Friday, April 15, 2011

Further meeting with consultant

There was not much in the way of new news at this afternoon's meeting with our specialist nurse and consultant.
The multi-disciplinary team met on Monday and there was general agreement with the relapse diagnosis.
The team are very confident that Pads will not have to endure pain like before. We still remember August 2008 when the pain wasn't touched by significant doses of IV morphine. Basically they can step up the pain relief as he needs it, using a range of drugs. A short burst of steroids may help, as may teemozolamide - an oral chemo drug.
We are still waiting for another opinion of the MRI scans from a national expert. He will advise whether the 'spec' scan is worth doing and hopefully shed more light on what's going on inside Pads' head. But that's a tall order considering he shares so much of my genome.
Everyone seems to be surprised at how well we're coping with the predicament.
We are SO grateful to everyone for all the supportive messages. But all seem to appreciate that 'God is our refuge and strength', and that 'he is a very present help in trouble' (Ps 46) - is he yours?
In fact it can be shocking just how 'OK' Pads is with his prognosis - we have to ask him to go gently with us who are to be left behind. To him, heaven represents the end of suffering and joining others in the very presence of their Lord - a far better place!
Today the £500 target was breached on the JustGiving page for Cancer Research Wales. I'm astonished at this, not least because we have not even set out yet! I have not been very good at thanking the donors personally - apologies for that!
Well, we have been training, and Up and Under http://www.upandunder.co.uk have seen quite a lot of myself and Anton... Although the owner, Norman Carter couldn't offer to 'sponsor' us, he has kindly organised an extra discount for this project. This will be the first time Anton, John and Alex have been on this kind of long-distance hike. I had the privilege of joining Joe for 2 days of his Offa's Dyke challenge last year. Joe tore something in his thigh and had to give up, returning to complete the walk after regaining fitness. It's a serious undertaking!
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