Happy Christmas to Everyone! Joyeux Noel !

Well the weather has certainly turned seasonal here! Snowing heavily today and bringing the traffic locally to a near standstill....we slid 200 metres along the road in crab fashion, then decided it would be wiser to abandon the outing!

So will it be a white Christmas here?! Will it be a white Christmas where you are?!

Whatever the weather, this is just a quick message to wish everyone a merry and peaceful time over the festivities and hoping the New Year brings you fulfilment, prosperity and, it goes without saying really, the best of health.

With love from us both, J & S x

Ahoy!

Well..... its been over a year since Jules came back to the UK... and nearly a year since this blog started.... shes done really well with response to treatment in that time..... and so at thebeginning of October we took a last minute holiday.... sailing in the Ionian Islands in Greece again..... and as you see it was pleasantly hot!!

As in May the wind wasn't exactly blowing a gale.... a gentle force three on occasions.... but it means you can spend some time exploring hidden bays and beaches... as we did here:

And when it did blow a bit the sailing was quite pleasant..... (this isnt us.... but friends of ours Steve and Carol.)

And of course if the wind died altogether then there was always the opportunity just to jump off the back of the boat and have a swim!

And in the evening when you are moored up with a gin and tonic .... the views not bad either!

So a relaxing break and an english winter to look forward to!


And so today.... at the end of October we went off with Enzo to explore Greywell, a village nearby, and if only the weather stays like this everyone will be happy!

And so thanks to all of you out there for your support and caring ..... I know it does make abig difference to Jules....

And heres to being on this blog this time next year!

Cheers!

S

Its been a long time! .....

Since I wrote on this blog! .... and even longer since I worked on one of these!

Sorry I haven't been on here recently, but I've been kept pretty busy with one thing or another! So here's the news:.......

On the medical front I feel loads better, and so far (touch wood!) the regular blood & urine tests I have at the Marsden continue to show that I'm in remission... and in fact the paraprotein level reduced between the last two tests! .... So thats all good news... I did pick up some kind of infection in June that just knocked me for six.... and seemed to take for ever to get over (apparently it took so long because my natural immune system is still rebuilding).... but now I feel I'm nearly back to my full "punching weight"!

Some of you will know that I have been backward and forward between France and England a lot this summer and it was really good to be able to catch up with as many of you as I could ... even if on occasions it was just brief .... I hope to be able to stay longer next time....

So... next week Im off to Greece ... sailing again..... this picture is from May... me squeezing the boat in an impossibly small gap in a harbour..... Gangway!! (Notice the anxious owners of the neighbouring boats helping me in for the last couple of metres!)






Anyway, really looking forward to it! ....... After all, the professor did say "Go live your life" when I left hospital!
Hope everyone reading this is in fine fettle and excellent spirits and has had a great summer.

Take care and see you later x

Hello (just in case anyone's still looking at this blog!)
Latest news in brief..... I seem to be making an excellent recovery after my transplant. So much so that Stuart and I went off for a week of sailing in Greece!
Here follow a few scenes of our time there...

We did put up those 'white flappy things' from time to time, but I have to admit the wind sometimes died to nothing..... 'mer d'huile'.....'petole'....... but it was lovely anyway....

And I took to my 'skipper' role like a duck to water..... it was a hard life for the 'crew boy' though!

But the evening taverna meals, Greek coffee and Metaxa made up for the hard grind!

And we have returned with firm intentions of doing it again!

Hope all's well with you all too....

Jules xoxoxo

Enzo in England!

It was quite surprising how easy the trip to England was for Enzo.... and perhaps more surprising that customs in England didn't even stop the car to ask to see his passport.

I thought it might be of interest to some of you what he can get up to.... entertainment for dogs nearby!...... Here are some photos I took this sunday.......

First thing in the morning..... herding the highland cattle on Bartley Heath........

.....followed by chasing the deer on the heath.... ( this is now a daily event!) ...... this also usually ends with a bath in the disused gravel pits to cool down...... double click on the photo below to see the deer more clearly...

And in the afternoon .... a walk along the Basingstoke Canal ......

Where its possible to do a spot of barge watching!.....

And then on the route back...... by Tundry Pond a spot of swimming and swan chasing.......

All in all a pretty happy dog!

Be back to you later this week.... after Thursdays trip to the Marsden....

J

xoxoxo

April Update......

Well! ..... its been quite a while since my last post.... and quite a while since the transplant ..... and I thought it was about time I brought you up to date with with whats been happening....
I've generally been feeling better and stronger as time goes on since the transplant.... sometimes it feels like progress is slow, but also I sometimes feel better than I have for a long time! ..... the hospital said it would take three to six months to feel right, but already; after just over two I feel so much better.....

So much so that I felt it was time to head back home.... for two reasons.... check on my house that I haven't seen for what seems like ages.... and to pick up Enzo... who it's true to say I've missed...... It was also an opportunity to drive through France.....

Here's yours truly being captain of the ship!......

And here's a pretty fantastic bridge on the way to see my sister in Normandy.....

I stayed in possibly the most miserable hotel in Lisieux! .... with a view from the room to match......

And from there.... onwards south.... to Semur..... where the hotel was lovely and with a view of the town.... (This isn't the view of course!).... but I went into town to explore .... and see how things have changed.....

The time at home seemed to be filled with gardening and decorating and catching up with neighbours..... and I did get out and about on a couple of occasions.....

Here is Gordes.......

And a view of Mont Ventoux from the hilltop town of Venasque ....

And here are the fishing nets in Sete ..... hanging out to dry.....

I picked up Enzo on the way down... and completed the vet stuff to get him back into England .... and he's here with me now..... (more of him later!).....

So .... I was lucky enough to catch up with some of my friends on the journey back and forth.... I wish I could have been able to make it everyone..... but to those that I missed then I hope to be able to stop on my next trip...... which I hope won't be too long.....

The medical stuff at the Marsedn resumes this week .... I have an appointment on Thursday to see how I'm doing ..... Its true to say I'm not looking forward to it .... but if the results reflect the way that I'm generally feeling then..... so heres hoping!

I'll be back to update you about that later ......

J

xoxoxo

News at last!

Sorry for the very long break in news on the blog.... that makes two full weeks now!

Anyway, there was good news last week...despite a heavy cold, my blood test results showed that my immune system should have recovered sufficiently to fight it off without antibiotics. I'm still fighting it off 10 days later, but am also feeling slightly stronger as each day passes, so that's great news.

In fact, since I am feeling so much better and I don't have to report to the hospital for another month, there isn't likely to be much to post on the blog... so we won't be updating it very often in the immediate future.

Many, many heartfelt thanks to everyone who has given their support and encouragement....either by following and responding to the blog or in other ways. Your positive energies and thoughts have been an enormous boost and a continual source of inspiration in recent weeks and have made so much difference to my moods. I'm hoping to catch up with everyone individually or collectively in the very near future....


Meanwhile, here's a last batch of photos...
The snow has now melted and it's warmed up enough for the birds to think spring is on the way, so the toboggans have been put back in the garages again...
As part of the 'gently getting back into shape' programme, we also decided to go to Portsmouth to visit the historic dockyard. The photo below shows the 'Victory' but we have to go back to visit the inside... having first looked at the 'Mary Rose' and its museum exhibits, my energy levels were just about used up, so the 'Victory', the 'Warrior' and the boat trip around Portsmouth harbour will have to wait for another time!

And then, a few days later, we headed off back to the sea.... this time to Climping, a place I used to go camping with my family when I was a child.... refreshingly, it's one of those few places you come across that really hasn't changed in the slightest...

Another day and another walk .....this was two days ago... and it's the Basingstoke Canal again, this time showing a swing bridge!

And time for a stroll in the sunshine...

Best wishes to all xoxoxoxo

Snow!

Well the snow arrived as we'd been warned..... and it was falling pretty heavily first thing this morning... as you can see... and it was 15 centimetres at least...

And so it only seemed appropriate that a snowman was made.... after all they don't get the opportunity here to build them that often.....

And of course.... the whole country grinds to a halt... all the schools were closed.... so all the kids were in the park......

..... and noone bothered to go to work either... the roads were empty....

.... and tomorrow its expected to be really cold.... so I guess we'll just stop at home ....!

Hope you're all keeping warm and healthy.

x

A breath of fresh air!

So I've been out of hospital for ten days, and already I feel a lot better than when I left. It's not all plain sailing as yesterday I felt extremely tired and wobbly, but today was better and so we headed off on a mystery tour... to see what we could find.

This village is called Alresford and is about twenty miles away. For the cricket lovers amongst you (... are there any?) it was the home of John Arlott.

And a little way outside of there we came upon somewhere called "The Grange", which is a national trust property.... in the middle of almost nowhere!

A great big long drive full of potholes...... until you come up to this!.....

what a stately pile!.... its a "Greek revival" building dating from the early 19th Century ... and quite empty.... sculptured lakes and gardens...... and amazingly no sign of vandalism ...

And as you can see..... it was ever so cold and windy!

Tomorrow here its expected to get even colder .... and they are expecting about 15 centimetres of snow!... I'll try to post a picture or two.... if I can get out of the house....

Love to all

J x

Getting back up to speed!

Sorry about the break in news in the last few days. Back now with a couple of photos taken this afternoon on a short walk around 'The Bury' in Odiham.
The stance is a bit odd in both but anyway, the first location speaks for itself and the second is the old 'pest house'...apparently one of only five left in the country... pest is the old English word for plague (no prizes for guessing from which language it stems.... French and Latin before that!)... so it was used to house and separate people with the plague or other infectious diseases from the local community.... for fourty days (again as in France and hence the word 'quarantaine'........ interesting, non ?!!!!!!)


Apart from the arms, this pose strikes me as similar to the statue in Brussels of the little boy peeing (Manneken Pis)! For the record, I wasn't!

On the medical front, we returned to the Marsden yesterday for my first check-up..... everything's A-OK seemingly and they don't need me back again for two and a half weeks.... good news.... So now I can concentrate on putting a few kilos back on......!

Bye for now and....... especially to Louise, Happy Belated Birthday!!!! Hope it was a goodun!!!

Happy to be Home!

And you can guess that's an understatement! Very happy to be back... my hospital stay did seem to last forever, even though it could have been much longer, but since being out of hospital for 24 hours, I feel as though I'm progressing by leaps and bounds..... No sickness for over 30 hours... big breakfast...nice, long shower... up and at 'em by 11am (a record for recent times!)...big lunch...Cadbury's chocolate buttons... it's just heavenly! And here's the proof that I feel that good....

N.B. JoJo, regardes le petit tableau au-dessus de ma tete !...

In fact, I felt so good, we even took a (very) short walk this afternoon ... maybe 100 metres (!) to breathe in some real fresh, versus filtered, air!

So, although I have yet to look at what has been going on on the blog in my absence, a really big, heartfelt thanks to everyone who has left messages... they really do give me a great boost.... BUT equally to those of you who have tried but been defeated by blog technology (and there are apparently more than just one or two of you... it defeated me too, but that's not hard)!

Anyway, I hope to get to read all messages tomorrow and we'll keep this thing going a while I guess.... because you seem to like it!

Thanks again xoxoxoxoxo

Home!

..... Safely home!.... pleased to be out? ..... you bet!

But tired too... and not up to facing the camera..... so an early night ..... and I'm sure she'll be up to writing to you all tomorrow....

Day Sixteen

No .... not out yet! ... She has a pain in her leg ... and the doctor decided that he'd like to be sure there isn't an underlying problem .... by having a CT scan done.... as he said " I'm pretty sure there's nothing there .... but although I'm a doctor ... I've been wrong before... it's better to be safe than sorry" .... which I guess is true.... it was just disappointing that they didn't get the scan done today.... so although she's a bit fed up about it.... it's probably the best thing to do.

(It could of course just be that she's too popular amongst the prof, doctors and nurses....... )



They've already prepared the bag of medicine to bring home..... so I'm sure she will leave tomorrow......

Day Fifteen

Well ..... today Jules is about as happy as furry boy here!..... and thats because they are letting her out tomorrow.......

.... providing everything stays as it has today..... her white cell count now 5.8.... the prof has seen her today... his comment to her when he was told her cell count was "well what are you doing in my hospital? .... you should be at home!" ..... She's had a meeting with the Specialist Nurse about the do's and dont's at home ... I'm pretty sure Jules will be very tired, with low energy for a few weeks at first.... but given the way she's responded to pretty much every bit of treatment she's had .... she may recover more quickly than they expect.....

Thankyou all for your support, messages and good wishes .... tomorrow I hope to post a picture of her "on the outside"!

Day Fourteen

Cell counts continue to improve.... now up to 4.5.... and just waiting to finish the course of antibiotics..... then they will just keep her in to monitor that everythings fine for 24 hours ... and then its home!!!

The registrar today has told us that she will feel pretty tired ... just like today.... for a little while but that she should feel just like her old self in about two months .... So I know shes hoping that they will let her out by Tuesday..... Its not long now!