The Truth Will Out ...

The first morning back to work after a break is always a bit chaotic. We had a class going off on a week’s residential trip this morning and so the hall was full of weeping mothers – some weeping out of concern and a sense of loss, other out of sheer relief. I am always amazed at the luggage that turns up, and attempts to smuggle things like hair-straighteners, Body Shop stock rooms and HUGE packed lunches into cases. (I remember on one trip I organised, a boy was being sick before we had even got on the coach! When asked if he had eaten anything on the way to school, he confessed to two pork pies and a beef jerky. Not good! ) Additionally this morning, I noticed one younger pupil arriving with a huge fake tattoo right up the back of his neck. "Like Daddy," he told me... Anyway, to cut a long story short (which I hate doing) I got the dreaded ‘Number Withheld’ call amidst all the chaos. In the recent scans my kidneys are looking enlarged again, and so I am off for a blood test this afternoon. I meet with my consultant on Friday when he will basically go through the two scans in detail and explain ‘implications.’ I confess to being uptight about this; I was put onto morphine recently but it isn’t completely sorting the problem. That said, I am not in agony and am still able to get on with life’s normal tasks, such as exploring tattoo removal on the NHS.

For those pray-ers amongst you, mats at the ready please. I will let you know how Friday goes.

Quick Update

I want it to be known that my school did not close due to snow … sadly. There was huffing, tantruming, tears, and shouts of ‘That’s not fair!’ … from the staff … but we remained open nevertheless. Half term beckons at the end of this week so suddenly all seems well again.

Mary and I have been through the mill a little since last we spoke. I became unwell quite quickly a couple of weeks ago … tiredness, temperatures and pain levels doubling. More worryingly, I have been losing weight and I could feel almost daily changes to the main tumour; we were both beginning to panic. The consultant brought me straight into hospital and told us he suspected that the primary tumour had developed an abscess. Oddly enough, that brought relief all round as I was fearing the worst. Anyway, things have returned to normal now but I have just had two scans this week because they have rightly said that they need to actually see what is going on. I will get results in a couple of weeks, unless there is something dodgy going on, in which case I will get a call with ‘number withheld’ on my phone display … always a bit of a pulse quickener. As soon as I hear, I’ll let you know.

Mary and the girls are in the village panto next week (Oh yes they are!) Coincidentally, Joel and I are off to Scotland this weekend for a few days of bonding. Anything could happen … I’ll post the photos when we get back.