At last I heard from the hospital today.
I start my third session of chemotherapy tomorrow- assuming there is a bed available!
Thet are not going to use the enhanced treatment as after deliberation they have decided it wont make much difference. So I have been sitting round for two weeks for nothing........................
Andy
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Friday, 24 April 2009
Pictures
Received my new XD cards fron E Bay this morning so thought I would pop out and get some pictures of Mote Park as promised in my last entry.
Still no news from the hospital and its getting more frustrating day by day.
Road into the park from the Bearsted direction
View across the lake
Lakeside
And again
The lake is natural and is fed by the River Len, it supports a fishing and boating club. The rest of the park is grass and woodland.
Andy
Thursday, 23 April 2009
Miner Bees
I suppose there are some advantages of being stuck at home-lets face it you have to find something to pass the time. (Do you think I am getting bored)
Anyway I was perusing one of our local free newspapers the other day and I came across a little snippet saying that Miner Bees had been found in Mote Park. Mote Park is 450 acres of open land which is protected by law and forms a green barrier between Maidstone and Bearsted.
Now I had never heard of Miner Bees before and apparently they are bees that burrow into things like brickwork to create there nest. The good news is that they can not sting you as there sting is not sharp enough to penetrate human skin.
A search on the Internet has shown that there are 250 different kinds of bee in the United Kingdom which is something that I did not know but I am sure that if any bee keeper reads this they will correct me if I am wrong. One bee is called the Cuckoo Bee which kills the traditional Bumble Bee and takes over its nest. Life can be cruel in the animal kingdom!
I was going to take some pictures in Mote Park to add to this entry but my digital camera works on an XD card and its showing card corrupt! I have rung round all the local shops but all they stock are type M or type H XD cards which my camera wont accept. Rather than go out and buy a new camera I have tracked down some ordinary XD cards which I have ordered. When they get here I will add some photos.
On a personal level I am still waiting for the next lot of chemotherapy to start. The hospital rang me on Saturday night to go in for a blood test but than rang back and asked me to ring on Monday morning to see if a bed was available, which it was not. I than had to ring back on Monday afternoon only to be told to ring back on Tuesday morning. When I did I was told that as the treatment I was having was slightly different to normal it had to be approved at a higher level and treatment would probably not start again until next week. To say that I am rather p****d of is rather an understatement especially as I feel perfectly well in my self.
Take Care
Andy
Anyway I was perusing one of our local free newspapers the other day and I came across a little snippet saying that Miner Bees had been found in Mote Park. Mote Park is 450 acres of open land which is protected by law and forms a green barrier between Maidstone and Bearsted.
Now I had never heard of Miner Bees before and apparently they are bees that burrow into things like brickwork to create there nest. The good news is that they can not sting you as there sting is not sharp enough to penetrate human skin.
A search on the Internet has shown that there are 250 different kinds of bee in the United Kingdom which is something that I did not know but I am sure that if any bee keeper reads this they will correct me if I am wrong. One bee is called the Cuckoo Bee which kills the traditional Bumble Bee and takes over its nest. Life can be cruel in the animal kingdom!
I was going to take some pictures in Mote Park to add to this entry but my digital camera works on an XD card and its showing card corrupt! I have rung round all the local shops but all they stock are type M or type H XD cards which my camera wont accept. Rather than go out and buy a new camera I have tracked down some ordinary XD cards which I have ordered. When they get here I will add some photos.
On a personal level I am still waiting for the next lot of chemotherapy to start. The hospital rang me on Saturday night to go in for a blood test but than rang back and asked me to ring on Monday morning to see if a bed was available, which it was not. I than had to ring back on Monday afternoon only to be told to ring back on Tuesday morning. When I did I was told that as the treatment I was having was slightly different to normal it had to be approved at a higher level and treatment would probably not start again until next week. To say that I am rather p****d of is rather an understatement especially as I feel perfectly well in my self.
Take Care
Andy
Sunday, 19 April 2009
'If it moves funk it'
As is my wont I was fiddling around with the radio the other day trying to find something interesting to listen to.
What did I come across-only the return of Jazz FM except that it only broadcasts on DAB and the internet. But what joy of joys not only is it back but they also feature one of my favourite DJs- Robbie Vincent.
Those of us of a certain age will remember Robbie from the halcyon days of BBC Radio London when not only was his soul music show on a Saturday lunchtime compulsory listening but he also did a late night phone in which was introduced in the crisis period in the early 1970s when during the power crisis caused by the miners strike television closed down at 10.30! Again this was a programme which became almost mandatory listening.
One of Robbie Vincents jingles was 'If it moves funk it' hence the title of this entry and all I can say is if you get the chance give him a listen on Sunday mornings (10 to 1 UK time) do it and while there give Jazz FM a listen.
Does anyone else remember the power crisis of the 1970s when industry was reduced to a three day week, power cuts by rota and electrically powered train services were reduced or is it just me getting old!
On a personal note I had an appointment at Kings College hospital on Friday to discuss stem cell transfer and they are confident that it will work for me although they say my response to chemotherapy so far has been reasonable rather than the good that the local hospital said.
Anyway the plan is for me to have another session of chemotherapy locally followed by stem cell harvesting at Kings than a fourth session of chemo at Maidstone. This will than be followed by a high dose session of chemo at Kings followed by stem cell transfer. This will mean staying in hospital for about three weeks. I am still quite aprehensive about it all but if it works it will be fantastic.
Take Care
Andy
What did I come across-only the return of Jazz FM except that it only broadcasts on DAB and the internet. But what joy of joys not only is it back but they also feature one of my favourite DJs- Robbie Vincent.
Those of us of a certain age will remember Robbie from the halcyon days of BBC Radio London when not only was his soul music show on a Saturday lunchtime compulsory listening but he also did a late night phone in which was introduced in the crisis period in the early 1970s when during the power crisis caused by the miners strike television closed down at 10.30! Again this was a programme which became almost mandatory listening.
One of Robbie Vincents jingles was 'If it moves funk it' hence the title of this entry and all I can say is if you get the chance give him a listen on Sunday mornings (10 to 1 UK time) do it and while there give Jazz FM a listen.
Does anyone else remember the power crisis of the 1970s when industry was reduced to a three day week, power cuts by rota and electrically powered train services were reduced or is it just me getting old!
On a personal note I had an appointment at Kings College hospital on Friday to discuss stem cell transfer and they are confident that it will work for me although they say my response to chemotherapy so far has been reasonable rather than the good that the local hospital said.
Anyway the plan is for me to have another session of chemotherapy locally followed by stem cell harvesting at Kings than a fourth session of chemo at Maidstone. This will than be followed by a high dose session of chemo at Kings followed by stem cell transfer. This will mean staying in hospital for about three weeks. I am still quite aprehensive about it all but if it works it will be fantastic.
Take Care
Andy
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
Easter Monday visit to see the Alpacas
No its not the in laws!
Being Easter we wanted to go out somewhere but it was a grey overcast day here in Kent although warm. So popping down to the coast seemed rather pointless and there is no fun just driving round for the fun of it. I was glancing through one of our free newspapers and saw an advert for an open day at a farm that breeds Alpacas at nearby Marden, no admission fee was being charged but donations were expected for the Kent Air Ambulance.
It turned out to be a fantastic afternoon out and as for the Alpacas they were actually rather cute!
Aparently they are bred for there fibre which is aparently very hard wearing and long lasting. In the wild they only give birth between 7 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon as in there natural habitat of the Andes if a new born is not cleaned and dry they can freeze to death overnight. They are part of the Camelid group which includes Lamas.
They are very gentle creatures and dont seem to mind human contact at all. All in all it was a very pleasant afternoon.
As I said earlier donations were requested for the Kent Air Ambulance which is a very worthy cause and the Air Ambulance has proved its worth many times and I dont mind contributing. However it does make you wonder why it has to be funded by voluntary contribution and not funded like the normal ambulance service.
Andy
Monday, 6 April 2009
The Boat That Rocked
I have yet to see this film but from what I have heard it is very good.
For those that do not know it is the story of an off shore radio (pirate) station in the 1960s and is based on the much missed Radio Caroline. Back in those days the only pop music played on the BBC was about two hours a week, other than that the only pop music station was Radio Luxembourg. The pirates were a breath of fresh air!
They brought about two major changes to British radio, firstly the introduction of Radio 1 and the introduction of independant commercial radio to the UK. I have used the word independant because at the time thasts what it was but sadly stations have been swallowed up into a couple of large groups all using the same playlist and features. You can here 'Flirty at Ten Thirty' on any number of stations throughout the UK. In fact I find commercial radio in the UK extremely boring.
The former pirate disc jockeys must cringe when they here what there efforts have led to. In fact a lot of them now work for the BBC. In fact it has created a bit of a problem here as two of the leading DJs are on at the same time on a Saturday night. Dave Cash is on BBC Radio Kent from 6 whilst at the same time the legendry Johnie Walker is on Pirate Johnie Walker on BBC Radio 2. Johnie Walker was and still is one of my all time heroes, anyone who uses a track by Duane Eddy as his theme tune must be OK!
Going back to Radio Luxembourg they only played about half of each record before cutting in and saying that was so and so on the Decca label. The reason for this was that the records were supplied by the record companies and the idea was to encourage you to go out and buy the record. Luxembourg also carried the advert by the well known Horrace Batchelor encouraging you to send him a postal order to get his foolproof way of winning the football pools. What made the advert memorable was the address to send to was in Keynsham near Bristol -thats spelt K E Y N S H A M!
I wonder if anyone did send him any money and whats more to the point did they win anything on thev pools!
Andy
For those that do not know it is the story of an off shore radio (pirate) station in the 1960s and is based on the much missed Radio Caroline. Back in those days the only pop music played on the BBC was about two hours a week, other than that the only pop music station was Radio Luxembourg. The pirates were a breath of fresh air!
They brought about two major changes to British radio, firstly the introduction of Radio 1 and the introduction of independant commercial radio to the UK. I have used the word independant because at the time thasts what it was but sadly stations have been swallowed up into a couple of large groups all using the same playlist and features. You can here 'Flirty at Ten Thirty' on any number of stations throughout the UK. In fact I find commercial radio in the UK extremely boring.
The former pirate disc jockeys must cringe when they here what there efforts have led to. In fact a lot of them now work for the BBC. In fact it has created a bit of a problem here as two of the leading DJs are on at the same time on a Saturday night. Dave Cash is on BBC Radio Kent from 6 whilst at the same time the legendry Johnie Walker is on Pirate Johnie Walker on BBC Radio 2. Johnie Walker was and still is one of my all time heroes, anyone who uses a track by Duane Eddy as his theme tune must be OK!
Going back to Radio Luxembourg they only played about half of each record before cutting in and saying that was so and so on the Decca label. The reason for this was that the records were supplied by the record companies and the idea was to encourage you to go out and buy the record. Luxembourg also carried the advert by the well known Horrace Batchelor encouraging you to send him a postal order to get his foolproof way of winning the football pools. What made the advert memorable was the address to send to was in Keynsham near Bristol -thats spelt K E Y N S H A M!
I wonder if anyone did send him any money and whats more to the point did they win anything on thev pools!
Andy
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Consultation and Not Confrontation
You are probably aware that there is a G20 meeting in London today.
Unfortunately it has led to some violence in the street, maybe not to serious but violence none the less. I have never ever understood the need for violence of any sort. If an objector has a legitimate point to make they should be allowed to voice there opinion and to be told why there proposal will or wont work. This is one of the basic freedoms in the free world or have I lost the plot somewhere.
Had my CT scan yesterday and after 8 attempts they managed to insert the cannula, needless to say I feel like a well used dartboard at the moment. Wont get the results until next week though. Otherwise I am feeling fine at the moment.
Andy
Unfortunately it has led to some violence in the street, maybe not to serious but violence none the less. I have never ever understood the need for violence of any sort. If an objector has a legitimate point to make they should be allowed to voice there opinion and to be told why there proposal will or wont work. This is one of the basic freedoms in the free world or have I lost the plot somewhere.
Had my CT scan yesterday and after 8 attempts they managed to insert the cannula, needless to say I feel like a well used dartboard at the moment. Wont get the results until next week though. Otherwise I am feeling fine at the moment.
Andy
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