Treatment Day 42

Greetings all from the Benjamin Britten room (no. 8) in the Markus Centre at the Royal Marsden on a very warm Thursday evening. Unfortunately the rooms do not have airconditioning - hey you can't have everything! I am just thankful that I have my own room for my second to last round of chemo - yippee!

The week on the Gower Peninsular was fab. The excellent weather enabled us to go swimming without wetsuits (including Ruby which is amazing in itself) late in the evening with loads of frisbeeing and cricket on the beach. We also went on lots of walks which went some way to burning off the huge amount of calories we were consuming. Ruby and Ella grew about an inch in height and I managed to put on 3 or 4 kilos - all good. We slipped into a brunch zone which was hard to break. This was always followed up by some serious arvo teas and then a full on evening meal.

By Thursday 1st of May when the weather changed we all felt like we had had a great holiday and were ready to return. We arrived home about 9:00 pm to find Bonzer and Raisin well and the house in good shape. A huge thank you to Amanda Aitchison for looking after Bonzer and Raisin and the house. We could not have gone away without Amanda's help.

The Gower Peninsular for anyone who has not been is well worth a visit as it is a special place. Fantastic beaches, varied countryside, moorland and excellent walks in a relatively small, easily accessable space. My favourite beaches were; Caswell Bay, Three Cliffs and Rhossili Bay (justifiably voted one of, if not the, best beach in the UK). My only tip would be to go outside summer school hoildays and bank holidays as the roads and parking for beaches can be a nightmare being so close to Swansea. The only other time we have been to the Gower was a hot May bank holiday and the place was heaving. We had a great week as it was in term time. The roads and beaches were deserted.

I now know why people are sent to convalesce by the sea. My recovery was certainly aided by being close to the sea. Air and water are both vital to our existence. I felt completely revitalised after a couple of days of being on the beach. Lucy commented that I had recovered faster this time than after the first round of chemo. Our view from the apartment helped as it felt you were right on the water at all times.

I have never seen so many stand up paddle boarders before. Lucy was so fascinated by them (they looked like Avatars in the distance) that she even wanted to have a go. Unfortunately we couldn't arrange it during our stay but we will definitely have a go next time. They are a fast and good way to travel (you don't get wet when you are good) in waters with small swells. Certainly worth a try.

We arrived home to see preparations for Silverbury 2010 in full swing. The construction team had put a huge amount of time and effort in during the week resulting in an incredible stage (see link below for photos). Everyone involved had been busy behind the scenes (apart from us!) making sure the event would go off without a hitch.

Friday dawned another glorius day and the final preparations were made. Gazebos and tents were erected. The stage was finished, complete with it's own pyramid to match the main pyramid stage at Glastonbury. A beautiful backdrop of a dove for the stage was put up courtesy of Nikki Chamberlain. Caravans were installed. Electric cabling was hooked up (no mean feet due to the length of run) and lights were mounted. Beer arrived and was tapped. The garage theatre was set up complete with satellite TV. The scene was set under one of the most incredible sunsets I have ever witnessed. All positive signs that Saturday would be a special day.

http://s631.photobucket.com/home/industrial_resolution/allalbums

Special it was indeed!!!! Everyone entered into the 'festival' spirit, even those people who did not camp got into the spirit praise the lord! Over 400 people attended the event with nearly half that number camping overnight. The weather was fab as were the musicians/bands who played from 2:00 pm until midnight (for free I might add - top job Phil Chamberlain on sorting the music out).

All ages attended and I have to say I have never been at a festival or an event with a better atmosphere, that includes Glastonbury. What made it so special was that everyone got into the spirit that was obviously there in abundance. The spirit was a combination of; love, peace (most of the time apart from the sax player at 2:00 am!), joy, kindness, generousness, gentleness, goodness, patience (waiting for the pig roast!) and self control (apart from the silhouette dancers!). I had to actually give the last of the beer away at the end of the night and we were still left with 10 litres of proper Somerset scrumpy - anyone having a party soon?

It was a real team effort with Silverstone talent (across all areas including; master builders, designers, tee-shirt makers, craft workers, pig roasters, electricians, artists, musicians, techies and the list goes on!) together with a few related helpers rising admirably to the challenge. Just goes to show what can be done when the spirit is willing and leading.

The festival service on Sunday morning (the good weather continued) was well attended by all ages and denominations. It was a great opportunity to offer thanks to God that the festival had gone so well (beyond everyone's expectations including mine) without any incident or problem. It was a truly memorable weekend.

Everyone has just about recovered! I went for a final cat scan on Tuesday before my radiotherapy treatment started today (Thursday 8th July). The scan showed the tumour had reduced in size considerably - praise the lord! The treatment is obviously working. I have also started taking Cherry Active (a concentrated anti oxidant) plus Resveratrol (immune system booster) which I am sure are also both helping. I feel excellent and am experiencing no symptoms apart from a little tiredness - I blame that on Silverbury!

The first of 30 radiotherapy sessions went off without a hitch today. I have been told to expect tougher times in the weeks ahead. I have full confidence in the team of doctors and nurses looking after me. I intend to take each day at a time and to stay as active and as positive as possible.

So that is about it for today. Silverstone is gearing up for the Grand Prix on the weekend - should be a fun weekend.

Bye for now and God bless.

Stephen