A week of worry

In one way or another its been a fairly emotional week; I hadn't realised how anxious I was about Phil's results on Wednesday until after our appointment. It was good news and a tremendous relief to find out that the cancer hadn't spread but even so, I still feel a little bit let down by the NHS. Dr Andrews the oncology surgeon that gave us the all clear couldn't answer Phil's more challenging questions about his prostrate and neither could he answer my questions about radiotherapy treatment and the side affects. We were also disappointed that we didn't get to talk to Angela Finn the specialist nurse that we saw when Phil first got diagnosed. Both of us liked her and in a way it would have been better if she had given us the results of MRI and I think that she would have been far better equipped to answer our many questions than the surgeon.

After our appointment I dropped Phil back at work and then after sending a 'round robin' email to let all our friends and family know Phil's MRI results I met up with Jan at the OU. Whatever the results of Phil's results, I kind of anticipated I might need to release with someone and I was right. Jan had been reading the blog but she has this uncanny knack of reading in-between the lines and somehow knowing what I'm feeling without actually saying it. She was worried that I wasn't eating enough with all the diet food and whisked us off to the pub. And she was right, I would have quite happily guzzled scampi and chips had I of not forced down cauliflower curry and rice just before we met up. Still, she kindly ordered we a large glass of Chardonnay and I was able to get a few worries off my chest and catch up with her news. As they say, a trouble shared is a trouble halved so thanks for that Jan, you're a true pal!

It was funny though, when we first saw Angela the Urology nurse after being diagnosed she said to us “now don't go looking too much at the internet and looking at any American websites because they won't help you”. I thought at the time that was a funny thing to say but now I'm beginning to understand why. The Americans have a terrible diet and have a higher rate of prostrate cancer than the UK BUT the difference is, they have invested money are are further dvanced in the treatment of prostrate cancer. Right now I am researching Cryoablations, cryosurgery and cryotherapy which are all terms for freezing prostrate cancer. I am also looking into TIP, testosterone inactivating pharmaceuticals, all of which are alternatives to either a radical prostatectom and external beam radiotherapy. I know its early days but I have a feeling we will be turning our backs on the UK and its surgery and radiotherapy and heading to the US. Okay, it will cost us but that is not a problem; Phil's health and quality of life is far more important than a few thousand bucks. Hey, we can even get a holiday thrown in with the treatment and that can only be a good thing right? I am being flippant I know, we have loads more research to do before we can decide on the route to follow.

Phil is doing really well on the diet, he is calling it an 'extreme' diet but really its not that bad even though he says he is feeling hungry all the time. I haven't really spent time on looking into desserts so Phil has to make do with half a pot of soya yogurt with some berries. What is worrying me though, is that Phil demanded a PSA test along side his usual monthly sugar levels test and he says when he gets his results back next Tuesday, if his PSA level hasn't dropped then he is going to give up. This is crazy because his weight loss already indicates that the prostrate cancer diet is working, and well, I think two and a bit weeks on the diet is not long enough to shrink his tumour and he needs to give it a bit longer to work. I am no nutritionist but I know that the way we are eating at the moment is healthy and can do nothing but good. What Phil needs to get into his head, that its not just a diet but a new lifetime way of eating. Okay we can ease up a little when the weight has come off with a few treats now and then but we can't go back to the way we use to eat. End of, there is no going back.

I've done fairly okay with the cooking this week; cabbage soup with a kick which wasn't too bad, Dahl curry and rice, which although not a complicated recipe, it was my first experience of soaking and cooking with lentils. Fortunately Phil loves this type of stuff and thought it was really tasty. I'm wasn't so keen though, I'm more of a meat and 2 veggie kinda of girl but I forced it down because I know its really good for me. We've finally finished off the cauliflower curry, which again another hit with Phil. After our hospital appointment on Wednesday, I dropped Phil back at work with some sandwiches because he couldn't come home for lunch as he had to make the time up. Bread is not really allowed on our diet but I made sandwiches with tuna and home made mayonnaise which was another first for me. It wasn't too difficult to make but lots of faffing and mess with the hand held blender and I understand why people buy shop brought.

Yesterday I made another batch of the prostrate tomato soup but as I'm getting more confident with the soup making, I tweaked the recipe and added some chilli which, even if I do say so myself, made it even more delicious. I also had a go at making Brazil nut, tomato and onion bread from scratch. What a palova this was and what a mess I made. In the making I ended up throwing away my dish cloth and putting two tea towels in the wash. The bread looked okay and Phil said it tasted okay but I was temped to throw it in the bin; the poppy seeds covered the kitchen when I went to slice it and it was so much effort to make 2 small loaves that I don't think I will making this again in a hurry. Silly thing is we have a bread maker which I have relegated to the garage so maybe I should this get this out and try slinging in a bread mixture. Maybe.

I noticed on Facebook last week that Vanessa posted her appeal on the just giving website. In August she is doing the Machu Picchu trek in Peru and in 2012 she is going to do the Everest Base Camp challenge. How amazing is that especially from a girl that until fairly recently hated exercise! I have the utmost respect for her and she is doing these treks to raise funds for Willen Hospice. This year is their 30^th anniversary and Vanessa is hoping to raising £2000. I have posted her link to the justgiving website on the blog. Willen Hospice provides a wonderful caring facility and has provided help for all too many of our friends over the years. If you want to donate to this worthy cause here is the link http://www.justgiving.com/Vanessatreksforwillenhospice

The news of the cyclone ripping across Queensland this week has been quite disturbing. Its unsettling to think that we were there this very same time last year. I was worried about Geoff and his family in Townsville and couldn't stop myself sending Geoff an email to see how they were. I picked up an email from him this morning and thank god they are all okay; here is what he said:

"Denise and I and kids moved to Jean and Graham’s' before the cyclone as our suburb (along with 30,000 other people) were advised to evacuate due to a possible storm surge of up to 6m (20 feet). Luckily this didn’t eventuate and our home is fine. Actually, the strong wind lasted from about 5pm on Wednesday till about 1.30 pm Thursday.  Crazy!!!  Really strong winds (90 -100 mph)  lasted from around 8.30 pm Wed to 9am Thursday.  All our friends and family are fine and so are our homes.  We are all really very lucky. I am so glad it was this year and not when you were here last year.  We are still at Jean and Graham's now as they still have power. Our suburb, like lots of others have none.  So we will most likely stay here till power is restored at home".

Argos arrived at quarter to nine yesterday and delivered the Reebok Edge Exercise Bike that I ordered on line last Friday. Earlier in the week I dismantled our dining room table and put it in the garage along with the chairs just to make room for the bike. We've got so much furniture in there at the moment that it is looking like step toe’s yard, oh dear. I deliberated long and hard as to whether it was good idea to loose the table because this is where we entertain guests. Its been so long since we had anyone round for dinner and we owe meals to so many friends. But in the end I figured that Phil is going to be on this cancer diet for some months so entertaining at home is not on the menu. We have decided that we shall have a big BBQ in the summer and get everyone round. Hopefully we shall still be living in this house. The instructions to assemble the bike were basic to say the least. It took me 3 hours to put it together and even then I had to get Phil to tweak some of the screws and bolts. But its done now and ready for action. It will be interesting to see how much use it gets over the coming weeks.