Sunday 15 May 2016

Results....

We had a letter from Basingstoke arrive recently with the results of my CT scan. It arrived just two weeks after the scan which is much quicker than we have been used to historically and was much appreciated. “Scanxiety” isn’t pleasant and the longer you wait the more it builds.

It was good news; the scan had shown no change whatsoever to the areas of concern on both my kidney and the area near the liver. My tumour marker blood levels also “remain fine”.

The next step is to repeat the CT scan again in October and if this shows everything remains stable then the scans will revert back to yearly for the time being.

Obviously we were very pleased with the news. It’s the best it could have been and means that we now have the whole summer ahead of us to enjoy. We can now make plans for days out and even book some holidays!

It still feels strange knowing that the Pseudomyxoma still lurks deep inside me, sat there dormant, waiting for the right moment to show its ugly head once more. Who knows just how long that will be, months, years or even longer? I guess it has its own grisly plan.

But for now the baron wasteland that was 2016 at the start of the year suddenly promises so much more.I feel well and I’m going to make the most of it! I’m still keeping fit and swimming a kilometre twice a week on a lunch break. I have also been walking a fair bit and last weekend did a ten mile walk in the Mendip hills.

Jon and I started at the car park at the top of Velvet bottom and then walked via the Longwood Valley and past the Longwood August cave system (one of my favorite Mendip caves) to Black rock at the head of the Cheddar Gorge.
Jon in the Longwood Valley

Carpets of Bluebells

From here we took the steep climb up the right hand side of the Gorge as you head down and walked the cliffs. We were treated to stunning views and clear blue skies.
Jon on the cliff path

Caves!

 The path then lowered steeply with caves to our right and we made our way down into Cheddar for a well earned pint of Cheddar Valley cider and a Ploughman’s lunch.

We then headed back up the very steep climb to the top of the cliffs on the other side of the gorge stopping for a quick chat with a group of ladies who were walking in aid of Macmillan cancer and training for a walk along the Jurassic coast in a few weeks time (of course I made a donation!). By this time it was about 24 degrees and the warmest day of the year so far.
Brent knoll lurking in the haze in the distance.

 We continued up the cliffs and crossed over at the head of the  gorge to pick up Velvet bottom and our route back to the car. I saw my first adder (three in fact!)in the wild all with their beautiful black zig zag markings on their backs and lightning quick! We also found slow worms hidden in the grass which took me back to my childhood.
Slow worms


In all it was a great day in fantastic surroundings and it felt great to be alive....