Whoever said that when you retire you can relax more needs bringing to his/her the trade descriptions act. It's been very busy for us both.
Thursday saw me going to Yarmouth on an incredibly wet day to attend a farewell reception for Joya. It was a very pleasant occasion. A chap called Peter stood up and made one of the shortest and most effective speeches I have ever heard.
On Friday there was a letter of complaint about the length of time Angel Radio has been off the air. For anyone reading this who is a listener I can only apologise. The truth is I still don't know when the replacement mast is going to appear on the Island. Watch this space.
My normal weigh day is Sunday so I can tell you I have neither gained nor lost these last 7 days. Today I enjoyed a small portion of bangers and mash. This is I guess a sign that things are continuing to improve.
Yesterday we went to London to see the RSC Production of Twelfth Night starring Richard Wilson. It was good fun with a lot of strong performances. The edge however was somewhat taken off by various transport problems. On the Railways and London Underground weekends mean engineering works. We had already decided to travel by car due to part of the line between Portsmouth and London. We drove to Ruislip and parked the car at the station(it only charges £1 on a weekend). The idea was to travel the rest of the way on the tube. Several lines are closed on weekends. This puts added pressure on the ones that are open. The journey into Town was difficult but the one coming back was a nightmare. To start there was a delay due to someone setting off the passenger alarm. Then the train we were on got taken out of service. As a result we were very badly squashed. Sometimes despite what you hear to the contrary you get the idea the authorities want us to travel by car.
To end on a positive note we had a nice meal and chat with Charles and Jess before heading for the ferry and home.
Sunday, 28 February 2010
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
Days 294 to 298
As I look out of the window, glory be the sun is out and the temperature is hitting a giddy 8 degrees. It makes you feel good to be alive.
What news can I pass on? On weight day I found I had lost another pound...now I weigh in at 13 stone 7 pounds. I could still lose another half stone or so without worrying too much.
I was about to write that the acid had left me at night time but last night I woke up with some reflux and a great deal of coughing. Otherwise though health continues on an upward curve. The results have come from my x ray and blood tests and they show up as normal. We are due to see the Oncologist Judith cave on 15 March. This will be the first medical appointment we shall have had without Joya Moris in attendance. She left her job at the end of January but a combination of bad weather and a norro virus outbreak put paid to that. However tomorrow I am going to a farewell do for her in Yarmouth. More on that on the next entry.
In a preview of what is to come over the next two or three years nationally, the Island Council will vote for some pretty unpleasant service cuts this week, which could have profound implications for the way the vulnerable are cared for. All Councils of course need to cut unecessary waste but people are kidding themselves if they think cuts can be achieved without touching the big ticket items. There was a big demonstration in Birmingham by local Government workers yesterday in protest about possible 2,000 job losses. This issue will not go away no matter who wins the next election. Coming back to the Island, my question is do we have faith in the Council to achieve more with less. On that point the jury is still out.
Isn't it marvellous? Less than a year on from surgery and here I am ruminating about the economic outlook.
What news can I pass on? On weight day I found I had lost another pound...now I weigh in at 13 stone 7 pounds. I could still lose another half stone or so without worrying too much.
I was about to write that the acid had left me at night time but last night I woke up with some reflux and a great deal of coughing. Otherwise though health continues on an upward curve. The results have come from my x ray and blood tests and they show up as normal. We are due to see the Oncologist Judith cave on 15 March. This will be the first medical appointment we shall have had without Joya Moris in attendance. She left her job at the end of January but a combination of bad weather and a norro virus outbreak put paid to that. However tomorrow I am going to a farewell do for her in Yarmouth. More on that on the next entry.
In a preview of what is to come over the next two or three years nationally, the Island Council will vote for some pretty unpleasant service cuts this week, which could have profound implications for the way the vulnerable are cared for. All Councils of course need to cut unecessary waste but people are kidding themselves if they think cuts can be achieved without touching the big ticket items. There was a big demonstration in Birmingham by local Government workers yesterday in protest about possible 2,000 job losses. This issue will not go away no matter who wins the next election. Coming back to the Island, my question is do we have faith in the Council to achieve more with less. On that point the jury is still out.
Isn't it marvellous? Less than a year on from surgery and here I am ruminating about the economic outlook.
Friday, 19 February 2010
Days 291 to 293
It's been an interesting few days. Half Term has arrived. This is reckoned by people the most difficult of those breaks. The one in the Autumn often means the kids enjoy some late Autumn sunshine and have Halloween to think about. The break in May can often signal some almost Summer weather and a few days away. In contrast this break happens with some fairly naff weather and with Easter still some way away a lot of attractions remain closed. Ev took Emily and Adam to a place called Fired Art which they both enjoy. It involves some creative painting.
Ev has gone with Andrea and the children to Shropshire for a few days. Today Harry has met up with his Cousins in Shrewsbury for a noisy time at a play place.
Big story on the Island. Last week there was a big charity function in Cowes. The event itself passed off okay but the leader of the Council got involved in an argument, with whom is not clear. The partner of the Member of Parliament offered the Council Leader's Girl Friend a lift home. The Council Leader used apparently unparliamentary language to suggest that said MP's partner go away. Unfortunately this animated conversation was recorded and has made the local news. The man has duly apologised but at a time when the Council is under fire because of Budget Cuts the timing is to say the least unfortunate.
One concession that I currently enjoy is a free Bus Pass. Being a sad person I sat on the top deck of a bus that brought me home the long way round. Cold though it was the sunshine made parts of the Island look very pretty. The view out to sea was magic........oh dear there I go dreaming again.
I have gone nearly a week since I have had any acid nighttime problems. Consequently I feel a lot less tired during the day. I have started to think a lot more when I am eating out because you are not always sure whether what you have ordered may contain something difficult to swallow. I often tend to play safe and order soup. This is not meant to sound like I am moaning because I am truly grateful still to be here. The words of the Anesthetist just before the operation that I would need a great deal of mental toughness to see things through. Touch wood I am passing the test. I am still partial to dreadful jokes and complaining about the weather.
Oh yes and the saga of Angel Radio's new Ariel continues. It was dispatched last Monday. From where we know not and when it will arrive we know not either. There are a lot of people who are missing the shows. We can only apologise.
Ev has gone with Andrea and the children to Shropshire for a few days. Today Harry has met up with his Cousins in Shrewsbury for a noisy time at a play place.
Big story on the Island. Last week there was a big charity function in Cowes. The event itself passed off okay but the leader of the Council got involved in an argument, with whom is not clear. The partner of the Member of Parliament offered the Council Leader's Girl Friend a lift home. The Council Leader used apparently unparliamentary language to suggest that said MP's partner go away. Unfortunately this animated conversation was recorded and has made the local news. The man has duly apologised but at a time when the Council is under fire because of Budget Cuts the timing is to say the least unfortunate.
One concession that I currently enjoy is a free Bus Pass. Being a sad person I sat on the top deck of a bus that brought me home the long way round. Cold though it was the sunshine made parts of the Island look very pretty. The view out to sea was magic........oh dear there I go dreaming again.
I have gone nearly a week since I have had any acid nighttime problems. Consequently I feel a lot less tired during the day. I have started to think a lot more when I am eating out because you are not always sure whether what you have ordered may contain something difficult to swallow. I often tend to play safe and order soup. This is not meant to sound like I am moaning because I am truly grateful still to be here. The words of the Anesthetist just before the operation that I would need a great deal of mental toughness to see things through. Touch wood I am passing the test. I am still partial to dreadful jokes and complaining about the weather.
Oh yes and the saga of Angel Radio's new Ariel continues. It was dispatched last Monday. From where we know not and when it will arrive we know not either. There are a lot of people who are missing the shows. We can only apologise.
Tuesday, 16 February 2010
Days 287 to 290
Where on earth does the time go? We are already half way through the second month of 2010. I must apologise for not posting a blog entry for a few days. I have been a bit busy.
With a wedding to go to at the beginning of March, we have been out clothes shopping. As has been well chronicled here, I have been losing quite a lot of weight( I'm 2 pounds down on last week thank you for asking. At one level you can say this is a good thing but it brings its own problems. Before the illness my collar size for shirts was 17 to 17 and a half(that's UK size). I now need shirts size 15 and a half. For some time I have been kidding myself that at the end of 2008 I was "about" 17 stone to which I can only add the words"and the rest." Some of my shirts that I used to wear with ties I can realistically now only wear open necked. Anyway this should mean I shall be suitably attired for the big day.
The good news also is that for the last few nights I have been sleeping much better. This morning for example I didn't really wake up until 8 having gone to bed shortly after 11.
I did my show on Angel Radio but to my horror I had left about 5 of my chosen CDs at home. This was unfortunate since I had prepared a special show featuring two of the great American Song Writers Harold Arlen and Walter Donaldson(Donaldson the Snooker player was a different person altogether). Thanks to Richard Anscombe and others the Angel Mini Disc library came to my rescue.
That is I guess things up to date. I shall try not to leave things as long before my next entries.
With a wedding to go to at the beginning of March, we have been out clothes shopping. As has been well chronicled here, I have been losing quite a lot of weight( I'm 2 pounds down on last week thank you for asking. At one level you can say this is a good thing but it brings its own problems. Before the illness my collar size for shirts was 17 to 17 and a half(that's UK size). I now need shirts size 15 and a half. For some time I have been kidding myself that at the end of 2008 I was "about" 17 stone to which I can only add the words"and the rest." Some of my shirts that I used to wear with ties I can realistically now only wear open necked. Anyway this should mean I shall be suitably attired for the big day.
The good news also is that for the last few nights I have been sleeping much better. This morning for example I didn't really wake up until 8 having gone to bed shortly after 11.
I did my show on Angel Radio but to my horror I had left about 5 of my chosen CDs at home. This was unfortunate since I had prepared a special show featuring two of the great American Song Writers Harold Arlen and Walter Donaldson(Donaldson the Snooker player was a different person altogether). Thanks to Richard Anscombe and others the Angel Mini Disc library came to my rescue.
That is I guess things up to date. I shall try not to leave things as long before my next entries.
Friday, 12 February 2010
Days 284 to 286
Back to the blog again. It's been a busy old few days. The night time acid reflux is back again. This comes with an irritating cough. This morning wasn't too bad in that I didn't wake up until 6.00AM. Yesterday it was more like 445. Confessions time is nigh in that I haven't been taking Gavescon as regularly as I should have done. Steps have been taken. Apart from that I did go to the Hospital for an x ray on my shoulder plus a blood test. Results will be in next week. I must say I was impressed with the efficiency of the Hospital. Both departments operate walk in clinics. Including walking between the two parts of the Hospital I was finished in about an hour.
Angel Radio alas does not have a mast yet which means we can't broadcast on FM. The one that arrived was damaged presumably in transit. I have loads of guests I would like to invite on but until things are sorted it isn't going to happen, which is very frustrating.
As a forerunner of things to come the local council is pushing ahead with a number of budget cuts to plug a gap of £11 million in the finances. The big ticket item is the cut in grants to various groups in the voluntary sector. Without wishing to get political, the Council is Conservative controlled and yet the party's national leader David Cameron is on record as encouraging these groups to get involved in community projects. In the case of the Isle of Wight some of the cuts may make sense in the very short term but will in the long run cost the Council more.
Roll on some decent weather please.
Angel Radio alas does not have a mast yet which means we can't broadcast on FM. The one that arrived was damaged presumably in transit. I have loads of guests I would like to invite on but until things are sorted it isn't going to happen, which is very frustrating.
As a forerunner of things to come the local council is pushing ahead with a number of budget cuts to plug a gap of £11 million in the finances. The big ticket item is the cut in grants to various groups in the voluntary sector. Without wishing to get political, the Council is Conservative controlled and yet the party's national leader David Cameron is on record as encouraging these groups to get involved in community projects. In the case of the Isle of Wight some of the cuts may make sense in the very short term but will in the long run cost the Council more.
Roll on some decent weather please.
Tuesday, 9 February 2010
Days 282 to 283
I have been taken to task quite correctly for posting an I am doing fine message when things were not going as well as they might have been. The clue is that the blog shows the time I write this. My last effort was typed at about 4.00AM. It does not take Sherlock Holmes to work out that if there was no problem I would not be up at that time. So apologies for that.
I mentioned that I had had a pain in the side and shoulder. I made an appointment to see one of the Doctors. As often happens in cases like this once in the consulting room I had no pain whatsoever. The Doc was very sympathetic and arranged for me to have a x ray and blood test at the Hospital on Wednesday. For the rest of the day I felt rather lethargic. There's a very cold penetrating wind outside and I guess that didn't help matters. It will take 7 days to get the results from the x ray.
Fortunately I had a better night's sleep yesterday. With little pain I was able to go to Angel Radio for my show today. The computer man came back with our machine in good order. A large number of viruses had gathered through temporary files so we shall watch out for those in the coming months.
It's time to put some CDs away.
I mentioned that I had had a pain in the side and shoulder. I made an appointment to see one of the Doctors. As often happens in cases like this once in the consulting room I had no pain whatsoever. The Doc was very sympathetic and arranged for me to have a x ray and blood test at the Hospital on Wednesday. For the rest of the day I felt rather lethargic. There's a very cold penetrating wind outside and I guess that didn't help matters. It will take 7 days to get the results from the x ray.
Fortunately I had a better night's sleep yesterday. With little pain I was able to go to Angel Radio for my show today. The computer man came back with our machine in good order. A large number of viruses had gathered through temporary files so we shall watch out for those in the coming months.
It's time to put some CDs away.
Monday, 8 February 2010
Days 279 to 281
Not much to report on the health front except that when out in Newport on Friday I had a large bowl of soup at a cafe. I could not two months ago have been able to finish that but this time I did it. The only blot on the landscape has been an irritating pain in my left side both in the shoulder and just below the rib cage. I doubt it has any link with previous problems but I am going to make an appointment with the Doctor never the less.
I have a notion that whoever wins the next election will have to look at the over 60s concessionary bus fare scheme. It is evident that it is far more costly than first thought of, an example of something well intentioned but perhaps not as carefully thought through as maybe it should have been. Consequently I took advantage whilst it lasts and went in to Newport on the bus. For me that was free but for someone under 60 that's £6 for a round trip for a journey of 8 miles. No wonder so many travel by car.
Saturday was a lovely day so went for a walk round the town of Bembridge on the Island. It is a nice quiet corner with some swish houses.
Onward and upward.
I have a notion that whoever wins the next election will have to look at the over 60s concessionary bus fare scheme. It is evident that it is far more costly than first thought of, an example of something well intentioned but perhaps not as carefully thought through as maybe it should have been. Consequently I took advantage whilst it lasts and went in to Newport on the bus. For me that was free but for someone under 60 that's £6 for a round trip for a journey of 8 miles. No wonder so many travel by car.
Saturday was a lovely day so went for a walk round the town of Bembridge on the Island. It is a nice quiet corner with some swish houses.
Onward and upward.
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Days 277 and 278
I had a nice phone call today from Ian Campbell a regular guest on my Lunch Time show. He hasn't spoken to me for a while and he remarked how much better I sounded than when he had spoken to me before Christmas. Phone calls of this nature are always welcome.
There is another downside to having cancer. If you want to go abroad for a holiday or any other reason you pay through the nose for Travel Insurance. Once you say you have had the desease you are referred to the specialist medical teams so looking on price comparison websites is of very limited value. Later on this year Ev and I are going on a cruise to the Norwegian Fjords. For just the 2 weeks cover the cheapest I can find is £205 with an excess of £125 for all non cancer related reasons and £325 if it is desease related. The agents I spoke to were relieved I wasn't planning on going to the USA presumably because of potential medical bills. This is all very sad.
In other respects though things keep improving. I managed to eat some prawn stir fry last night, something I could not do before the dilatation. From time to time I still have to get used to feeling full one minute and then hungry again less than an hour later.
The Computer Man rang today. He is ill and unable to come today. Hopefully he will return our normal machine then. And we still don't know when the new mast for Angel Radio will arrive still less when it will be errected.
As the old song says life gets tedious don't it?
There is another downside to having cancer. If you want to go abroad for a holiday or any other reason you pay through the nose for Travel Insurance. Once you say you have had the desease you are referred to the specialist medical teams so looking on price comparison websites is of very limited value. Later on this year Ev and I are going on a cruise to the Norwegian Fjords. For just the 2 weeks cover the cheapest I can find is £205 with an excess of £125 for all non cancer related reasons and £325 if it is desease related. The agents I spoke to were relieved I wasn't planning on going to the USA presumably because of potential medical bills. This is all very sad.
In other respects though things keep improving. I managed to eat some prawn stir fry last night, something I could not do before the dilatation. From time to time I still have to get used to feeling full one minute and then hungry again less than an hour later.
The Computer Man rang today. He is ill and unable to come today. Hopefully he will return our normal machine then. And we still don't know when the new mast for Angel Radio will arrive still less when it will be errected.
As the old song says life gets tedious don't it?
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Days 273 to 276
Our computer is still in for repair so I am using a laptop which is on a go slow so please bear with me. The man came on Friday afternoon and has promised its return on Thursday. We shall see.
Ev got back from North Wales where she had been looking after a not very well Harry. Travelling on a Friday is never much fun and her journey to Portsmouth took 5 hours 20 minutes as distinct from the normal 4.
Saturday saw us attend a Burns Night Supper at the church. It was the first one I have ever been to as well. I have to say it was great fun. The food was really nice. We were entertained to some Scottish Country Dance Music. We also were on a table that was a joint winner of a quiz on the theme of how much do you know about Scotland. Congratulations to all the organisers.
On the negative side Angel Radio continues not to function on FM. The new Radio Mast has been ordered but we have no idea when it will be delivered still less installed. I am reluctant to invite guests whilst this uncertainty goes on.
Last night was the first time in over a week I had some acid in the mouth during the night. It was nothing serious though and I was quickly back to normal.
More when we get our computer back.
Ev got back from North Wales where she had been looking after a not very well Harry. Travelling on a Friday is never much fun and her journey to Portsmouth took 5 hours 20 minutes as distinct from the normal 4.
Saturday saw us attend a Burns Night Supper at the church. It was the first one I have ever been to as well. I have to say it was great fun. The food was really nice. We were entertained to some Scottish Country Dance Music. We also were on a table that was a joint winner of a quiz on the theme of how much do you know about Scotland. Congratulations to all the organisers.
On the negative side Angel Radio continues not to function on FM. The new Radio Mast has been ordered but we have no idea when it will be delivered still less installed. I am reluctant to invite guests whilst this uncertainty goes on.
Last night was the first time in over a week I had some acid in the mouth during the night. It was nothing serious though and I was quickly back to normal.
More when we get our computer back.
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