The next step
Not only is this year flying whilst I feel stuck doing nothing. The Chemotherapy is done (I hope) so I am removing the details for the opening of the blog. You just have my targets. That really need some more attention now.
TARGETS
LATEST UPDATE
Sunday 31st October
Here we are with the final daily update before I move over to the new monthly updates based on the previous months’ activities. Which means that you get to read all about the stuff below in the November slot and then have to wait until December to read about November. See it all makes perfect sense. Well, maybe not but that’s what happening as no one said no. As for this page that’s all folks and
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!
Tuesday 26th October
Here we are the other side of the weekend and the weekend saw a trip to the football where we lost badly but held the score down to ‘two’ and I got to visit my mum with the kids on Sunday which was very nice. We will get to see her again this week as its her birthday and we are going to see the show my daughter has been working on at the local arts centre (South Hill Park). We are all enormously proud and looking forward to the evening. It all kicks off tomorrow.
On Monday morning I went onto my GP app to request an appointment to have blood tests taken and an appointment for my diabetic review as they had requested this via a letter weeks ago and I waited for the hospital appointment before responding. That was last week so first think Monday morning I send the request. Later that day I got a message from the GP saying they will be in touch with both. Nothing. Until late this afternoon and here is the efficient process.
My blood test will be taken on the 24th of November 2 days shy of a month away and the review will happen on the 2nd of December. Let’s hope everything is ok then! The shocking thing is that I went to the hospital on Thursday and was told they will sort an appointment out and I received the letter the following day. The next morning. The cancer nurse spoke to me on Tuesday and said they will sort out another appointment in November along with the blood test form so I can organise the test before the next appointment. I have not yet received either the form or been informed of the appointment, date, or time. I am bewildered how one part of the NHS can be so efficient whilst the other is not. The cancer nurse was the one that informed me that I hadn’t taken my appointment seriously months ago when they had messed up the appointments on the first time.
Friday 22nd October
Here we are at the end of another week, and I am now contemplating this blog as it has morphed into something else. With that in mind I am thinking of stopping the daily updates and looking to do something else. I don’t want to stop the updates completely, but I want to do something different as this month shows there is lots more waiting around and not much updates or appointment to tell you about. My initial feeling is to reduce the number of updates given, right now I am thinking of doing a longer monthly update within the next part rather than a day doing this or a day doing that. It will be this month I had an appointment about this and the fallout from that was that, or something like I had bloods taken and I should hear back next month would be better than I am feeling good today or bad today. I will update each month with part 10 a month-by-month update or what has been going on. There you go if you are not happy about that let me know. If not watch this space and see what updates, follow.
Thursday 21st October
Thursday is back and we have lots to get done today. I still had one of my hospital appointments to fulfil. Walking in 30 minutes early I was stopped and asked where I was going, I have an appointment. “Who with?” That I couldn’t remember so was digging the letter out when I said Dr Wang.
“NO!”
“No, What?”
“You’re too early!”
“And?”
“And your letter should say not to arrive until 5 minutes before your appointment.”
“Oh right, you’ll have to go come back at 10!”
“My appointment is at 9.45.”
“Come back 5 minutes before then.”
Well, that was pleasant [Not]. I can see why there are so many posters telling people not to abuse NHS staff now (because they start it!)
After that I’d have to dash back to get ready for the normal walking group around South Hill Park followed by a trip to the pub where I won’t be drinking as that has been banned now. More on that later. I have three more job applications in the fire ready for more disappointment. And a good friend was going to refer me to an agency, but I haven’t heard anything back from that. I will just keep plugging away.
As I write I am about to get ready for South Hill Park and then look forward to the evening of fun and games. The appointment this morning which was all cloak and daggers was because I was worried about it.
Ok there is a bit of me that wants to hold things back and there was some news that I hadn’t shared on here because I was worried about it. Which was that I had some bad blood test results after a fasting test for the cancer was saw such high Triglycerides levels that my GP was alerted. He called me and referred me to a heart disease specialist. Standard levels of Triglycerides in blood should be 2 or less. If they ever reach higher than 10 then it is really something to worry about. My results were 22 which is why I was put on new meds and sent for the appointment I’ve not really discussed on here until now. There was lots of talk of heart disease in the family and then a further check to see how things have changes better or worse. That was what today’s appointment was followed by the cancer meeting, which was brought forward to Tuesday, so you already have that news. Well, the new results were in, and the new score was 3. Which is a dramatic upshift followed by a dramatic return. So, there are a few things to sort out and for me to work on, but things are looking much better than I first feared. That is what all the appointments for blood were about so now you all know.
Wednesday 20th October
It was pretty last minute, but we decided to drive to Lincoln City v Wimbledon last night which meant 3 hours a driving for a 2-hour game and 3 hours back in the heavy rain and high winds. Was it worth it? Yes!! What a game and a performance from us. I thought I was clear today without any appointments then I had a phone call which I missed which seems to be the case every time. I really don’t do it on purpose but seems to happen each time. This could be the end of these calls as the news from yesterday was good so these updates may be dwindling in terms of frequency, but it has been good to get things off my chest. Sorry one thing at a time I am jumping around like a cat next to a cucumber (don’t believe me type that on YouTube then come back – I’ll wait). The football was great and reminded me why I go. After the grand tour that saw one goal by us in three games and eight conceded a 0-1 win away from home is always nice.
Anyway, back to today, after the double good news of yesterday we move on. Today was an easy recovery day but honestly it is weird how three points makes a journey fly by, and I really didn’t feel too bad. I went to take the dog out and she reached the end of the drive when the rain hit her, and she turned around and walked back in. I felt like I dragged her around the park before getting home in super-fast time. The Covid-19 booster has so far not had too much affect just two dead arms which can be ignored most of the time. As for the job centre phone call it is the only one that seems to be a blind spot for me and one that will need to be changed as the good news from yesterday has happened. It all depends on the appointment tomorrow as to where everything goes from there.
Today is the first day that reminds me of Halloween each year. There is always a point when the high winds and the leaves blowing around everywhere just makes me go, we are close to that day. Today with the short walk with the dog made me feel that way and now I know it is very close. I guess I should get up to the loft and start shooting people through the hatch. That will see who actually reads this or not!
So, in conclusion Neil if you are reading this get in touch we are trying to sort a quiz out and if you are new to this particular part of the blog go and read part one as this will explain what this all about the bits in the middle you can skim but the beginning is always a good place to start.
Luv ya!!
Tuesday 19th October
As of around 10am this morning I lay in bed waiting for bathroom to be free as I have a long drive followed by another one back again today. My mobile rang and I recognised the number as the hospital. The appointment is Thursday so why is my phone calling. It was the nurse saying they have an issue with the appointments on Thursday and they have to bring this call forward to right now!
HOLY SHIT!! This is bad!
She said not to worry as the news is good the CT scan tallied with the blood test and everything is normal. My translation there is no signs of Cancer in those tests. What will remain in place is the blood tests and CT scan will continue for another 5 years but as I type the cancer news is positive and I still have another appointment later in the week and then see how we go from there.
As for today, a drive to Lincolnshire and back to watch my team slip to another away defeat but we have hope (thats about all we do have!) anyway must go get ready!
Monday 18th October
Here is the week that will probably see the end of the sick-notes and not one, not two but three appointments with the health service. The first one kicked off this morning when I had my booster Covid-19 shot this morning along with the flu jab which seems to happen randomly depending on the year I’m in. There are two appointments this week where I will be finding out the results of various tests from last month. The whole waiting process has felt like forever, but the week has finally arrived. I will be able to actually give an update on here which hasn’t happened for a while, but we will have to just wait and see won’t we. Anyway, I have some reviews to write. See you soon!
Thursday 14th October
Today, we have a packed schedule starting with the usual's (shower etc) followed by an online meeting. This went off really well and I am now working towards the next item on the schedule. That being the weekly walking group from South Hill Park I have to remind everyone that I will need to dash off from that and it maybe best that I drive so I can get back quicker for the kids. Thursday now concludes with gaming at the pub which has meant me learning how to use Facebook more effectively. So far its been good and now I just hope for good weather for the walk and the trip to the pub this evening otherwise I might have to chat someone up for a lift home to avoid the rain!
Hey I got an extra update for you. I got my date for my third covid-19 booster and they are threatening me with a flu jab at exactly the same time. So that is going to be a great day isn't it.
Sunday 10th October
The weekend is nearly over and a good one without any football… well that is not strictly the case as yesterday’s gaming was football themed.
A paragraph about board games –
All very good mind you, there were four no five games played one quick one to finish wasn’t football so may not have counted. Games played were “Super 11”, followed by “Kick-Off”, Football Fortunes (formally Brian Clough’s Football Fortunes), and finishing the football games with a game called “The Football Game” which was really genuine fun as well. All the games were really good and enjoyable to play with some very clever dynamics which made them remarkably interesting. Fortunes was very clever with an app that works out the scores for you. So, you move around the board and buy and sell players to improve your team. You total up the score of your defensive and attacking players feed that number into the app and then the app turns into the Vidiprinter from Grandstand and feeds back all the results of the matches played that week. It gives you an attendance figure for your cash this time and then result. You play a small league with cup and euro cups if you qualify, and you can play a season or three to see who wins. I didn’t but I did win the league despite losing two players in a car crash. The Football Game is also very clever with having four players in your first team squad the total points dictate what your targets are. So being rubbish means you are not expected to do very well. The problem with our game was that two of us were poor while one was good, so we spent the whole game picking on him just to have a chance to win. We finished the day with Project L which is a Tetris but on a board game. Today me and the kids played Saboteur 2 which went down well but it may need to ‘house rules’ to fix some elements of it.
I was wrong about the neighbours as they have continued to bang and drill both Saturday and Sunday. You never know, they will finish all their work just as we get to start ours. They have been going for many weeks now, so you never know.
OK looking ahead to this week I will be chasing the signature for the sick note again (as they haven’t signed it again). I will be applying for jobs and seeing if anything can come of that and see how we go from there. Moving on I will take the dog out and then add some more later.
Friday 8th October
Well, the weekend is upon us again and a busy week is over and done with. The weekend sees some time with the boy and this boy gets to play some bonus games a bit later tomorrow. The neighbours have finished banging and drilling the walls for the weekend. Which now means they have to invite people over to appreciate their greatness, by sitting in the garden being as loud as the drills from the early part of the week. It’s a typical event for the hypocrites who shout abuse at us and other neighbours for making too much noise, when they are the noisiest in the street.
I will move away from the bigots and move onto my health as I have another sick note finishing on the date of my hospital appointment at the end of this month. I need to forward this on to the appropriate people again and assume that if the news is good then it will be the final one. Looking up above and the targets there are a few that are coming into focus now. The walk training really has fallen on poor ground as it has dried up and I really need a proper focus on it.
For today I led a walk around the usual route of South Hill Park for mental health week which seemed to go off well and we had some new walkers who may join us again in the future. We will see next week. I’ll remain on the subject of groups; we had the gaming group last night and there were nearly double this time as a table of four became two tables of four. A varied set of games were played as well, which was also good. I have also started a new page on here reviewing my football team and the players performances. I will share this with my Womble friends and see if they like it. They don’t have to agree with the comments but like the feel of it. Sorry, this is not much of an update but there isn’t much to say until the end of the month.
Wednesday 6th October
It has been a couple of days since the last update there has been next to no update on the health side at all. As I have mentioned before there are two appointments that I am waiting for on the same date later this month. The Thursday games group has now gone back to a face-to-face group which means those that live farther-a-field could no longer attend so we moved the night and Monday was the first. It seemed to go off OK even if it was the hard-core members, but it was fun which is the main thing!!
Yesterday, the dog had a fantastic walk (for the dog) of around three miles which was sandwiched between two meetings. I won’t go into huge detail about either here, but I will mention that the one in the evening was a dad’s group meeting held by the charity – Parenting Special Children and it was very pleasing to see the number of attendees bouncing back to a healthy number. With new faces and familiar faces as well is always a good thing. As for today. Sod all! To report the neighbours are still banging and drilling which all kicked off on the 18th of September. That night they were still going until close to 9pm which is good to know where the boundary lines are for when we have any work done. The banging and drilling did eventually move to throughout the day, but it has remained a daily occurrence since that date.
The walking group is back again tomorrow and then there is a bonus walk on Friday in celebration(?) of Mental Health Week. I will be assisting on Friday and leading the walk again on Thursday. I shall do my best as always and then simply hope people benefit from the afternoon.
Monday 4th October
Here we are into the 10th month of the year, and I hope this shows the next page or chapter in the recovery. This month will see the results of everything I’ve had done last month. September saw mixed news with the health front but suggested an optimistic view ahead. I have started to apply and fail to get a new job. This will continue into the new month and will bring some more news when I have it. I will have to sort out the next sick note as well, this is because the current one has now run out and I need to check whether I am still in that situation or not. Results wise I am now counting down to the 21st which is a Thursday I believe. I have not one but two appointments at the hospital which will reveal the situation I am currently in, and I hope to be able to report back but I guess if its not good news then maybe I will keep it to myself.
With the restrictions easing I have a busy week planned with online games moving from a Thursday to a Monday due to Thursday’s face to face evenings returning! Which was fun last week. I also have another meeting on Tuesday which will need some preparation as I must prepay for that one. The Thursday evening games is after leading the walking group which has seen me return to leading the group which I am immensely proud of but the first week I am back, and the numbers have returned to the lower numbers again I think we had twelve there last week when we had twenty plus the week before. I must have put people off. One thing I haven’t done is started sending my emails which I will be doing this week. Hopefully tomorrow will be the first if I remember. As for the rest of the week!
Football wise after the tour which was fun but saw a disaster for the boys on the pitch saw us almost stop the rot by picking up a point in a one – one draw. I have started to score the players with my opinion and rate them out of ten for their performance. I am thinking of cutting a little video for the tour and see how that goes since I haven’t got a clue of how to edit correctly so this could be a complete nightmare and it’ll end up looking stupid, but we will wait and see. Worth having a little play around and see what comes about.
The countdown to birthdays and Halloween has begun as well as some incredibly early preparations for Christmas has begun. I will normally try and do something for the kids as a bit of a surprise, but we will have to wait and see. I will keep the thinking cap on and see what I can come with, I have a few seeds of ideas planted it is now just a case of whether they will grow or not. For anyone interested there are currently 83 days left till Christmas. Get yourselves ready!! It will be here before you realise it!
Ok enough scary stuff I am off and will look to add more on here soon…
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