Thank you to everyone for leaving such lovely and supportive comments on my last post. You all realised that I was beside myself with worry and it really helped to share some of my deeper fears with all my blogging friends.
I think I have good news.... The scan shows that Mark's tumour is very contained. There is nothing at this stage to suggest that it's removal is going to damage the tear duct or cause long-term damage to his eye. More importantly, it is not growing down into his sinuses nor back into his brain.
The specialist is going to operate next Wednesday. He is going to remove the tumour - and carry out some plastic surgery to cover the effect of the surgery at the same time. Fortunately all of this is happening during my halfterm holiday. Basically we will do the whole 'Bank Holiday/Jubilee' thing with our families at the beginning of the week, then focus on getting Mark on his feet from Wednesday onwards.
It will be lovely to 'draw a line' under this phase of our lives!
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
Monday, 28 May 2012
Happy Endings... I hope...
A lot has happened since Winnie Van Kof (the old Range Rover) died on the hard shoulder of the M5.....
We've managed to find a Series 1 Discovery as a replacement vehicle. Like Winnie, she is an old car with a much newer engine. This suits us just fine. We don't really need a pretty 4X4 - we just need something which is serviceable and will move us around with the minimum of fuss.
On Sunday we went for our first picnic with her and we had a lovely time. We think she was quite a bargain at £1,800.
Things are looking up for 'Winnie too... One of Mark's work colleagues has been looking for an offroad vehicle for some time. He has bought her this week, and is happy to do the work necessary to make her road-worthy again. The money that he has given us has ofset the cost of 'BJ' so I think everyone feels like they've got a bargain at the moment..!
The only clouds in our blue skies are Marks' health problems. You may be able to see from this photo that he has a large lump/cyst/tumour next to the top of his nose. It is apparently very rare. In the last couple of weeks we have seen four Consultants AT ONCE on the NHS (after months of messing around). They decided that they didn't want to have anything to do with it.
Fortunately Land Rover/Jaguar have a private health scheme and Mark has been able to access it. In less than two weeks we have seen an international specialist and Mark has been through the scanner. We are going back to see the specialist tomorrow and he is going to explain 'how' and 'when' he is going to operate, based on the results of the scan. I've been trying hard to keep positive about the whole process but it is immensely stressful. We've been told that it's not cancer, but it is likely that Mark will have eye problems for the rest of his life. My deep-seated worry is that the tumour has moved back towards his brain.
Will post again once I know what's happening...
One of her previous owners has put her on a Northern Irish number plate. (These look like private plates but are much cheaper.) As a result we now refer to her as 'BJ'...
On Sunday we went for our first picnic with her and we had a lovely time. We think she was quite a bargain at £1,800.
Things are looking up for 'Winnie too... One of Mark's work colleagues has been looking for an offroad vehicle for some time. He has bought her this week, and is happy to do the work necessary to make her road-worthy again. The money that he has given us has ofset the cost of 'BJ' so I think everyone feels like they've got a bargain at the moment..!
The only clouds in our blue skies are Marks' health problems. You may be able to see from this photo that he has a large lump/cyst/tumour next to the top of his nose. It is apparently very rare. In the last couple of weeks we have seen four Consultants AT ONCE on the NHS (after months of messing around). They decided that they didn't want to have anything to do with it.
Fortunately Land Rover/Jaguar have a private health scheme and Mark has been able to access it. In less than two weeks we have seen an international specialist and Mark has been through the scanner. We are going back to see the specialist tomorrow and he is going to explain 'how' and 'when' he is going to operate, based on the results of the scan. I've been trying hard to keep positive about the whole process but it is immensely stressful. We've been told that it's not cancer, but it is likely that Mark will have eye problems for the rest of his life. My deep-seated worry is that the tumour has moved back towards his brain.
Will post again once I know what's happening...
Thursday, 24 May 2012
The Olympic Flame at the top of my road..
It's been an usual evening in my village.
The main road was full of people waiting.. There was a real party mood...
Some of them had flags and were dressed in red, white and blue..
Police on motorbikes closed some of the roads and stopped the traffic..
Then a small bus arrived with the words London 2012 Torch Relay on the front. It stopped right at the top of our close...
A young man got off the bus with an un-lit torch....
Around 6.20 more motorcycles, runners and vehicles appeared...
Then we saw another young man, dressed in white, running with a lit torch..
The runners passed on the Olympic flame and shook hands right in front of us..
The flame is staying over night in Worcester - in the beautiful Guildhall.
Tomorrow morning it's starting the next stage of its journey from the Cathedral Green.
It's been lovely to have been drawn into this national event...
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
Mr Blue Sky...
I'm celebrating our little bit of warmer weather by creating a holiday theme as my header. Here are a few of my favourite places...
Barmouth Railway Bridge (on the left). I love the photo opportunities offered by this interesting bridge in such a dramatic setting. We've stayed a couple of times in a little B+B that overlooks the bridge and the estuary. My favourite memories are of sitting at the dining-room window, eating breakfast in the sun and watching the tide turn. Perfect!
Bath (middle picture). We've had loads of lovely weekends away in Bath - especially over the winter. These pictures were taken in early January.
Grandcamp-Maisy, Normandy (on the right). We used to spend up to a month a year in France when exchange rates were favourable and holidays on the continent were really cheap. Nowadays it seems to be almost impossible to get the deals. This photo was taken at Easter 2011, when we managed to rent a sweet little house in Isigny-sur-Mer at a superb rate because Solihull's holidays were 'out of synch' with everyone else!
Grandcamp-Maisy is part of the Landing Beaches area. We enjoyed some fabulous coastal walking as well as time spent exploring the WW2 legacy.
Hope that you are enjoying the blue skies!
Barmouth Railway Bridge (on the left). I love the photo opportunities offered by this interesting bridge in such a dramatic setting. We've stayed a couple of times in a little B+B that overlooks the bridge and the estuary. My favourite memories are of sitting at the dining-room window, eating breakfast in the sun and watching the tide turn. Perfect!
Bath (middle picture). We've had loads of lovely weekends away in Bath - especially over the winter. These pictures were taken in early January.
Grandcamp-Maisy, Normandy (on the right). We used to spend up to a month a year in France when exchange rates were favourable and holidays on the continent were really cheap. Nowadays it seems to be almost impossible to get the deals. This photo was taken at Easter 2011, when we managed to rent a sweet little house in Isigny-sur-Mer at a superb rate because Solihull's holidays were 'out of synch' with everyone else!
Grandcamp-Maisy is part of the Landing Beaches area. We enjoyed some fabulous coastal walking as well as time spent exploring the WW2 legacy.
Saturday, 19 May 2012
Poor Old 'Winnie Van Kof'
Yesterday morning my dear old Range Rover finally died - at 7.10 a.m, near Junction 5 of the M5 motorway. She'd been a very poorly old thing for a couple of months. Mark has spent hours trying to keep her going but yesterday morning was a terminal event. I know she's only a car but I'm GUTTED.
Almost all our 'happy' motoring has been done in this car over the last 8 years. We bought her shortly after Mark was seriously ill with Meningitis. She was perfect for him because she was an automatic and the driving position supported his poorly back and neck. As Mark got better and we got our life back on track, Winnie's role has changed....
I guess to many people she's just a grotty old, gas-guzzling vehicle. To me she's masses of happy memories all tied up in a grotty old vehicle!!!! I still get really emotional when I think about the difficult times we had when Mark was so very ill. This car has been there every step of the way as Mark has 'come back to me'.
Mark says that he's going to take off all the useful parts that he can, then she's going to have to go for scrap. Fortunately we have a friend who will let us keep her in his lock up yard while we sort everything out. It will take some of the pressure of time off the job and maybe I'll get used to idea that she can't be fixed again. At the moment she's stuck on the drive - which upsets me really.
As a footnote to all of this - if you're wondering how she came by her name - it's
Almost all our 'happy' motoring has been done in this car over the last 8 years. We bought her shortly after Mark was seriously ill with Meningitis. She was perfect for him because she was an automatic and the driving position supported his poorly back and neck. As Mark got better and we got our life back on track, Winnie's role has changed....
She's splashed through tracks with our friends in Mid-Wales..
And climbed rocky paths..
She's been the main tow vehicle for the whole Marcos project..
She's brought the Christmas tree from the Garden Centre each year..
And taken the whole family on great road trips all over England and Wales..
As recently as the end of the Easter holidays she was still part of our holidays.
Here she is at the top of the Gospel Pass near Hay on Wye..
I guess to many people she's just a grotty old, gas-guzzling vehicle. To me she's masses of happy memories all tied up in a grotty old vehicle!!!! I still get really emotional when I think about the difficult times we had when Mark was so very ill. This car has been there every step of the way as Mark has 'come back to me'.
Mark says that he's going to take off all the useful parts that he can, then she's going to have to go for scrap. Fortunately we have a friend who will let us keep her in his lock up yard while we sort everything out. It will take some of the pressure of time off the job and maybe I'll get used to idea that she can't be fixed again. At the moment she's stuck on the drive - which upsets me really.
As a footnote to all of this - if you're wondering how she came by her name - it's
'Winnie' - her red wine colour
'Van' - she's got a horribly noisy diesel engine
'Kof' - the letters of her number plate and the effect that she has on most people!
Hope that you're all having good weekends. Wouldn't it be nice to have just ONE weekend of blue skies and a bit of warmth?!
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
Jubilee Plans
I'm not especially royalist but I've got a few plans for the Bank Holiday weekend.... Firstly I've invited all my family to a '1952 High Tea'. I'm working on the menu this week and I intend to try and be as authentic as possible. There's going to be tinned meats, simple salads, boiled eggs, chutneys and piccalilli. The puddings are going to blancmange, trifle, sponge, jelly and tinned cream.
I'm in the process of sending out proper 1950s-styled invitations.. and I've asked everyone to turn up in 1950s inspired clothes.
I'm going to move the tables into the conservatory so there will be more space. I have dug out my Grandma's old embroidered tablecloths from a drawer at my Mum's house. I have also got plans to mix and match my floral china tea set (Duchess "Tranquillity") with my Mum's (Colclough "Braganza"). Neither of these designs were around in the 1950s but I think there will be nice vintage feel.
I'm also in the process of sourcing some wide 'champagne-style' glasses for a Babycham toast to the Queen!!!!
Later in the evening we are all going to drive a few miles to the nearest 'Beacon Site' and hopefully see several bonfires lit from the elevated position of Hanbury Church.
Have you got any plans for the long weekend?
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