28/06/2011 Enjoying life......

It’s been a while since my last post, mainly because as far as PMP is concerned I have nothing too much to report. I have had my first annual scan and the results have come back clear, so that’s it until next Feb I guess.
However I have been very busy making good on a promise and generally enjoying life. One thing that the whole PMP experience has shown me is to make the most of those special moments with family and friends and appreciate them for what they are. Take time, stop and linger in it and enjoy. Too many people let them slip by and take them for granted.

The biggest thing that has happened is that I made good on a promise I made to the family immediately after the MOAS and we have just returned from two weeks family holiday in Mallorca. We stayed at a family member’s apartment in the resort of Calla Millor. We spent the entire holiday relaxing, swimming in the sea and at the pool and enjoying the summer sun. The daytime temperature averaged around 33 degrees! We spent evenings walking the long seafront promenade and eating at the various restaurants along the way. It was just what we needed.

Our time there was real quality family time. No TV to stifle communication, no phone ringing, no work to worry about. We all sat around the table at meal times chatting and laughing. We spent time playing in the pool with beach balls, inflatable’s and snorkelling. Chloe became far more confident in the water and took her first steps in learning to dive and swimming underwater. Jess, ever confident often leading the way.

It was also a great holiday for Tracey and I. Both of us relaxed and rested for the whole two weeks. It was our first real opportunity since the MOAS and we enjoyed sharing our time together.

As well as our holiday I also have spent time getting back into caving and I did my first “Big trip” some weeks ago. I met with my friends Mark and Andrew and we completed the “Round Trip” at Swildons hole in Priddy on the Mendip Hills. We followed a circular loop negotiating waterfalls, climbs, squeezes, ducks and free diving sump 1. It was hard work and I really noticed my weak abdominal muscles but it was also very rewarding.



Free diving sump one-Swildons Hole, Priddy,Somerset.

I also spent a day pursuing another interest of mine; flying birds of prey. I had been treated to the experience by my parents as a birthday present last year and had waited until the nicer weather before arranging it. We spent the day just outside of Gloucester with a well known Falconer Ben Long who allowed us to fly Barn Owls, Harris Hawks, Peregrine Falcons and Saker Falcons. It was a fantastic day.
I now plan to enjoy some fishing in the next few weeks.

The one thing I found with my holiday however was in the quiet moments when my mind wasn’t particularly occupied (usually when sunbathing!) PMP constantly crept into my thoughts. I guess this had been prompted a bit by a few people I talk to on the Christies forum informing us that they have sadly had re-occurrences of PMP. Some of these people have barely done a year since their MOAS. They and their families must be devastated. I’m realistic, I know I too may be faced with this at some point but we all live in hope that we just might be one of the lucky few who seem to have been cured and have now done several years without re-occurrence.

It shows how the busy lifestyle we lead keeps the mind occupied and muffles the PMP thoughts. But in those odd quiet times it re-surfaces showing that it’s never far away, just quietly lurking in the back ground.

Training update for the Bristol ½ Marathon Fundraiser.

Things have been going well until quite recently when an old Achilles tendon injury re-surfaced. I had been regularly running 8-9 miles and was doing well and on target with my training plan. However the increased distance coupled with some worn out running shoes has aggravated the problem and I’m currently resting it! I plan to get some new training shoes this weekend and hope this will help solve the issue; it’s worked in the past.
Fundraising has started in earnest and we are now up to £295. We plan to start doing some Car Boot sales in the next few weeks now that the good weather is here so this should hopefully boots the sponsorship further.