Strength-building...

A few days on and I continue to feel a little better every day. We went to the hospital yesterday for some occupational health tests - to check that my cognitive functions had returned to where they should be (they were way off in the first few days after surgery, which was quite disconcerting). The test results were very positive and the therapist saw no need to book any further sessions. So, after a week of sudoku, word-searches and other puzzles, the iPad has pretty much paid for itself. I just need to keep working on some short-term memory stuff and I should be pretty much back where I was. So, after a week of sudoku, word-searches and other puzzles, the iPad has pretty much paid for itself, (I'm sorry, I couldn't resist! Ok, not that short term!)

I'm trying to do a little more each day in terms of getting stronger. Despite my steroid-fueled appetite, I haven't quite returned to my normal weight, but I'm also conscious that I don't just want to add weight in all the wrong places. So, today we went for a great walk in one of the local regional parks. I think a good hour of walking and lots of fresh air did me the world of good. My Dad says I still walk too fast, so I'm going to take that as a good sign!

Coming up this week we have an overnight visit to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. For those of you not familiar with it, this is one of the US' leading teaching hospitals and we're so fortunate to have it just a couple of hours away from here. At this stage, we're going for a second opinion on the proposed treatment plan, and also to get a foot in the door in case we need their help further down the line with other potential treatments.

I start the combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment next Monday. The radiotherapy will run for approximately six weeks and I'll take a pill-form chemotherapy at the same time. Then there'll be a period of increased-dosage chemotherapy only, (I'm not exactly sure how long at the moment). There'll be testing and monitoring performed throughout to see how it's going. This is the current best standard of care to treat this kind of cancer and, from what the doctors are saying, Anna and I are optimistic that as many factors as possible are in our favour.

Thanks again for all of your comments and messages of support. A good friend brought some Guinness home yesterday, so I'll keep working on the strength-giving properties of that and my recently-extended reading list! Until next time, much love.