Sunday 8th November 2009

Hi Folks,

Sorry for my distinct lack of posts this week - just laziness I'm afraid, no excuse!

This week I've been ok - I've been to see my GP for a general catch up, and she's prescribed me an anti-anxiety/anti-depressive drug called Citalopram, just in case my mental dip the other week is a sign of something a bit deeper. I've had a re-occurrence of a bit of eczema on my feet which I had a few years ago. This tends to be stress-related. Although I've not really felt stressed at all, the doc thinks this might be my body telling me something, which is another reason she gave me the Citalopram.

One of the side-effects of this drug can be nausea, so I'm on a low dose to start with to see if I tolerate it ok - just one tablet every other day for the moment. I've only had two so far, so nothing to report yet (it takes a couple of weeks to kick in apparently).

I also took up the offer from the Macmillan team to join the weekly therapy session at the local hospice on Thursday. I was a bit daunted at first because it was full of people a lot older than me and had the feel of a nursing home. However, once I'd met some of the staff and other "guests" (as they call us) it was really nice - very positive and friendly atmosphere. They also provide alternative therapy treatments such as massage, reflexology etc. I had a "Theraputic Touch" session, which is a bit like Reiki, but with hands on.

The staff there offer all sorts of useful services - there is a specialist doctor who performs acupuncture and can provide advice specifically tailored to terminally ill patients, plus a social worker who can help with such things as getting a disabled badge for my car so I don't have to walk so far.

Other news - my hair is starting to grow back. Very thin and fluffy at the moment and only growing slowly, but definitely visible now, plus I now have to start shaving again - only every other day, but its definitely growing more vigorously. Nothing has yet grown enough to indicate what my hair will be like when fully grown, so we'll have to wait and see about that, but at least there is progress!

Last couple of weekends have been really nice, meeting up with friends I haven't seen for over a year in both cases, and had a rehearsal with the band today, although that was a real struggle as I've been totally without energy all day.

On my way over to Macclesfield last weekend, I had a chance to drop in on Alderley Edge where my family used to live. After my mum died in 1995, I planted a small oak sapling on the edge as a gesture, and I went to see how it was getting on. It's amazing how slowly oaks grow and I am always surprised at how small it still is after 14 years. It must have been about 18" when I planted it, and this is what it looks like now, bigger, but by no means big! ...


That's about it for today, except I can finally mention Spurs again after having to keep silent for a while due to an embarrassing run of defeats (Stoke at home for gawds sake! And Arsenal! It can't have been much worse!) Nice win over Sunderland yesterday to keep us in 4th spot for now. Just hope Man City lose their game in hand now, and we'll be fine!

Better get some rest now - good luck to Elspeth by the way!

Cheers,

Colin.