'Tis the season to be jolly ...

I have just come from the first performance of our school nativity play. All was well until the fourth song (a gentle number called ‘Sleep Little Child’) during which an argument broke out between two of the shepherds. One had noticed the other making rude gestures and felt it right to put his hand up and report the incident. However the offending shepherd was clearly reserving the right to be offensive … after all, he was doing it to HIS mum. He may well be tending sheep on a hillside far away next time. Anyway, we are winding down to a quiet end of term and all seems to have gone well. In fact, there hasn’t been a single complaint about the festivities this year and the post-concert collection was double last year’s! As one Teaching Assistant who lives locally put it, “Apparently you aren’t top of the parents’ hit list anymore.” Could the community have given me a nicer gift?

I have just had my second bone-strengthening infusion and am taking hefty doses of painkillers in readiness for the side effects. So far, I feel fine. I met with a consultant last week who looked at the whole issue of when to administer the radiotherapy and when to start the new chemo regime. The decision is to wait for now and to review the situation after Christmas. At the start of December I noticed that a tumour beneath my scar tissue, which had shrunk away during previous treatment, was in fact making a dramatic return. It came back quickly, over the period of a fortnight, which was all a bit alarming. Again, in spite of this, the consultant’s decision was to wait until it grew larger and became more problematic before tackling it with this new chemo regime as the new regime brings serious problems of its own. However, over this past week it has shrunk away again, leaving no evidence on the surface of the skin. In fact the hardness beneath the skin also seems tangibly reduced. Big relief all round and unusual to have a tumour shrink when not on any form of chemo. (Note to those of you who are pray-ers … keep going, keep going.)

So – have a great Christmas. We wish you and your families well and hope that you manage to rest and celebrate in equal measure. 2008 has been a good year for us, much better than we anticipated 12 months ago, and we are hugely grateful for your thoughts, contact, friendship and support. It has made a big difference.

Lastly, my Living Room Poetry tour is carrying right on, so I look forward to seeing you at a poetry reading in 2009. (There is a strong hint within that last statement, so I’ll await your invitations ...)