Friday 30th July

Just to say that Jane is feeling much, much better and may be allowed home tomorrow. She is due to see the oncologist and the orthopaedic consultant on Monday so I will blog after that.

Wednesday 28th July 2009

A quick note to say Jane is in the hospice as an in-patient. She contracted gastric flu (or something like it) earlier this week and the nausea prevented her from taking painkillers. It all got a bit too much so she went in today and we are confident that they can get her back on an even keel in the coming few days.

Jane has had some blood tests that showed deteriorating liver function (compared to last 6 months) but that may be a symptom of something else that can be treated.

As you would expect, the staff in the Hospice are brilliant and Jane is so good at being brave in these situations.

I attach a photo taken last weekend at our dear friends', Michael and Ellie, Golden Wedding.

I will write again soon, in the meantime, we are grateful for your prayers.

Peter

Sunday 11th July 2010

I wanted to blog today because I have a bit of time in which to upload photographs etc. I know that next week will be really busy and I won't find time to do as much. We have just come back from lunch with friends in the New Forest. They have a lovely house up a dirt track right in the middle of the forest - 'idyllic' is absolutely the right word.

Last Friday Jane had a surprise party. She really didn't have a clue who was coming or what we were doing until she came downstairs on Friday evening. All she knew was that two couples were coming to stay and she needed to put a dress on. In fact 14 of us assembled at home for drinks on the patio and then we all went to Fisherton Mill for dinner where Nigel and Molly met us (they had dashed back from Wimbledon especially).

Lydia did the flowers for the tables, Leo's face tells the story about the wonderful food and after dinner Pete Aves played wonderful guitar and sang; it was a lovely evening.

Not such good news - Jane's neck hasn't improved as much as we had hoped from the radiotherapy. She saw her GP during the week who thinks she may have cracked a vertebra. The immediate recommended response is to take steroids but we know that will mean moon face, weight gain and, most importantly, will adversely affect her joints in the longer term. Jane is seeing the oncologist tomorrow and so I will blog again shortly. Suffice to say, we are all a bit concerned at this turn of events and hope for better times ahead.

To finish on a brighter note, Jane's nephew, Jake, has been discharged from hospital having had really positive results from the bone marrow transplant. He still has a long way to go but this is very encouraging.

Please keep praying for Jane and Jake.

God Bless you.

PS If you are in need of cheering up take a look at David Sedaris reading his Stadium Pal essay on the David Letterman show on You Tube. The link might be http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBdymtyXt8Y

Sunday 20th June 2010

Hi, everyone. I just wanted to let you know that Jane seems to be feeling a little better in the last 48 hours. Yesterday we went to visit her nephew, Jacob, currently an in-patient at the Royal Marsden and about to have bone marrow transplant to treat his leukaemia.

Thank you for all the cards, emails and love.

love and best wishes from us both.

Wednesday 16th June 2010

Jane is struggling a bit at the moment. The after effects of the radiotherapy have affected her throat and so she is struggling to eat, drink and take her drugs. Nothing tastes good and she is losing more weight. She is also very tired and could sleep all day. We hope and pray this is short term pain for longer term gain.

On the plus side she has had some time in the garden enjoying the sunshine and she has been watching some of the World Cup.

We are at the hospice tomorrow (for palliative care and advice) and we are seeing the orthopaedic consultant on Monday. We are really hoping that Jane will start to feel the benefit in a week or two.

Love to you all.

Sunday 6th June 2010

A very quick one on the anniversary of D Day. Jane has had 4 of the 6 radiotherapy sessions due in this series. After a dreadful few days she felt a lot better yesterday - witnessed by this photo (taken by Lydia yesterday afternoon). Let's hope this lasts.

Thank you for your prayers.

Love

Peter and Jane

Monday 31 May 2010

We went for a radiotherapy planning meeting a week ago and Jane will start a 5 day course of radiotherapy tomorrow. The treatment will be focused on her neck and the middle of her back. The cancer in Jane's neck is affecting nerve endings and is making her face feel numb (like anaesthetic when you go to the dentist). We are not sure how bad the side effects will be but we know from past experience they will include nausea, localised burning of the skin and fatigue. Her last session will be on next Monday.

I will blog again shortly after that to let you know how things have gone.

Much love

Peter and Jane