suzeanna

Was he smiling, Owl? I'm going to try to ring the surgery at 8..try being the operative word, as they are usually engaged solidly for around an hour, then when you do get through you are told all the telephone appointments have gone! I'm also going to phone the breast care nurses at Weston Park in Sheffield, where my oncologist is based. They may have some clout with the GP.

My blasted arm is killing me! I can hardly use my hand either. I'm seriously tempted to swallow the whole bottle of Oramorph, I can't deal with this. Taking it every four hours, plus Ibuprofen and paracetamol and it's not even making a dent in the pain.

Started on oramorph yesterday..now its making me feel very sick. Think I might just put up with the pain, I hate being sick. Also...you can't have alcohol . I'm not a heavy drinker by any means but I do like a glass of wine with dinner. Hmm..decisions decisions! Hope you soon feel better Jazz! All the snowdrops in the garden have faded now, so I'll ask Philip to split some of the larger clumps and replant them elsewhere. They spread very quickly, and even our less than green thumbs shouldn't do them in.

I did Owl, and it did zilch. It's very frustrating, I belong to a group which is mainly American women with Stage 4 cancer, and in many states cannabis is legal and they say it's the only thing that helps with their pain.

Not going to the tip after all..Philip has a headache and doesn't feel like lugging stuff around. Wish I had some morphine, Jazz. I don't know if the tumour in my C spine is pressing on a nerve or what, but my right arm is really painful, it's keeping me awake at night. Might have to have a word with my neighbour's son...there was an interesting aroma wafting over the fence again last night, so he might well have some painkilling suggestions!

Glad you had a good day...overcast and drizzle here. Hope it'll be dry tomorrow, we need to make a trip to the tip with a lot of cardboard. That's going to be the highlight of my weekend!

Glad you are feeling a bit brighter Jazz. We've got the dvd of the Rocky Horror, still enjoy seeing Tim Curry in basque etc. Interesting appointment with my oncologist today. The cancer has progressed (boo!) but the dilated aorta hasn't got any worse (hurrah!) . On the downside, I do now have a blood clot in the aorta. I said maybe it'll patch up the dilated bit, which he found rather funny. I also have a small amount of pleural effusion but "nothing to worry about." That's ok then. He umm'd and ahh'd for a while, mentioned tamoxifen then said but that is known to raise the risk of blood clots, so no. Then exemestane..but that can cause a lot of muscle and bone pain and you won't want that. Vigorous head shake from me. Come to the decision that I'll try the oral chemotherapy, much as I don't really fancy the idea. I have to go over to Sheffield on Monday morning to have a particular blood test to make sure I'm not missing a particular enzyme before they can start me on the chemo...as if you are there is a risk of very serious side effects or death. He spoke on the phone to a cardiologist and on his advice has given me steroids. I read the leaflet carefully and it says patients with an underactive thyroid or fibromyalgia shouldn't take them. As I have both, that's them consigned to the cupboard. Just realised, the day I'm due to see him again to start the chemo, blood test allowing, is April 1st! All Fool's Day, hope that's not a bad omen.

Eve said Yantan had moved and was enjoying the new house. I wouldn't know as she's completely gone from all contact with me. Can't think of anything I did but there we are..nowt as queer as folk!

With brilliant timing, Philip has got a migraine on his last day of holiday! Oh well, he got the painting done, the things that need doing in the garden will just to have to wait.

Don't overdo things Jazz, I know it's tempting when you suddenly feel a bit better but you don't want to pay for it tomorrow. Still getting through the painting..one of those jobs you wish you'd never started! The carpet and Candy did get a few splidges but hers washed off.

It made my shoulders hurt, having to have my arms back over my head but other that ok. I don't see the oncologist until the 26th, I'm hoping the same thing doesn't happen like the last scan I had, when I got that panic over having to rush in to hospital for the urgent MRI then supposedly bed rest etc. I told Philip if my mobile rings this week with a private number, I'm ignoring it!

Philip has this week off..having decorated the kitchen end of the kitchen diner, we decided to do the dining end, including all the paintwork. My back now hates me, my feet wish they belonged to someone else, and I've only washed down all the doors and skirting and painted one door. I dont think I'm going to survive the others! I've got a CT scan tomorrow afternoon so I'll soon find out if anything has gone awry in my back.

I washed the faux fur throw from the settee Candy has claimed as her own, it dried very quickly but I had to put half a dozen pegs on it to make sure it didn't blow away!

Have they done anything helpful Jazz? Hope so!

Do you buy up half the tickets Jazz, or are you just super lucky? Philip got a text today inviting him to book his Covid vaccine, got an appointment at 5pm on Thursday.

According to my phone, it's minus 2 outside but feels like minus 9 with the windchill! Luckily for me, Philip walks Candy, I don't. Just got out of a nice hot bath so I should be warm for the rest of the evening. Saw online someone had their American bulldog stolen from outside a Morrison's in Aberdeen. Has the dog thieves message not got round Scotland, Eve and blackmagic? or is it the old "won't happen to me" syndrome? I devoutly hope they get it back, but that is a perfect candidate for a bait dog, sadly. Philip bought some wild bird seed which is supposedly for robins and songbirds. How do I explain to the magpies and pigeons that they don't fit either description? Perishers hoover up most of it before the little birds get a chance!

A post came up on my FB earlier from the local Police, saying a man was going round putting red ribbons on gates of houses where dogs where and one area it was happening was uncomfortably close to us, just a couple of villages along. Good news about the spread of info Owl, but there will probably still be folk who think oh, not my dog, or not my area.

I see some lower than usual lowlife tried to steal a guide dog from a partially sighted young woman, luckily she realised and shouted at him and he ran off. Also two men tried to steal a pup from a young guy who is a boxer, they got the worse of it and skedaddled. They had quite a big thing about dog theft on BBC Breakfast but it needs to be on all the tv and radio stations, to make people really aware of it.

Hope you soon feel better Owl, took me a couple of days. Jazz, I can sympathise about the bedpan saga, I had to use one lying down...disaster! very wet bed, lucky they all have the plastic covering! Hope you are better today too. Got to Pets at Home no problem, just bibbly bits of snow here but looking up the hills there is plenty of snow up there, not far away at all. My son phoned this morning whilst he was walking the dogs, he was telling me that he took his twins to the park yesterday and they both found a worm, so they were taking their worms on the slides, seesaws and swings and wanted to take them home to keep them as pets! He said no, they have to stay here with their family. I was just imaging two rather dizzy worms gratefully crawling back underground!

Eve, I had a sore arm for a couple of days, also felt very achy all over, as if I had a mild dose of the flu. That's about it, thankfully. Philip will have to wait a while for his jab, as he's only 64 and although he has asthma he isn't considered vulnerable. Wish the weather would make up its mind, raining earlier then sleet now snow. Hopefully the amount of rain we had will mean the snow won't settle. I need to get to Pets at Home tomorrow for hamster food, sawdust etc.

Can you set an alarm on your phone Jazz, to remind you? Had my Covid jab this morning, in and out in less than fifteen minutes. Feel ok so far but apparently it can take a couple of days to feel any ill effects. I told my daughter I'd refused the Xgeva jabs, she's gone ballistic. She texted Philip and said she thinks I've lost my mind, don't I realise the risks of paralysis? Yes, thanks very much, I do. I also am very aware of the potential side effets of the jabs. I appreciate she's worried about me but to be honest I feel like telling her to sod off and mind her own business. Sod off being the most polite I can manage!

There's a skylark in the fields behind us, I love hearing it. Saw my oncologist today and told him I don't want to take Anastrazole any more as the side effects are really getting me down, and I don't want the injections he wants me to have either. He was perfectly fine about it, says he knows I've done my research and am aware of the pros and cons of treatment. I made him laugh a few times, maybe with a slightly hysterical edge but still..he laughed. We agreed that I'll have another scan at the end of February to see how my back is doing since the radiotherapy, then see him after that for the results and discuss where we are going from there.

I have an appointment for my first Covid vaccine on Saturday...just hoping it doesn't make me feel ill. Some people are saying they just have sore arms, others are feeling really rough after it. I remember when Philip and I first got together, he is allergic to cats and my Siamese made a beeline for him and wouldn't leave him alone! Luckily it seems Siamese have something about their coats which doesn't affect people who are allergic..long coated cats really make him wheeze.

What you did is something to be proud of Owl, the link getting dogs to a place of safety or their new homes, it must have given you lots of interesting memories! Best to quit now before the the difficult days become more frequent. Hope now you can relax more and enjoy just spending time on the reserve with Wispa and your friends. I'm glad to see the police seem to be doing something at last about the stolen dogs, being in the papers and on tv must have prodded them into action! I see one bitch which was stolen has been found, heavily pregnant and with her chip cut out. Safely back with her family now, but who knows what mental scars she'll have?

Face to face appointment, Eve. The people I know who've had it work for SpecSavers or other opticians!