Well, this is my 1st blog and unfortunately it isn't that upbeat. Tom has told me to leave it for now in case I show my anxiety and frustration too much, but I'm sure there are a few people waiting to know how we got on with the oncologist this morning.
We set off for Douglas and got as far as Ballasalla when Tom received a phone call telling him his appointment was cancelled. The Flybe plane that brings in the oncologist once a week was cancelled and so was Toms appointment. We turned the car
Good morning people. Well I have not blogged for 8 days now. Last week was not my best week every. I will simply be glad now begin treatment again next week. I have decided that now though is the right time to bring the blog to an end for the time being. I will of course be back again but I don’t know when. It might be in a few months and it might be 12 months. Shortly I will hand over the wheel to Barbara.. I shall then fly home to the land I left 12 months ago. It has been one hell of a voyage
I have now tossed the sleeping pills I got from my doctor into the bin. I would rather put up with sleeplessness than have the side affects of those damn pills. The other night I was sitting in our front room being extremely miserable about life in general. I was getting wound up about the long wait before I can see a consultant. I figured my cancer was getting worse and would not improve until treatment started which is still sometime away. Barbara was watching telly next door and popped in to
Anyone who titles their blog by the date each day is hardly going to miss out on new years day.
I imagine that most of you by now will have broken your new year’s resolutions. I have still kept mine from a few years ago which was never to make anymore. I find myself beginning 2009 in exactly the same way as I did 2008. That is to take up my sword and engage in battle with cancer once again. This is quite definitely not the way I would have chosen to begin this year or any other year. But the
In the convent where I went to school in Liverpool, every Thursday evening we had to go to the school chapel and confess our sins to the priest. Mine would go something like this.
“Bless me Father for I have sinned. It has been one week since my last confession. I have been disobedient and I have been cheeky. Last Sunday I took money out of the collection plate when it went around during mass, instead of putting a penny on it. Please forgive my sins?” I would then be sent to the back of the
Good day people. Well firstly I am generally feeling better about life in general these last couple of days. I am still having problems sleeping, so last night I took 3 of the sleeping pills which is the maximum allowed. They made no damn difference what-so-ever. I might as well have swallowed a tube of smarties, so I have chucked the damn things in the bin and tonight I shall return to the brandy bottle.
Blimey the other day we discovered a copy of my book on sale on Amazon for £35. They m
Hello folks, well that’s Christmas out of the way for another year. I hope you all had a good one and that by now you have also rewrapped your unwanted Christmas presents to pass on next year. Don’t forget to write the name of the person who sent it to you on the box or you may end up returning it the person who sent it to you in the first place.
I have to say that this Christmas will not exactly go down in my memory book as the greatest ever. I have not coped too well with the news that my
Like millions throughout the world I worshipped the Birth of Christ at Christ-mass last evening. The number of families of ordinary people joining in the celebrations over Advent and Christmas reveals that on this island those who deny Christ's message and portray people of faith as deluded are portraying a picture of island life which does not reflect the true picture.
Christ is Alive!
More than ever His message of love is needed. We should not live for ourselves but for others, sha
Like millions throughout the world I worshipped the Birth of Christ at Christ-mass last evening. The number of families of ordinary people joining in the celebrations over Advent and Christmas reveals that on this island those who deny Christ's message and portray people of faith as deluded are portraying a picture of island life which does not reflect the true picture.
Christ is Alive!
More than ever His message of love is needed. We should not live for ourselves but for others, sha
I want to begin today by thanking all of you wonderful people around the world that have emailed me and sent text messages. They are a great comfort to me. I started this blog last February, since then over 20,000 people have logged on. Well in theory that could mean one person has logged on 20,000 times, or 20,000 people have logged on once. In that time we have shared the good and the bad times together. You have all been absolutely fantastic. The blog has really served me well through the dif
I am not long back from the hospital. My news was not good I’m afraid. The doctor thinks cancer enjoyed my company so much last time that it has come back for another visit. I have to have a scan as soon as possible, then probably more chemo. After that, its anyone’s guess. Yes I am a bit down in the dumps today, but that will not last. I just need a day or so to sort my mind out, and try and come to terms with this damn cancer lark. As the days go by I will continue to blog when I feel up for i
There is something very strange happening in the wild. The other day I heard birds twittering at 5-40 a.m. Today there was bird song at 4 a.m. Why are the birds suddenly singing in the pitch dark? Answers on a postcard please!
At present I can hear the children playing in the school playground across the road. Their shrilled and excited voices rise up into the sky and blend in with the birds chatter. The sky is full of happy sounds. It seems hard to imagine that these young kids will one da
Well folks, I have just returned from the doctors. The doctor couldn’t tell me of course if my lump is malignant. She has referred me to the specialist whom I will see at Nobles on Thursday at 12o’clock.
Well it’s presently Monday afternoon so that’s not too long to wait. I shall now crack on with life and presume it is not cancer, and I shall remain in that frame of mind until such times as a consultant tells me it is, which of course may not be very long. Life is very much like a game of s
My weekend has turned in to a bleak one. On Saturday I discovered a lump in my arm pit. The lump is solid and of course it could be anything. None-the-less Monday I begin the week with a visit to the doctors, and no doubt be sent for x-rays and all those cancer tests to begin again. It was this time last year I was starting to think that I probably had lung cancer and Christmas was not exactly much fun. I wasn’t expecting it to happen again this Christmas. The only difference this time is that I
I wonder how many of you will actually get what you really want for Christmas from friends and relatives. How many pairs of socks and hankie sets we all end up with. I have never actually met anyone who has asked for a pair of socks for Christmas. I have nipped in to David Collisters off licence in Castletown and told him not to serve anyone with cheap brandy if they come into his shop trying to buy me a Christmas present. I have told David, if they are not buying a bottle of Cognac then tell th
Sorry folks! I have just been listening to the radio and you know what that usually means? Yes there is a rant coming up. Apparently a school bus in America was evacuated and fumigated just because a peanut had been discovered on the bus. It seems 150 people die each year in the US through allergies, 100 people are struck by lightening, 1550 are killed by bee stings and 10,000 people die in sports accidents. The US must be the only country in the world where folks might have a guilty conscience
Generally this would be welcomed by the profession as really it is just another extension of our present role.
Pharmacists are experts in medicines and have a track record of supplying medicines such as emergency hormonal oral contraception over-the-counter and via Patient Group Directions.
They already have the clinical skills and expertise that will help them provide information and advice to women to ensure the appropriate use of oral contraception.
Supplying the oral contrac
Blimey, it has taken me 24 hours to calm down after my experience yesterday. Barbara had an appointment at the breast screening clinic. We set off armed with our letter, only to find on our arrival at Nobles we were at the wrong hospital. The breast screening clinic is at the old Nobles hospital. Well sure enough it does give the address on the letter, but frankly when you see Nobles at the top of the letter, you assume it means the new hospital. What is the point in spending millions on a new h
I hear on the radio this morning that a group of protesters have managed to get onto the runway at Stansted Airport and delay all the flights. I find it beyond belief that in these troubled times where you can't even smuggle a tube of tooth paste onto an aircraft, that somehow 54 protesters can get onto the main runway and erect a steel barrier across the runway. Does that simply confirm that airport security is, and always has been nothing more than a complete joke?
I also note that a bunc
I guess people are starting to think about New Year’s resolutions. I used to make them but no more. I only ever kept one of them, and that was, never to make any more. I suppose most smokers will want to try and kick the habit, although I actually met someone the other day who told me he was going to start smoking on New Year’s Eve. Well, I suppose there’s one born every day. Talking of smoking, I heard on the radio that a bunch of medical scientists have discovered that smoking does more harm t
There is a bright rainbow arcing in the sky outside my window. Its colours touch the green farmland my office looks out onto. When I first saw it I stopped work and stood staring out for a few moments, smiling at its beauty.
‘Always look for beauty’ has been one of my guiding phrases recently – listen to bird song, enjoy a fleeting glimpse of the sunset while on the commute, feel a sense of awe watching the crescent moon set with Venus and Jupiter shining bright next to it.
I always tr
Once again I’m here in a freezing office hoping an oil tanker will turn up this morning. Actually as I write the tanker has turned up, however the system still isn’t working because we now need to wait for the plumber to arrive to bleed the tank. I woke up this morning at 3am, and of course I have been awake since. I did have to very strange dreams though. In the first one I was on a plane flying to Liverpool, only not as a passenger, I was the pilot! During the flight one of the passengers aske
Its not just football and horse racing that are affected by the weather. Other pastimes such as blogging are affected also. I have not blogged for the last couple of days because at present we have no heating. It has simply been too cold to sit in the office for very long. We still have no heating. We misread the gauge on the oil tank and allowed it to run out. Well Barbara didn’t realise there was a little switch on the bottom that stops the level falling! This morning I was going to stay in be
