'Allo 'Allo to everyone ....hope this finds you all well, and hopefully enjoying some of the springlike sunshine we have this week - a very pleasant 21° at the moment ... doors open and letting it all flood in (the sunshine and warmth that is)
Well, 2015 hasn't brought the best of starts to chez nous and I won't go into the events in detail as we'd be here all day .... I think I can safely say that February was the worst month I can ever remember. I'd mentioned that hubby was having a problem eating, resulting in weight loss and subsequently this has resulted in him being unable to walk now, although physio has been put in place at home and he is determined to rid himself of "that damned wheelchair"
Following a three week stay in hospital in January, various scans and cameras, sadly he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer . a huge blow considering the progress he'd made following his stroke. Life can just throw one item too many at you sometimes. However, as I say repeatedly, the French never fail to to surprise us ( in a positive way of course !) with their health service ....and he will start chemotherapy treatment, a special chemical given to pancreatic cancer sufferers here, which will in no way cure but can control, on Tuesday next ...he'll go by ambulance to one of the Cancer Institutes in Bordeaux ( not the same one as me - can't have him copy EVERYTHING I do can I
- ) and he'll stay there for 24/48 hours depending on his reaction to the treatment, so that I don't have the worry. Apparently it's a mild chemo with less harsh side effects. We have been supplied with a very smart all singing and dancing medical bed with an air mattress to avoid pressure problems, although he spends the days in his very comfortable all singing and dancing electric chair - the only thing that isn't singing and dancing is us
I have some respite from my treatment at the moment, following the last scan everything is stable, not gone walkabout, so I'm having 'time off' to give the body a rest. My next scan is 3 April and I'll see my Oncologist on the 8th for further news. In the meantime I have several controls, blood tests etc and if I feel 'off' I simply have to pick up the 'phone and it will all systems go. I was delighted to be having a rest, when WHAM - I started with a cough which developed into a chest infection, and being a bit fragile to start with , it laid me low for a month ..then in the middle of that, one of the main electrical cables in the house decided to give up the ghost in the middle of a very cold Saturday night - a couple of weeks ago - Hubby's medicalised bed - all singing and dancing electric with an air mattress
we did consider suicide at this point .....
All fixed very promptly, thanks to our Mayor (every French village has a Mayor) I phoned him at 8 am Sunday morning and he was at the house at 8.15 and it was all systems go ...... he sorted out an electrician and the work was done PDQ ..... I'm teaching Hubby the song "You get knocked down and you get up again" !!
On a brighter note, we did have a successful outcome the other day .... I telephoned the company who take me by taxi to Bx for my treatment -they have a special mini bus type thing with a ramp so we arranged for them to take us to our local restaurant and had lunch out for the first time since October .... a lovely treat.
So there we have it .... I'm feel much better now, although I have an iron deficiency -the antibiotics for the chest infection didn't help . but were a necessary evil - so I'm now taking iron tablets twice a day .... glad to see the back of February; spring beckons camellias and mimosas in flower, work in the vineyards consists of cutting back the old wood and so the cycle begins .....
As I said at the start, hope all is well with you and yours and if you are feeling under the weather - hope it's not for long.
I've had a look in at a few items, a belated ' happy birthday' to Kitz .... congrats to B*Cat .....the Kingfisher/stoat photo was wonderful, I saw it in a newspaper and then spotted it on here .... take care all ..... ttfn
