Cancer 71

The cancer nurse I spoke to yesterday said I was boring. I am not used to being called boring. I am called many names that are not particularly pleasant but boring isn’t usually one of them. On this occasion though I was glad to be called boring, as he was referring to my most recent blood test results. Everything is where it should be. As I am getting ready for my 6th round of chemo my body is as normal as it can be. I have abdominal pains, I have some side effects from the chemo – well, a little diarrhoea and a lot of tiredness, nothing too bad – but generally, I am feeling reasonably fit and well. I was told the other day, as we walked up to the Lodore Falls in the Lake District that I had a spring in my step, perhaps for the first time in many months.

I am working on my novel. I wrote 5,000 words yesterday so my head hurts. I dealt with the training of the Parliamentary Army through to the Battle of Edghill. I won’t write anything today. I am enjoying trying to write something different to the usual academic stuff. Re my Applied Narrative Psychology book, I have a draft of the cover, and I am working through the proofs, so all is well for the January release. I am still wanting to complete any academic articles outstanding, so those of you who have such materials get in touch and let’s get things written. You know who you are.

We have had another few days in Northumbria, my latest favourite county, exploring the Roman remains and eating well. We also spent a night at a very nice spa hotel in the Lake District. I got told off by the nurses for going to a spa with a PICC line in and while undergoing chemo as my immune system is probably shot to pieces, but there you go.

My favourite hobby is driving, and re my cancer, one of the biggest worries is that I may get so unwell I cannot drive. That would be awful. I love driving around the country, and around other countries, but that is off the agenda while I am undergoing treatment. Also, I have not yet received my government paid for car. In case anybody is concerned that I am getting a government paid for car, then remember I am unlikely to get any of the state pension I have paid into for the whole of my adult life so I need to get whatever benefits I can while I am still here.

After the 6th round of chemo I will be having a CT scan to see what is happening in my abdomen. Hopefully it will show that no new tumours have grown, but who knows. If all is well then the chemo will continue for another 6 rounds, another 12 weeks. I am utterly sick of it. I don’t like being in the hospital for one day every fortnight. I don’t like having a bottle attached for the next two days. I suppose it could be worse.