I finished the last of my drugs this morning.

Today would have been a day in the chair, as it’s Wednesday on a week 3, but of course, I don’t have to do that any more. The first week 3 Wednesday since early February that I haven’t had to. I miss it in an odd way. It was actually quite good to be forced to sit and not do anything for a whole day, despite having to be plumbed in.


Now, of course, it’s back to work full time again, without having a few days to recuperate every three weeks. Better that than being ill, though.


Now it’s time to start thinking about what to do with the rest of my life. I need to have some serious thinking done by Christmas, I reckon. Maybe two weeks on Skye will be an ideal opportunity, who knows. Much depends on many things, though, especially the economy and how bad things are going to get. We still have a mortgage to pay, after all.


It must just be the 50th Birthday thing coming up next year that’s got me thinking like this. I wasn’t like this 10 years ago, but then we still had two children at home and you can’t afford to start thinking like this when you just have to get on and do stuff. Now, maybe, I can.


However, the big question must be “What do you want to do? What would you change in your life if you could? How would your life be better if you did change it?”


That’s three questions. Let’s tackle the first one first and come back to the other two if they don’t get answered by the answer of the first…

Venice 2010

Just starting to try to organise a dinner for 30 people (maybe more) in Venice in October, preferably for €30 per head (or less)

Going to be interesting :-)

So. Another birthday has been and gone

Big one next year, so had to make the most of a little one this time round.

"I've never been to Birmingham"

"Erm... fancy going tomorrow, on my birthday?"

"OK"

Went to Gas Street Basin, the heart of the Birmingham Canal Navigations and a place where I'd spent the night on a narrow boat listening to ghost stories when I was about 14. It's changed a bit since then. The ghosts have gone and urban re-generation has arrived...

I don't know if you can read it on this size image, but it's good to see that "Legs 11", a lap-dancing bar with "the best showgirls in town" is located in the white gabled building towards the right of the shot. Gas Street hasn't lost all of its charm :-)

Brindley Place, next door, is a great example of what can be done with an inner city run-down area. But, it's still Birmingham. Frankly, my least favourite city in the country. You can't even get a proper cup of coffee round there on a Saturday morning. Still, been there, done that, no need to go back again.

Then we went on to Bournville to have a wander round the Cadbury village. Very interesting it was too, especially since we were there at noon, when the carillon started to play. On making enquiries at the visitor centre, we were soon on our way up the bell tower to see Trevor Workman giving the wooden pegs some serious stick. His photo is "photo of the week", and can be found on my website if you're reading this when that accolade has passed on to another photo. A fantastic skill, and definitely well worth a visit if you are in that area on a Saturday morning.

After a spot of lunch there, we ended up at the lavender farm at Snowshill, near Broadway once again. It was absolutely packed with japanese tourists this time round, but I gave the Hasselblad a walk, and we will see how they turn out one day. It's a lovely spot there, I have to say.

Then, back home and a supper at the Marsh Cat.

Not a bad birthday at all.

And in the new car as well :-)

Now, we can start planning new year's jaunt in earnest. It's going to be good.

Might as well blow my own trumpet - no one else will :-)

Article about me on the Leica website.


Andy Barton: Silver Linings in the Clouds


So, that's very exciting :-)

That's finally over then

No, not the World Cup - that's not over until later this evening. I want Spain to win, with the winning goal scored by Fernando Torres - if only because it might push his price up by £10m over the summer when he leaves Liverpool...

My 8 sessions in the electric chair came to an end this week. It will be strange not having that as part of my routine, going forward. Those three weekly visits came round very quickly - even just taking the daily tablet and watching them going down in the box showed the passage of time between one session and the next. No more Prednisolone for a few years - that's something to write home about.

Had a good chat with the haematologist on Wednesday. He wants me to have another CT scan in a week or so, so that he can see exactly what's left and what stage the disease is now that we have done this treatment. Notwithstanding what the radiologist said last time, I can still feel something in the groinal node where I first felt the problem back in May last year and I will discuss this with the haematologist when I go for the consultation post CT in August. I have to say that I will be pretty pissed off if this hasn't made the difference that I was hoping a couple of weeks ago. He also "sort of" back-tracked a bit on the Rituximab maintenance going forward over the next two years. It sounds like he is going to have to pull some strings as there is now some question as to whether they can count the radiotherapy that I had last year a "first treatment", or whether I am officially now in my "first" remission, rather than second. There is evidence that the maintenance is effective during first remission, but some question as to whether it is an approved treatment under the NHS. If it isn't, then I don't know what the options are - I doubt whether BUPA will pay for it. Will have to wait and see.

Other stuff feels better though. I even had a reasonable night's sleep last night, but I was completely bushed on Saturday afternoon, and absolutely needed the two hours sneaky shut-eye that I took.

My birthday is next weekend and I think that I can look forward to that, and beyond, with a bit more confidence than I did last year, when I was just opening this particular chapter of my life. While I don't think I will ever be able to close the chapter, I do think that a couple of pages have been turned, which is good.

So, now we're looking forward to the rest of the summer back in the office full time again (provided it's not as hot an humid as it has been the last week). We have Skye to look forward to in September (must get some filters sorted out for the Hasselblad...) and then Venice for a few days in the middle of October.

For my 50th next year, we have decided to take a fortnight's drive round Europe and have started the planning already. We are going to try to find interesting b&bs to stay in - if we can find places like that we found in Normandy last month, I will be more than satisfied. I have to say that, judging by the books that we have been browsing these past few evenings, there are some great places to stay, at very reasonable prices, in France and Italy. The German book is coming this week, so then we can start to plan in earnest. My friend Ravi has offered us a room for the night in Switzerland if we can organise it, so that's one night sorted!

Itinerary likely to be along the lines of Millau/Portofino/Italian Lakes/Switzerland/Black Forest/Rhine/Moselle/Champagne/Home. Should be OK :-)

"Accidentally" bought a new car on Thursday. We only called into the show room for a look and a test drive, but ended up buying a new Golf. We were in there nearly 4 hours all told - and I think I suffered for it over the weekend. Got a very good deal on one, I have to say, so I'm pretty pleased with that. Should be able to collect it on Wednesday, when I have to go to Stratford-on-Avon, which will be a nice run out for it.

More excellent news...

There has been some more excellent news this week too.

I had an appointment with the Consultant Oncologist who was in charge of my radiotherapy treatment last autumn. This was a routine follow-up appointment just to check on progress etc, but he is also part of a clinical team with my Haematologist, so has the fuller picture of what’s been happening over the last 6 or 7 months.

He gave me the usual prod and poke around the lymph sites in my neck, armpits and groin and I am pleased to say that he couldn’t find any swollen nodes at all. This means that the treatment is working. Which is, as I say, excellent news :-)

"I never want to see you again", he said, in the nicest possible way. To be honest, I never want to see him, either, but I am glad I met him.

Unfortunately, it’s not possible to feel the nodes in the abdomen area, so I may need to have a further CT scan after next week’s treatment to check on what’s been going on there. Furthermore, this doesn’t mean that I am cured.

What it does mean though is that, subject to attending for the maintenance treatment over the next two years, I can look forward to maybe 7 years before I need to have something similar.

I am quite pleased. Not that I ever doubted that this would work, of course.

Now, I’m going to have to think of something else to write about – I’ve enjoyed doing this blog over the last year or so – it’s good to write things down and very interesting (to me at least) to go back and read posts from a while ago. As I have said before, it seems a lot longer than it really has been – so much has happened really and it’s easy to forget what you’ve been through.

Oh, and England were woeful in the World Cup. Why am I not surprised?

Some excellent news!

A press release from Leica Camera was issued today:



Fundraising on Twitter for Leica enthusiasts’ charity initiative

Starting on June 30, 2010, Leica Camera AG will donate .50 Euro to the UK based Association for International Cancer Research (AICR) for every new follower to Leica’s Twitter account. Leica will donate an extra 1,000 Euros to AICR upon reaching 10,000 followers by July 9,2010.

The charity project for the benefit of international cancer research is part of an initiative that was launched by Leica enthusiast photographers who met on the independent International Leica User Forum site . Cornerstone of the project is the Leica User Forum Charity Book 2010, which is available through the online publishing company Blurb. The book is 140 pages long and offers a broad variety of images made by 101 Leica Forum members. A significant donation from the participating photographers as well as 6 Euros of the 95 Euros sales price will benefit the AICR. More than 9,000 Euros have already been raised.

Leica Forum member Bill Palmer, who came up with the photo book idea, said: “We simply wanted to showcase the talent of the photographers on the forum, whilst simultaneously raising money for a good cause. The response was overwhelming, both in the number and quality of images submitted from contributors worldwide.”

Norman Barrett, AICR’s Chief Executive said: “This impressive work of photo aficionados will provide essential income to help us help scientists across the globe in their efforts to understand and answer some of the most complicated questions in their field.”

Leica Camera Chief Executive Rudolf Spiller also commented: “I am delighted that we can contribute to an initiative that perfectly illustrates the spirit of the Leica user community. The project combines social responsibility, creative excellence and dedication to Leica cameras and lenses. Our customers are the best!”

Potatoes

The crop from our first potato pot.

Should be good eating later :-)

Back from Normandy

We were _supposed_ to be going to Oxford last weekend for a couple of days. We'd booked into the Malmaison on a very good deal for Sunday and Monday night and had intended to leave the dog with my folks in Maidenhead. Well, the second part of that plan worked out.

A week before we left we were talking about what to do for my 50th Birthday next year and got down to two choices. 1. New York for a few days or, 2. A drive round Europe to take in the Italian Lakes and the Millau Bridge (see blog post from last year about "Bucket List"). On one Thursday evening, Ann suggested that we could go to Millau _that_ weekend, i.e. in the morning. (It's only 900 miles from where we live...)

But, that got me thinking on the way to work the next morning, and so the Mal was duly cancelled and the ferry and a hotel/b&b in Normandy booked. We had been let down by Expedia, as it turned out. The place I had booked on the Friday lunchtime had become full by the time I got home, but they were very good, and found us a fabulous b&b at Chateau Flottemanville nearby. €80 per room, including breakfast - and it was superb. Here's a photo of the front on the Chateau, which has been in the family, thick and thin, for around 700 years. Our room was in an annexe over to the left, but a very short walk into the main house for breakfast. Very quiet, very comfortable, very reasonable. Will definitely go back next time we want to visit Normandy.

We'd never been here properly before. I visited with friends from school while on a tour of France about 30 years ago, but we didn't do the beaches (only Bayeaux, which is about 10 miles from the coast - stupid boys!), and this time we went with the intention of seeing all the D-Day beaches.

These are really moving. Omaha Beach, with the huge American Cemetery on the cliff above, and especially Pegasus Bridge, where the British Paratroopers first landed.

Highly recommended to anyone who hasn't been.

On the Monday, we toured the north and west coasts of the Cherbourg peninsular, which is both very beautiful and interesting, even the nuclear reprocessing plant which seems to be about 2x the size of Sellafield. We did find (following a tip in one of the guides) a fabulous small restaurant called  Le Moulin a Vent right on the north coast, about half an hour west of Cherbourg, where the €23 set menu was fantastic. Excellent value for money, even with the poor £/€ exchange rate.

Got back home on Tuesday night, ready for another session in the chair on Wednesday.

There is now a large light at the end of the tunnel, with the final session (before maintenance) coming up in 2 week's time now. It's actually going to be quite odd not having this series of events to "look forward to", and having my life back as my own again. On the other hand, subject to the sleep deprivation and other chemically induced issues, it will also be strange going back to work "full time". I know what I'd rather be doing though...

Started looking round for a new car today. BMW and Mercedes were interested in selling me a car. Audi weren't even bothered whether they spoke with me or not. Thos first impressions make all the difference. guys... Mine has now done 76,500 miles, in the two years I have had it. It will be interesting to see what MB come up with.

The Leica Book has now sold around 130 copies and there should be some very exciting news to report about next time (which will not be as far away as this time was ;-) )

So, things are looking up for the Summer.

The Leica User Forum Charity Book is now available for purchase

For every book sold, £5 goes to the AICR charity, to add to the £7,200 we have already raised for them.

This has been a great project and a very worthwhile cause.

Warm glows all round :-)

The Leica User Forum Charity Book 2010 |