A week without a clinic appointment feels like a week of liberation. Another good week with only a couple of minor glitches. Oral thrush necessitated a call to our wonderful trial nurse who oversees the Figaro trial I am on. A quick trip to the hospital to collect some medicine and I'm on the mend!
More irritating, my left Achilles' tendon decided to start playing up two evenings ago. I had discovered that with considerable effort I could run upstairs so had started doing this a couple of days beforehand. Unfortunately one of the many side effects of steroids is a weakening of the tendons and it seems the left one objected to the stairs. It is only a minor strain but curtails my walking - grrr!
This is all rather aggravating, Karine and I are away in north West Yorkshire for the weekend with a group of friends celebrating two sixtieth birthdays - not ours I'm afraid, they are long past - our first nights away from Nottingham in fourteen months - another milestone on the path of recovery. The weather is lovely and there is Hawthorne blossom and cow parsley in flower everywhere - the countryside is 'dressed for a wedding' as my sister says. The aggravation is that I can't join in the walks but just to have the freedom to be away from home is brilliant. K and I have both felt very trapped by the need to stay at home.
We are continuing with the planning of the walk in mid September. Hopefully resting this silly ankle over the weekend will allow me to get properly mobile again next week so that we can recce the next section.
Meanwhile, 'I am sitting in the morning sun' reading Clive James' new book, all about facing death from cancer, (some sort of leukaemia I think). It should be rather morbid but so far it isn't at all. He comes up with some excellent images and interesting insights which seem all too relevant. No doubt I am seeing it differently because of the events of the past year, I find it difficult to imagine how it would have struck me in my pre-leukaemia days so am just enjoying the moment.
Otis Redding - Opening line of "Dock of the Bay"
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