Well hello there everybody. It has been a long time since my last post, with good reason!! Lynne and I were away for four weeks on our northern safari to Queensland [4500km by car], and as soon as we got back we were helping our daughter Juliet get her house in Canberra ready for sale. She wants to sell up here and consolidate her property portfolio in Melbourne.
On the cancer front there is not much action to report. I saw my gastro specialist, Dr Chris Ashton, for a routine consultation this week; he was pleased with progress and has left me on a six monthly gastroscopy screening program. I commented on the outstanding success of the dilation he performed in May.I also revisited the friendly staff at the Zita Mary Clinic, where they performed a routine flush of my chemo port.
My appetite and food consumption is right back to where it was before the cancer. Current weight 77kg. I feel in good health and at last have been able to pull on my hiking boots and hit the pathways and tracks of Canberra. Did the big one on Tuesday, the 25km trail from Tuggeranong to Evatt. I get a bus for the 1 hour ride out to Tuggeranong, take a coffee at the Hyperdome shopping plaza, then set out at a leisurely pace. It was a beautiful cool day, just right for walking. I was glad I took toilet paper with me [the mark of experience] because I needed some very quick toilet stops!! Stopped for lunch at the Scrivener Dam, then up the hill into Belconnen. It was all so pleasant that I will be doing a repeat each week. I also walk every morning at least one hour before breakfast. Today I ran in the Customs Joggers 5km handicap for a time of 37m 15s.
I am presently reading the book Bad Hair Days by Pamela Bone, MUP 2007. [ISBN 9780522853698]. This is a witty and challenging account of her experience with multiple myeloma bone marrow cancer. Her writing skills as a journalist and columnist for The Age newspaper in Melbourne are very evident...I felt a great empathy for what she was saying. I commend the book as a good read.
This post is being composed in Windows Live Writer. A lot of the pictures that were on my blog have mysteriously disappeared; I must have clicked on some option somewhere to remove them!! I saw that Australia's oldest blogger died recently at age 108!!
1 comment:
Hi Big D, Great to hear you are getting out for some long walks again, must be pleasant to be able to get out there and walk from South to North again!
Big M was asking about the carpet patching man - I've checked my records, it was Ray Hately at 9 Sorrell Place, Queanbeyan. I have no phone number for him on his tax invoice! You might be able to find him in yellow / white pages!
Off to work now - big day ahead!
Love, JA x
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