It’s a Merry-go-Round

Round and round and up and down we go! We had a lovely morning this morning. Danielle texted to ask if we were up for a visit and I naturally said yes! We try not to turn down an exciting activity such as seeing the family, if we can help it.

Danielle and the children arrived about ten o’clock. We spent the morning playing with the toys, mostly mixing the plastic food in pots, cooking it in the ‘oven’ (which was under the coffee table or the radiator in the hall) and then doling it out to each other to ‘taste’. Mmmm, sweetcorn leaves? Delicious!

William was keen to go upstairs and play in his ‘space ship’ in the Harry Potter cupboard. “Not you, Thomas,” he said, “Just me……..” and then as an afterthought, “…….and Grandma.” Well, that was fine for a while as Grandpa was entertaining Thomas, but it didn’t last long and everyone bar Grandpa came up to find out which planet we’d landed on.

William really wasn’t keen to be sharing ‘his’ space with Thomas. I think it’s a sibling thing, because he’s always perfectly happy to share the space with Freddie!! Anyway, after a bit of wriggling and squirming with his emotions, I could see he was struggling in coming to terms with the sharing notion of this particular place.

“Come on,” I said, “let’s go and find a space ship for Thomas!” We all trundled into the newly-carpeted main guest bedroom; I put baby Oliver into the very centre of the bed (remembering the latest rolling thing he’s developed); and opened one of the recently-emptied cupboards. “In here!” I declared, setting a blanket inside for them to sit on. “I’ll get a torch.”

I left Danielle holding the baby and, when I came back, found that both the boys were keen to play in the new ‘space ship’. Thomas didn’t mind sharing his space with William at all. And William didn’t mind sharing the space either.

“Get in,” Thomas commanded me. Oh, crikey! Was I going to fit? Yep. I did. There was just enough room for the three of us. The boys were in and out like Jacks-in-the-Box. We landed on a new planet every few minutes, Thomas shutting the door on me every time, with the command: “Stay there!” Both boys peeped in through the window in the cupboard to check I was still there before they went off to search for ‘treasure’. Marvellous fun.

They all went home at lunchtime and John and I had a bite to eat before setting off to Heartlands for an appointment with the oncologist this afternoon.

The news is not quite what we’d hoped for, but were half expecting. The scan has revealed that the cancer has escaped from the prostate. It also revealed that there is an enlarged lymph node nearby and a spot on the pelvis. “The treatment is to carry on with the Bicalutamide drug you started three weeks ago,” said the consultant. “We’ll check your PSA levels today and I’ll phone you on Monday with the result. If the levels aren’t reducing, we’ll start you on another drug, Enzalutamide, instead.” Right. OK. Containment.

So there we are. This is life as we know it. Happy times with the family (and friends) and irritating times with b****y cancer. We both feel exhausted with it all and John feels angry that time elapsed at what may have been critical points of his care. Of course, we can always get in touch with PALS, but have we got the energy? We’ll see. Not today anyway.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Positive thoughts and prayers still appreciated if you are so inclined. They hold us up, knowing that people are thinking of us, so thank you to all who do. Much appreciated.