Saturday 25th September

Just brought Jane back from the hospice. She had an MRI scan last night - very extensive. It showed that there was no evidence of pressure on her spinal cord and so she's a free woman again. As I type, she's flower arranging!

Friday 24th September

Jane has been readmitted to the hospice today. She has pain in her leg that may be caused by a tumour putting pressure on a nerve or the spinal cord. She should have an MRI scan this evening. Depending on what that reveals, she may have a blast of radiotherapy next week.

Needless to say Jane remains buoyant and worries more about us than she does about her own predicament. I will update again in next day or two.

Thank you, as always, for prayers.

God bless you.

Monday 20th September

We went to the see the oncologist today to figure out what next. Last week we abandoned the plan to have a long weekend away because Jane felt so unwell - pain in her bones and nausea. But yesterday she seemed to really buck up and was pretty good today all things considered (and in a relative kind of way).

Jane had a blood test that indicated that nothing major was going on in terms of the cancer but that there was a high level of calcium in her blood that could be causing the nausea (amongst other things). Because Jane is still rather fragile we agreed that this week she would have an infusion of pimidrunate (no idea if that's how it's spelt) to try and reduce the calcium level and then next week, all being well, a low dose of Taxol (chemotherapy) and we would see how it went week by week.

We asked a little more about how the disease was progressing overall. The nodules reported in Jane's lungs after the chest infection she had in August are not confirmed as cancer; they just weren't there before the infection and they might be cancer - good news! The tumours in her liver are bigger but they are not as numerous as we had been led to believe - good news! The disease in Jane's bones is well advanced but, thus far, it has not affected her spinal cord - GOOD NEWS!

I don't really have a clue what all that adds up to but I have come home more cheerful than when we went. Of course, Jane has lost a lot of weight, needs to rest a lot, doesn't have a great appetite but we're not hitting the panic button just yet!

Thank you, all, again for your calls, words and prayers - they are an immense source of strength to us both.

Wednesday 8th September

Jane went to see the palliative care team at the hospice today. She came home very tired but with promising news. The view there is that the advance of the disease is perhaps not as great as we had first feared and time may not be slipping away from us as quickly as we had feared a few weeks ago. Of course, we need to remain cautious but this is welcome news.

God bless you all and thanks, as ever, for your prayers.

Thursday 2nd September

Well, we did manage to get away for one night - to Milford on Sea. The picture is of Jane (obviously!) by the sea with our hotel in the background. As you can see the sun came out on Bank Holiday Monday and we took a trip into Lymington before meandering back to Salisbury - we know how to live!!

We went to the Healing Service at the Cathedral this evening - always a lift for Jane. She is in a lot of pain just now and mobility is a bit of a challenge, especially in the mornings. Still, she amazes people with how much she does and how well she manages. And she still seems to notice all the things that I hope she could overlook!

The chemo starts on 20th September. We hope to get down to Kent before that.

Thank you to you all for all the emails, flowers, fruit and especially your love.

God Bless you.

Saturday 28th August

Tomorrow we shall celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary - we're just not sure how yet! Yesterday we went to see a consultant at the orthopaedic department. To be honest, we were not sure why he had asked to see Jane and her oncologist was equally mystified. During the course of our brief meeting he casually referred to the fact that Jane had fractured her spine some months ago (!!!) and then proceeded to show us the scan showing how it had affected the middle of her back - no wonder she was in pain. We both remember a small sort of whiplash event when we were driving down to Kent back in April and so we think that must have been it. However, a little good news at the conclusion of the meeting - no need for further treatment to Jane's spine at this stage.

You are all still sending cards, messages, emails for which we are very grateful - of course, we would ask you to continue to pray for Jane.

The picture was taken in Prague (a previous wedding anniversary trip)

God bless you all.

Thursday 26th August

Well, we made it to see the oncologist today. The number of tumours in Jane's liver has increased and she also has a few small nodules in one lung. We agreed that Jane would start on a new (to her) form of chemo on 20 September - why the wait? Jane still doesn't feel brilliant from her stay in hospital and she is still taking antibiotics. She wants a couple of weeks to feel a bit more stable before taking more treatment.

The oncologist plans to start Jane on relatively low doses of chemo delivered once a week by infusion. She thinks that this will prevent Jane from losing her hair. If Jane has had enough at any stage she can stop the treatment. We all feel very strongly about preserving quality of life.

So, here we are again. Disappointing news about the growth of tumours but not really a huge surprise. There is some good news - Jane's pain really seems to be under control and she has regained her appetite. I think we'll try and get away for a day or two in the next week or so.

Thank you for your continuing prayers, love and support.

God bless you.