It’s been a strange week, a week where I only had one visit to Poole Hospital (more about that later). This gave me time to think, reflect and relax. The previous week had shaken me up a bit, recovering from chronic mouth ulcers, learning to eat with slightly less teeth and worst of all, the radiotherapy mask fitting.
When given time to reflect you start to remember that all of the other worldly worries in life have not gone away. The kids still have worries with school, friends, work, and college. Portland United Youth, the football club that’s been my life for the last 15 years still needs week to week involvement. No relationship is perfect and those niggles are still there, I still leave the toilet seat up when I am not supposed to, and I still breathe too heavy when I’m concentrating! Bills still need paying. Life does carry on around you!
It’s been nice, as I have felt well enough to have friends come round to visit and I have been able to get out and get some fresh air and feel ‘normal’. On Saturday I went to Weymouth with a couple of good friends and we made a pact at the beginning of the day, I was not to talk about cancer, my friend was not to talk about his recent marriage split and my other friend who became single last November was not allowed to talk about how much fun he was having at the moment!
In the week I paid a visit to the APPLES project, which Bill and I had helped, set up over the last year in our job roles as a Community Organisers. This was great to see the progress they had made on a shoestring budget. It was incredibly relaxing spending some time surrounded by positive people, 25 chickens and a handful of ducks.
https://www.facebook.com/AllPortlandPeopleLearningEcologicalSolutions?fref=ts
Since I was taken ill, Mark Franklin has taken over the management of the Under 14s football team. He is also running the Under 6’s and it was great to go and watch both teams training. It’s always very exciting to see the new teams forming and also to see how far those who remain committed can progress.
https://www.facebook.com/1PUYFC?fref=ts
Poole Hospital, HANDS and About-Face
On Thursday I had to attend Poole Hospital to speak with the dental hygienist. The radiotherapy will take its toll on my neck, throat, tongue and mouth. Good oral hygiene is pivotal to keeping the side effects as manageable as possible.
Over the last few months you start to realise how much support there is for people suffering with cancer. The support, care and love available are remarkable. Whilst I was in Poole on Thursday I attended both HANDS and About Face.
About-Face is a group that was set up by my specialist Dr Ilankovan and they meet every Tuesday and Thursday at a building they own opposite Poole Hospital. The building is fitted out with meeting areas, training rooms (for Ilankovans students), relaxing areas, counselling rooms, a kitchen and toilets. It’s an area that Kerry, myself or anyone connected with us can use whilst I am undergoing treatment. We can go there and speak to others who are currently going through treatment and many other volunteers who are there to support. There is also some limited parking space that we can use when all other options are full.
http://localgiving.com/charity/aboutface
HANDS (Head And Neck Dorset Support), is run by the cancer unit and meets alternate months between Poole and Dorchester. I attended their Poole meeting on Thursday evening and was humbled and moved by the amazingly heroic people that I met. The group meeting was ‘chaired’ by my cancer nurse Claire. It was amazingly inspiring to meet other people (and their partners) who had been through so much, and still had such positive outlooks to life. Their words of reassurance were truly motivating. Many in the room had been through so much more than what I have endured. I fought back the tears as I listened to their advice and encouragement.
http://www.handscancergroup.org/
The HANDS meeting was held at a hospice right in the heart of the sandbanks area! I didn’t quite realise how close until I pulled my Vauxhall over to let some 30 year old guy in a black Lamborghini roar past. After the meeting I went for a drive through Sandbanks hoping to bump into Harry/Jamie Rednapp or my lifelong hero Paul Gascoigne. Alas none of them were to be seen!
Bring Them a Meal
Kerry and I would like to thank everyone who signed up to ‘bring us a meal’ over the next 6 weeks. It really will help to take the pressure off of Kerry as she looks after the 3 children, the house, nurses me, travels to Poole daily and everything else that life chucks our way. We are very excited at the prospect of trying so many exciting meals and also hopefully getting to meet, greet, speak, share coffee and thank as many as we can (if we are home when the meals are delivered/dishes collected). Thank you to Eliot Crowe for making this possible.
http://www.takethemameal.com/meals.php?t=MKTL8191
We would like to say a very special thank you to Sue and Mark Glenn, of Fresh no 29 in Easton, who are delivering us weekly fresh fruit.
https://www.facebook.com/no29fresh?fref=ts
On the 31st of October (Halloween), we will be having an open house, with a buffet, drinks, cakes, sweets and decorations for anyone who would like to drop in. It will be great for us to update you with our progress and thank you all for your support. We felt that Halloween would be a good night to do it as it would be great to see all of your families whilst you are out and about ‘trick or treating’. Again thank you all for supporting me Kerry and the kids through this life challenge. We appreciate every kind gesture.