London Marathon

Folks, 

Sunday brings with it the London Marathon. This year, my friend Aisling is taking part for the first time and I am going to cheer her on. She is running for a very good cause - the charity Sense - and is getting close to her target. If you could spare a few pennies to help her reach it, then I know she would be very appreciative, as will I. Read all about her reasons for supporting Sense's good work here: 

http://www.justgiving.com/Aisling-Creevey

Thanks for your time

xxx

Drought conditions - not here!!

Well, that was a wet weekend!! After discovering that I had a burst radiator on Friday, Sarah has spent the weekend emptying my 1 litre Pyrex jug of water almost hourly! It turns out that it was not as simple as turning off the valves on my radiator to stop it filling with water all the time but needed some valves in the building's basement turning off too - got to love 1930s plumbing!! Anyway, this resulted in about 75 hours at 1 litre an hour of water coming out the radiator!!!! Glad I'm not on a water metre!! Thank you so much Sarah for giving up your sleep and emptying the jug overnight!!

Anyway, after a frustrating few hours of work, a lot of sweat and some blood, as well as a bad back, the in-house plumber has now provided me with a new radiator!!! Yay!!! There are no signs of any leaks and I am now nice and toasty again with the new radiator pumping out nice warm air!! (turns out my Easter egg is not so appreciative of the warm air though!!)

Well, apart from my plumbing issue, this weekend was rather quiet - I was really feeling the lack of energy so was very frustrated with things. Thankfully, Sarah made me get up and go for a walk every day, even if it was just down the high st and back. It's become a bit of a joke between us that I'm like a dog who needs a daily walk!! Ha ha ha!!

I'm now flying solo for a few days, so hopefully the energy levels will continue to pick up - today's been better than the last couple in that regard. I'm hoping to have a yoga session and see some friends and then on Sunday I'm aiming to go and cheer on my friend Aisling in the London Marathon. I'm so proud of all the training she's been doing and really hope that she enjoys the experience, if that's possible!! Wishing you all the best of luck Aisling!!

Ok, it may now be acceptable to change into my pjs and snuggle down on the sofa, enjoying the lack of dripping from the radiator - was a bit like Chinese water torture - so I'm going to sign off!!

Bye for now folks!!

Xxxxx

Friday 13th has already struck!!

Well, as the saying goes, if I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all!! Got woken at 7.10 to be told that there was water leaking from my flat. A quick check of the single radiator in my flat showed up nothing obvious but plumber has just been and found its leaking from the middle of the radiator!! Grrr! That means a new radiator for me and the cost of any repairs needed downstairs!!! Mega £££!!

What else can the day bring??

Hope my bad luck isn't catching!!

Xxxx

Two reasons to be grateful today

Well, the chemo side effects may be beginning to gang up on me - I'm feeling more and more tired and the afternoon snoozes have kicked in this week. However, today there were two things to be grateful for. I have had condom bottle number 4 removed this afternoon, so that means that I'm now 2/3rds of the way through my pre-op chemo - yay!!

The other thing that made me happy today was Mother Nature showing us a lovely double rainbow on the way home (the photo below doesn't do it justice)

Mouse bits

Well, I am nearing the end of my first dose of Cetuximab (the new biological agent that includes mouse cells!!) and so far so good.

We've been watching the showers passing through the window - no rainbows spotted so far!!

My sponsor website

Hi everyone,

I have set up my sponsor page for Race for Life, so please check down the back of the sofa for any spare change:

Race for Life sponsorship page

Thank you all so much

xxxxx

Change of Plan

Last year, whilst I was 'enjoying' my first cancer adventure I vowed that this year I would take part in the Cancer Research Race for Life this year. Now I've walked and run the Race for Life a couple of times in the past, as well as doing the 10km run one year. Anyway, the original aim was to run the 5km race in Regents Park in July. However, the start of chemo meant that running the race wouldn't happen, so I was going to walk it. The plan has now changed again. As my liver resection operation is booked for the first week in July, I have now changed events and am aiming to walk the 5km event at Crystal Palace Park on Sunday 10th June. I really hope that I'll be complete this event for a cause that is obviously close to my heart! Anyone who wants to join me in taking part, there are still places available I believe (it's a women's only event I'm afraid guys) and I'll treat you to an ice cream afterwards!!

Crystal Palace Race for Life Event Details

I'll also be setting up my sponsorship page shortly, so any spare change hiding down the back of the sofa can go to a good cause!! ;-) oh, and anyone wanting to 'train' with me, I know of a few nice walks near me!! :-)

Rach's Review Session

OK, the main idea of this post is to do a bit of reviewing, but no doubt I will end up rambling on about other things too!!!

Review 1 - The 39 Steps
On Saturday, I went up to the Criterion Theatre on (or rather under) Piccadilly Circus with my friend Sarah M (there are a few Sarah's in my life as well as my ickle sis). It had been a number of years since I had been to the Criterion Theatre and I had forgotten what a great little theatre it is. For anyone who's not been there, it is underground and it is as if it had been shrunk by a third, with low ceilings, little leg room, especially if you are taller than my 5'5'', and a tiny stage by West End standards! It all makes for a good viewing experience though as you are so close to the stage, even near the back row of the dress circle as we were. Anyway, as I say we went to see The 39 Steps. This play is a spoof of the Alfred Hichcock version of the spy thriller film, with multiple references to other Hichcock films woven into the jokes. The whole play is only performed by 4 brilliant actors, with 2 in particular taking on multiple roles, even in the same scene!! I don't think that I went more than a couple of minutes without laughing! I thought that the play was excellent and anyone who wants a fun filled 1 hr 45minutes (and that's including the interval) I would definitely recommend this play - 5 stars:

The 39 Steps official website

Thanks so much Sarah for organising our tickets - it was really great to see you and it was a wonderful afternoon! 

Before the play, we spent a couple of hours people watching over a late lunch near to Charing Cross Station. Having had the lovely warm weather the week before, Saturday's weather was rather on the chilly side. It was amusing to see how some people had obviously been caught out by the cold weather, with a few 'I love London' jumpers obviously having been emergency purchases!! A few hardy souls though were still out in t-shirts and flip-flops though!!!

Review 2 - Sunday was movie day!
I must admit that Sunday turned into a rather lazy day, with only a short walk around the park (about an hour) taking me away from the TV. I started by watching the Brad Pitt movie Moneyball. Now like a lot of others, I do appreciate a bit of Brad Pitt!! ;-) This movie (based on the true story of the Oakland A's baseball team) was interesting to watch, seeing how the general manager picked a new team based on statistics to get round not having much money. I must admit I do like sporting movies (with Invictus and Field of Dreams two of my faves), even if I don't have much knowledge of the sport involved. All in all I think I'd give this film 3 stars.

The next movie I watched was the DVD of Date Night (thanks Anne-Marie for giving me this for my birthday!). I did laugh my way through this movie and thought that Steve Carell and Tina Fey were brilliant! And of course I did appreciate the scenes with Mark Walburg without his shirt on!! ;-) ;-) Watching the outtakes had me in stitches!! A 4 star film I think.

By now the popcorn had been finished but I managed another film - The Proposal. Again, thanks Anne-Marie!! Now, I do love a good Sandra Bullock movie, and with having the added bonus of having Ryan Reynolds in it, this was right up my street - every girl could do with a bit of Ryan Reynolds!! ;-) I thought that the best character was Betty White's Grandma character though! I laughed my way through most of her scenes! Another 4 star film I think.

Wednesday saw a day of going back and forth to the hospital. I had an appointment for 8.30am to get my bloods taken and my PICC line flushed. With the usual roulette of getting the bus to the hospital - sometimes it takes 10 minutes, sometimes closer to 45 - we arrived early, just after 8am, to be told that the day unit (I have to have my bloods taken on the chemo day unit as they have the most experience of working with PICC lines) doesn't open for business until 9am and I shouldn't have been given an 8.30am appointment!! Oh well, another chance to sit around a hospital waiting, and waiting, and waiting!!! At least, when the clock struck 9, I was the first patient called through! Dad had come with me - thanks Dad - so we both looked away whilst the dressing over my PICC line was changed!! All went well though and the bloods were drawn without the need for needles or bruises!!! I LOVE my PICC line for this!! After a return home to watch some cop drama and some lunch, it was time for hospital visit of the day number 2! This time it was to see my lovely oncologist for my routine clinic checkup. With the long Easter weekend, the clinic appointment, which is usually on a Friday, had to be pulled forwards a couple of days (it also means that chemo cycle 4 starts on Tuesday next week rather than Monday). My oncologist seemed happy with everything and I haven't got any more side effects and those I have got haven't really got any worse, thankfully! We found out that the delay in my new treatment (Cetuximab biological therapy) is most likely down to a mix up with the paper work rather than a problem with the funding not being given, so I should be getting that for the first time on Tuesday. It also sounds like I will be getting the therapy every fortnight with my normal chemo, rather than having to add extra hospital visits to get it weekly. I'll just get a bigger dose each time, no worries!

Review 3 - Fish and Chip supper
Yummy!! 5 stars!! On Wednesday evening, after our fish and chip supper, Dad and I headed back down to the motorway so that I can spend the long weekend being fussed over at home. It's been nice and relaxing! :-)

Review 4 - Avebury Manor
This afternoon, we headed to get some culture by visiting the World Heritage Site at Avebury in Wiltshire. The original plan was to have a wander around the village and look at the stones. We visited the museums and found that the final 3 tickets for a tour of the Manor could be ours. I don't know whether any of you caught it, but the Manor featured in the BBC show The Manor Reborn, where they worked on 9 of the rooms in the manor house to recreate them as they could have been at various stages in the life of the manor. This made for an interesting tour. As the rooms were done out to reflect the various eras using reproduction furniture and items sourced from various places, it meant that we could sit on the chairs, look at the books, and even lie on the beds (as long as you took your shoes off). With it being the Easter weekend, there were lots of families with children running around enjoying the hands on aspects of the manor. They were also taking part in a Cadbury's Easter egg hunt, winning chocolate eggs at the end!!! I think it was unfair that I wasn't allowed to take part in the Easter egg hunt!! ;-) I think that the manor was worth a visit and especially with children, as you didn't have to worry if they touched anything!

With having looked around the gardens around the manor, as well as it being a bit chilly, we left walking around the stone circles for another day. They've been there a few thousand years, so I don't expect they'll go anywhere anytime soon!! I'll go back another time and take my camera to try and get some arty shots - there were some lovely photos for sale in the shop that have inspired me!

Well, I think that is all my ramblings for now.

Have a happy Easter / Chocolate Day everyone!!!

xxx