20-Off the wrong track…

It’s been a funny old month really. I had a 2^nd checkup last week, a bit cursory really – just a feel around by neck and chin(s). No lumps that shouldn’t be there, but really I’m waiting for September’s scan, so that I’ll have a proper answer on my status.

This scan will be head to foot (more or less) and the objectives are twofold: first to check on Larry the lump in my throat and second – more importantly, to see if there’s any spread,

So that’s just a waiting game.

I still have to smile at the irony of my medics insistence that I don’t lose any weight – and we almost got into an argument at last weeks checkup, because they say I’m losing too much weight – too fast. I must admit, they may have a point.

It’s a bit of a difficult one – I’m pushing myself to eat and am certainly doing better than a few weeks ago, but the actuality is I can’t eat much of anything. Mostly because I still have very little sense of taste. But also, because of almost mon-existent saliva production, it’s difficult to eat without drinking some water with every mouthful of food, else it won’t go down. So I don’t have much appetite for anything and waste a fair bit of food, because I rarely finish anything.

I did decide to cut down on my reliance of Peggy the feeding tube. And now I can see that set me back – a combination of low-calorie intake, some dehydration and cutting down on morphine, left me feeling pretty poorly for a few days.

Hey ho! Back to doing what I should and amazingly, I feel better. Until the next time.

Also in this last month was my 65^th birthday. That should have been ‘retirement’ day and I’d have been a pensioner. What an awful thought 😉

Yeah, for Wozzer this was a milestone to become more active. Or should that be simply, active? Anyway – what better than a cycle ride in the nearby Forest of Dean. There are a number of trails and bike hire there – downhill mountain biking looked a bit iffy for me, so we settled on the 10 miles Family Trail.

I mean, how hard can that be?

Actually, I hadn’t been on a cycle since 2009 when I was volunteering in Siem Reap, Cambodia. I used to cycle around 3 km each way to the project.

It was murder every day – not only all the locals (especially the kids), ranging from staring agog to outright pissing themselves with laughter at the sight of Wozzer perched on a rickety bike. But also the 30-35 deg C heat and humidity had me puffing and dripping with sweat. And that was just getting on the bloody thing!

It took a little while of leaving it unlocked at night, but finally thankfully – someone stole it. And I swore then it would be my last time on a bike.

Shame my memory failed me when I most needed it…

Back to present days… We started off well – for the first 50 yards anyway. Then it was a rocky downhill section. Better that I got off and pushed.

On to a long steady upward incline (on an old railway route), which was nice – but interspersed with me not having much stamina, meant a few brief stops  - we got some great-looking family shots here.