFTEC once Dave has had a few months with him.
Well, we'll see how it all goes. Basically they are going to have our upstairs, for sleeping and a lounge as a family bolt-hole, and we will use the annexe for the same. The garden, kitchen, dining room, conservatory, utility and living room wil be shared areas just as we have done when they have been here on holiday. Guests will no longer have sole use of the annexe, but at least it will be used to its full potential. Mary-Ann and Dom have a futon with a memory-foam topper which we are sleeping on quite comfortably at present, and will use this in their upstairs lounge for family visitors, while the caravan should also be available provided there is room for it when the plot is sold.
Hopefully this will happen before Easter. I've got about 3 weeks once we get home to get things organised, before they start to do things either surgical or chemical to me. Daunting but exciting, and infinitely better than thinking about cancer all the time. They are being incredibly generous and brave, and I just hope I can stay around long enough for it to have been worth their while. Dom's family are being very supportive too, having had Dom back in Devon for just four years. They are very family-minded, which means both that they will miss Dom and Mary-ann and the children terribly but will also understand.
At the weekend Mary-Ann and I took Joe to Exeter to shop for school clothes, and we now have everything to hand except a school bag and a sports bag, both of which we think may be available from school. I have labelled most of his clothes and two pairs of shoes, but am having to take the grey socks a couple of pairs at a time. How did Mum and Nan manage to label all my socks? If you stretch the rib while you are sewing the label is bumpy when contracted, and if you don't the stitches or rib is in danger of splitting.
Now I can broadcast what is happening to the Knee family within the next few months: they are moving to Norfolk! They have decided to come and live with us and share our lives while I am still around and able to enjoy them. They will rent out their house and try to get career breaks from their jobs. Dom already has, but Mary-Ann's is more complicated. There have already been redundancies in her department, albeit voluntary, and so the timing needs to be right to avoid someone losing that and having to re-think the rest of their lives. She actually thinks that further cuts are unavoidable, so it is unlikely that Devon will want to hold her job open for her when other people are being forced out. She says there is no possibility of a job like hers in Norfolk, as most counties are actually having to close down this service, but hopes to get supply work initially. That will come hard. I am not all that happy about it, no pension and uncertain income, but they are both convinced that this is the right thing for them at the moment. Poor little Joe will have yet another change of school, and there is no certainty that we will get him in to Toftwood as apparently all the applications have to go directly to County Hall. Dom is going to see how he takes to boiler servicing. He is not that happy in his desk job, and this is the chance for him to learn a skill that is particularly suitable to rural life. Hardly any of the villages round us are on mains gas, so oil is the favoured option. He enjoys exams, so will do well with OFTEC once Dave has had a few months with him.
Well, we'll see how it all goes. Basically they are going to have our upstairs, for sleeping and a lounge as a family bolt-hole, and we will use the annexe for the same. The garden, kitchen, dining room, conservatory, utility and living room wil be shared areas just as we have done when they have been here on holiday. Guests will no longer have sole use of the annexe, but at least it will be used to its full potential. Mary-Ann and Dom have a futon with a memory-foam topper which we are sleeping on quite comfortably at present, and will use this in their upstairs lounge for family visitors, while the caravan should also be available provided there is room for it when the plot is sold.
Hopefully this will happen before Easter. I've got about 3 weeks once we get home to get things organised, before they start to do things either surgical or chemical to me. Daunting but exciting, and infinitely better than thinking about cancer all the time. They are being incredibly generous and brave, and I just hope I can stay around long enough for it to have been worth their while. Dom's family are being very supportive too, having had Dom back in Devon for just four years. They are very family-minded, which means both that they will miss Dom and Mary-ann and the children terribly but will also understand.
Tuesday, 28 December 2010
Christmas 2010
This has been a very different Christmas. Joe stayed with us for the whole time between Dec 18th and this morning, and it has been lovely to have him. He had to work from home for 5 days, and found his laptop did not work very successfully in the conservatory and not at all in the annexe, so we bought a kit to extend the coverage and he got it all set up. It was diffic ult at first, but he stayed up until 12.30 am one night and used internet websites and fora to solve the problems. He never gives up on that sort of problem; we would have abandoned it in disgust. We are very pleased to have that facility because I will find it useful to be able to access the internet from the annexe.
Dave and I bought each other a Wii, with the Resort pack, and again Joe installed it and even got the internet working through it so we were able to access googlemail and watch a slide show of Mary-Ann's photos on the TV. The games have provided hours of fun and a certain amount of exercise (which was not obvious until we woke up stiff and aching!) Alan-over-the-road came round on Christmas Eve with a bottle of his special Christmas sherry (Woods rum). We got involved with 10 pin bowling and he saw Christmas in with us and got quite excited about the bowling.
Dave and I went to church at 10.0am for a short family service, then home to open presents before going to Gressenhall for lunch with Steve and Kate. All except Kate gathered at the Swan at 12.30 for an hour, so we were able to wish Mick and Iris, James and Megan and Joel, and Chris and Sophie a happy Christmas. We had a traditional turkey dinner, with Sally's sister Liz's famous Christmas pudding and my brandy butter. Hannah and Craig with Reece spent the day there, and Tom and Rebekah arrived later with baby Noah, followed by James, Megan and Joel. Kate's mother and her partner had been and gone by this time. We came home at about 6.0pm to stoke up the fire and let Dave have his Christmas drink.
On the 26th we went to the Sunday service, again quite short, and had a quiet afternoon preparing for a Boxing Day meal with Dot and Rodney, (lamb this time, with Dot's Christmas pudding and more brandy butter.) On Monday, officially Boxing Day, the sun came out at about 11.30am and we decided to have a walk at Cromer followed by fish and chips. We got as far as the beginning of Happy Valley, but the final slopes of path were still treacherous with ice so we returned to the town feeling virtuous and thoroughly braced. The fish and chips were very good, but we cancelled the idea of a drive round the coast and headed straight home for our fireside. Steve and Kate came to return Liz's basin and stayed to enjoy a few games.
Joe has left us this morning so we are very quiet and unmotivated to do anything much. We are off to Devon on the 30th, so have to get ourselves organised and packed. Fortunately it is thawing, so our anxiety about burst pipes is lessened.
All a long way from the big bustling family Christmases of the past, but restful and just what we needed this year. We are very grateful to Joe for his company, help and good advice, and to Sally for letting us have him for a long break without complaint.
Dave and I bought each other a Wii, with the Resort pack, and again Joe installed it and even got the internet working through it so we were able to access googlemail and watch a slide show of Mary-Ann's photos on the TV. The games have provided hours of fun and a certain amount of exercise (which was not obvious until we woke up stiff and aching!) Alan-over-the-road came round on Christmas Eve with a bottle of his special Christmas sherry (Woods rum). We got involved with 10 pin bowling and he saw Christmas in with us and got quite excited about the bowling.
Dave and I went to church at 10.0am for a short family service, then home to open presents before going to Gressenhall for lunch with Steve and Kate. All except Kate gathered at the Swan at 12.30 for an hour, so we were able to wish Mick and Iris, James and Megan and Joel, and Chris and Sophie a happy Christmas. We had a traditional turkey dinner, with Sally's sister Liz's famous Christmas pudding and my brandy butter. Hannah and Craig with Reece spent the day there, and Tom and Rebekah arrived later with baby Noah, followed by James, Megan and Joel. Kate's mother and her partner had been and gone by this time. We came home at about 6.0pm to stoke up the fire and let Dave have his Christmas drink.
On the 26th we went to the Sunday service, again quite short, and had a quiet afternoon preparing for a Boxing Day meal with Dot and Rodney, (lamb this time, with Dot's Christmas pudding and more brandy butter.) On Monday, officially Boxing Day, the sun came out at about 11.30am and we decided to have a walk at Cromer followed by fish and chips. We got as far as the beginning of Happy Valley, but the final slopes of path were still treacherous with ice so we returned to the town feeling virtuous and thoroughly braced. The fish and chips were very good, but we cancelled the idea of a drive round the coast and headed straight home for our fireside. Steve and Kate came to return Liz's basin and stayed to enjoy a few games.
Joe has left us this morning so we are very quiet and unmotivated to do anything much. We are off to Devon on the 30th, so have to get ourselves organised and packed. Fortunately it is thawing, so our anxiety about burst pipes is lessened.
All a long way from the big bustling family Christmases of the past, but restful and just what we needed this year. We are very grateful to Joe for his company, help and good advice, and to Sally for letting us have him for a long break without complaint.
Wednesday, 22 December 2010
It seems important to record the sequence of events at the moment, so this is just an update on the biopsy issue. Yesterday morning I managed to speak to the specialist oncology nurse. I had left a message on their answerphone on Monday, but still no reply, then yesterday I tried several times to get through and the line was engaged. It seems the office had been unanned on Monday and she was doing all the phoning on her own yesterday. I'm not the only one!
I explained about talkng to my surgeon friend and his view that there was a possibility of this secondary being from the breast. She was slightly huffy about this, saying that Dr Biswas had all the information in front of him and was in the best position to advise me. She mellowed a bit when I explained that I had been offered a biopsy while at the same time being advised that it wasn't necessary, and that Dr Biswas himself had admitted he could not tell me definitely where this tumour had originated. She agreed to speak to him in case he would need to see me and set something up before my planned pre-chemo appointment on Jan 26th.
I had e-mailed Sam, my surgeon friend, on Sunday after he had spokent to me at church, and asked him how I might tackle this, so I let him know that I had requested an appointment. He had been thinking it through carefully and set down the case for requesting a 'definitive diagnosis' very clearly. It gives me a lot more confidence, as Sam has over 30 years experience in treating breast cancer, and was also the surgery professor at UEA so he thinks very clearly and logically.
Last night we did our annual 'carols by streetlight' outside Ian and Sue's where we hold our church cell-group meeting. Every year I design a flyer, the church prints it, and Sue and Ian deliver to all 61 houses in their road. We serve mulled wine and mince pies, a friend comes with his accordion and various neighbours join us for a half hour of carols and fun. We thought the weather might put people off this year, but it had started to feel a littel warmer, and both rain and snow held off. We had more neighbours than ever, including a small baby who thoroughly enjoyed the singing.
Afterwards our cell-group went inside and shared a sit-down meal together. We all bring something; Dave's contribution is always a curry, and that went down a storm. I had made the mince pies for the carol-singing, with the help of two new cell-grooup members who came to help. It was a lovely informal way of getting to know them better. Sue came too, although she bears the brunt of the organisation and seating arrangments. This all sounds a bit trivial, but for myself I just wanted to record that in December 2010 I am doing all the things I would normally do, and enjoying them. Oh, and the choir items were a great success on Sunday. Those who are available have been asked to sing to the residents at Eckling Grange on Christmas Eve, so we get our moment of glory again.
I explained about talkng to my surgeon friend and his view that there was a possibility of this secondary being from the breast. She was slightly huffy about this, saying that Dr Biswas had all the information in front of him and was in the best position to advise me. She mellowed a bit when I explained that I had been offered a biopsy while at the same time being advised that it wasn't necessary, and that Dr Biswas himself had admitted he could not tell me definitely where this tumour had originated. She agreed to speak to him in case he would need to see me and set something up before my planned pre-chemo appointment on Jan 26th.
I had e-mailed Sam, my surgeon friend, on Sunday after he had spokent to me at church, and asked him how I might tackle this, so I let him know that I had requested an appointment. He had been thinking it through carefully and set down the case for requesting a 'definitive diagnosis' very clearly. It gives me a lot more confidence, as Sam has over 30 years experience in treating breast cancer, and was also the surgery professor at UEA so he thinks very clearly and logically.
Last night we did our annual 'carols by streetlight' outside Ian and Sue's where we hold our church cell-group meeting. Every year I design a flyer, the church prints it, and Sue and Ian deliver to all 61 houses in their road. We serve mulled wine and mince pies, a friend comes with his accordion and various neighbours join us for a half hour of carols and fun. We thought the weather might put people off this year, but it had started to feel a littel warmer, and both rain and snow held off. We had more neighbours than ever, including a small baby who thoroughly enjoyed the singing.
Afterwards our cell-group went inside and shared a sit-down meal together. We all bring something; Dave's contribution is always a curry, and that went down a storm. I had made the mince pies for the carol-singing, with the help of two new cell-grooup members who came to help. It was a lovely informal way of getting to know them better. Sue came too, although she bears the brunt of the organisation and seating arrangments. This all sounds a bit trivial, but for myself I just wanted to record that in December 2010 I am doing all the things I would normally do, and enjoying them. Oh, and the choir items were a great success on Sunday. Those who are available have been asked to sing to the residents at Eckling Grange on Christmas Eve, so we get our moment of glory again.
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