Sunday 28th Februar 2010

Wow - these posts are normally short due to lack of what to say, but not so today!

Starting with Thursday, I had a practice run downstairs to get out of bed. All was slow but ok until I went to go to bed again. Unfortunately, my legs gave way on the last stair and I collapsed. Luckily I was far enough up to grasp the landing and stay up, but I fell to the floor and that meant I couldn't get up, even with Vanda's help. We had to call the emergency response unit.

After 30 minutes on the floor, someone arrived and helped me to my feet which was welcome!

The gig on Friday was a huge success... We had a great turnout, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and best of all we raised a lot of money for Cancer UK. Final total to follow.

I nearly didn't make it on time though. My general lack of energy due to not being out of the house for more than a month (not even downstairs for 3 weeks) put paid to that.

This meant a last minute shower and a bit of a rush to the car down two flights of stairs step by step with a stick. A detour for money and petrol meant we did arrive a bit late, but it was worth is when we got there and great to see everyone ...




Guildford Posse - Adrian, Alison, Matt (nothern imposter), Ringo, Scotch

Ex-work colleagues - Rich, Chris, Kate, H, Rachel, Al






I Started the second set with the first three songs wich was great too - thanks to my stand-in bass-player, Geoff, for the loan of his guitar!



Ali Fontella

In the end, I stayed on till nearly 1am - and was one of the last to leave which was longer than expected!

All in all a great night - thanks again in particular to the Guildford crowd for making it up north!

I got home and Ross next door had stayed up to give me a piggy back upstairs - very, very grateful as I was on my last legs

Saturday

I slept really well til before lunch, then was on the phone to a friend whilst Vanda was in the room.

Apparently, I went quiet on the phone, but I was looking away from Vanda. By the time I looked back, my eyes were rolling in my head and I was shaking. I have no memory at all of this till about 30 minutes later when I woke up in bedroom surrounded by paramedics and a nurse - apparently I'd had a fit which was a little distressing for Vanda!

No indication or warning, but we guess it was due to the exertion the day before. Yesteday evening and this morning seem ok, although I am a little "dazed and confused", memory is a bit erratic (especially of the event itself) and I'm limited to one espresso a day now (booo)

Wednesday 24th February 2010

It's amazing - the instant that I start to notice any pain, a whole new level of service seeks to have switched in. I'm now getting two-weekly doctors visits, district nurse every other day, MacMillan nurse every week, plus regular friends and neighbours, so its been a busy time

Sorry, I've just had a shot of Oral Morphine, so I'm struggling a bit with this ...

Thanks to those who have indicated they will be there on Friday - I'm looking forward to it and hope it wont be to strenuous an occasion so that I can stay for a while.

Anyway - really am finding this difficult (1 word per minute it seems like at the moment), so I'll sign off again til next time ...

Colin zzz

Thursday 11th February 2010

29 Tablets in all today - 16 in one go this morning! Not usual, but I ran out of 2mg Dexamethasone so had to make up with some 0.5mg which I had spare - quite a bulk to hoover up!

Quite a busy week this week, hence no posting. I've had multiple visits from district nurses, occupational therapists, rehab therapists, the doctor, various equipment deliveries etc, plus a few friends sqeezed in the gaps. Quite tiring really - however, I've now got an even more specialised mattress for my bed, which circulates air through a pump to try and disribute weight and help with the bed sores. Seems this my be my biggest problem going forward as I'm already showing signs of a sore around my cocxyx.

Chair lift is now ordered and should be here within a couple of weeks, and, as the saga goes on, I managed a reasonable win over the bath hoist last night. A little uncomfortable, but I got in and out without it spitting me in any odd direction!

Sorry for the delay, but here are the final details for the gig on the 26th for those that want to attend, and the website details to donate, whether you do want to attend or not:

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THE NEW ORIGINALS

A public gig in honour of band bass player, Colin Robb.

Friday 26 February 2010 – 8pm to midnight.

The Railway Club, 837-843 Chester Road, Stretford, Manchester, M32 0RN.

FREE ENTRY: The band request that charitable donations be made to Cancer Research UK.
A collection will be made on the night but we would encourage you to donate online before the event at www.bmycharity.com/theneworiginals where gift aid can also easily be applied to your donation. Thank you.

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Remember, there are no tickets for this event, it is completely free, but we are asking for a donation before, during or after the event if you can, although this is not mandatory. You can of course donate even if you are not coming to the gig.

I hope to be taking some part in the precedings - maybe playing a song or two - but otherwise my stand-in is more than capable of keeping things going. I'll definitely be there as long as I'm able.

Anyway, bye for now!

C x

Tuesday 2nd February 2010

My hospital bed is still pleasing me. It's definitely more comfortable than my original bed and is doing a good job of relieving the inevitable pressure sores!

The padded loo seat is generally a success too, but the other devices less so, so far. I'm fighting a battle of wills with the inflatable bath seat. It is a substantial inflatable cubewhich fills the bath from side to side and has suckers on the bottom to keep it in place. The idea is that you inflate it, climb into the bath and sit on it, then let it down. You have your bath lying on the deflated cube, then when you are ready, you reinflate it and you end up sitting upright on the inflated cube and it's easy to get out of the bath again.

All good in theory!

Trouble with mine is that while I'm in the bath, the suckers always slip roundso when I inflate the cube to get out, the device partly raises me up and partly forces me into the other side of the bath, thus trapping me beneath the fitted bath handles. Not sure who's going to win this battle yet!

I've decided that a stairlift is a good idea. The comfort of the bed is meaning that I'm not getting up much at all, and adding the stailift would at least take away any trepidaion with going up and down the stairs so I might do it more routinely.

For those who are intrested, I missed the Tax Return deadline and I am now waiting for the riders in big black cloaks, boots and swords to arrive to cart me off to debtors prison in a dark and damp cell, hung up by my ankles next to Dick Turpin or someone like that ....

How am I generally?

Well I'm still feeling ok, although my lack of strength and ability is definitely deteriorating by the week and this is really having an impact. After the trip to the Hospice last Thursday I really struggled to get up the steps at the front of the house - it was literally one at a time with a rest in between - the worst its ever been. The did give me a walking stick though which has helped.

My voice quite often drifts into huskiness, as some of you may have noticed. Apparently this is quite likely to be caused by the lung cancer, as the voice tubes get quite close to some of the lung mets and can get squeezed. Odd that it doesn't happen all the time though, sometimes my voice is still quite strong - seems as though it's probably not caused by tiredness though.

Anyway, that's quite a mammoth posting, so time for a kip methinks!

C x