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....
