The First Of Four

Just a quick update. Thank you for the many texts and messages that I received as I went for the first of my four infusions on Wednesday. There were a lot of old associations and memories flying about on that day from my past chemo (not happy ones I'm afraid)and so sensing that I had a community of supporters out there really made a difference. I was plastered in EMLA cream, which has a numbing effect on the skin, in the hope that having a needle pushed up my vein might be more comfortable. In the end, however, they wouldn't allow it because I wouldn't have known if the needle had gone astray. Oh well, nice try. I will just have to be grown up about it!

I feel okay on day number two, with the help of the steroids and anti-nausea medication. I will struggle more as the treatment progresses, but for the moment all is well and I feel happy to have started it.
I will keep you informed. Thanks again for dialling into the blog and for the ongoing, invaluable support.

Joel

Smoke On The Water

You are wrapped in a fog
that your cold days can’t disperse.
Words huddle together
and burrow through,
arriving soggy,
sliding across your shell
like my hand through your hair -
unnoticed, leaving a trail
that the breeze will erase
as it shakes the night’s weave
of knots and tugs.

But today we hold hands and dance,
jumping as Ritchie’s guitar riff
shakes the windows,
laughter spilling from your open throat.
While the band search for Lake Geneva through smoke,
we crouch beneath the billows,
playing in shallows
as cool and clear
as rain.


For Joel

Here We Go, Here We Go, Here We Go

Well, what a great night I’ve just had! I went to Manchester for the first gig of The Willard Grant Conspiracy’s tour. A great event. Afterwards, my arrival at the railway station coincided with that of about 3000 Rangers fans. On platform 3 I joined a group of about four hundred, all of whom were waiting for the 22.42 to York. Sadly, as it arrived, they got there first and sardined themselves into every carriage. Do you know, I’m not sure that all of them had a ticket! However, despite the fact that I had my seat reservation in my pocket, I thought it best not to issue a challenge …
This happened again at 23.19! Thankfully at 23.52 I managed to get to a carriage early, due to a sudden change of platform; I even got a seat. Once the next batch of football fans had pressed themselves into every available centimetre of the train, we eventually left. In a carriage awash with hot breath, eau de armpit and cider, I wasn’t particularly looking forward to the next ninety minutes. However, some lovely community singing broke out almost immediately. There were several songs although lyrically, the themes were quite limited … someone called ‘Pope’ (must be the poet …) was being given some quite frank advice and there were also some kind offers of food to a man called Bobby Sands. Now, for some people, endless hoarse, raucous bellowing and ranting would be a nightmare. Luckily for me, our regular church pew on a Sunday is quite near the choir and so I quickly found that merely closing my eyes made me feel closer to home.

On a serious note, I met with the consultant earlier in the week and I am starting the ‘big guns’ chemo on Wednesday 28th May. It is going to be tough, I fear, but Mary and I are going to try very hard to keep a veneer of normality for the sake of the children. Prayers to this effect, and for me to ‘get away lightly’ with side effects, would be greatly appreciated. The side effects are many and not pleasant, although I will be pointing out to my brothers this weekend that, although I am the first of us to undergo reasonably extensive hair thinning, there still isn’t a grey hair in my head! They are beginning to look as if they are attending an Alistair Darling Convention.

Thanks for visiting the blog and for your support and encouragement. I will, of course, update again when the chemo starts.

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