Welcome back to Dexamethasone

Today my chemo regime restarted the corticosteroid of the title. I take it in bursts of 4 days on, 3 days off. It makes a significant difference to how I feel; it works well in conjunction with the ant-sickness drugs to supress any feeling of nausea, and it engenders a feeling of wellbeing. So, I was feeling yukky yesterday as it was the end of the the "off" period. By ten this morning I felt better.

Whilst on the subject, for the clinically minded of you, I had another infusion of Daunorubicin and Vincristine. Interestingly, the chemo nurse told me that there is a lifetime limit on Daunorubicin; I do not know what this means for me exactly, time will tell I guess. I am currently hooked up to the expensive yellow fungicide.

Whilst in my somewhat miserable state yesterday, I forgot to mention that I had another reflexology session, and very nice it was too. She is also an aromatherapist, and gave me something to help with the nausea. It is a mix of eucalyptus and lemon, and briefly sniffed smells like a rich Syrah, although deeper inhalations are more "medicinal". I love the smell, and I do think it made feel less nauseous, but I am so gullible! Still whether it does anything physical or not is irrelevant eh - it is the effect that counts!

Rose came by this morning, bearing gifts! Most notable of these is a tarte au fine herbes (homemade of course). It is perfect food for in here, and is not surviving first contact very well! I got half the tart (the other half Rose reasonably kept for herself), and I am afraid only a quarter remains. As I had hoped, she also broke the logjam in my current crossword; two heads are so much better than one, especially a distratced one.

Today's lunch was fish and chips. Although far too few chips, it was the best meal they served yet. Don't get me wrong, it was not haute cuisine, but more like what you might get in a pub or a chippy than any of the other meals.

Just after 2pm, my old friend Jonny came to visit (I prefer the more exotic Italian spelling of Gianni). John and I shared a flat in Finchley (somewhat cockroach infested I seem to recall), and then a more genteel place in Willesden Green (for the benefit of my colonial friends, these are London places). This was in the mid-80's ( a shockingly long time ago). It was fabulous to see him. John is a keen and competent golfer, but I still think Rose will whoop him when we next play (they are both way ahead of little old me). John was a great maturing influence on me and I have a lot to thank him for (although he may be horrified to think it). I remember the nights watching Barry McGuigan with a stonking big curry. We used to get Christmas cards from the curry house, which is not a good place to be (and yes people, this was a maturing influence).

As a footnote, Rose and I now get Christmas cards from the hotel in Beaune where we stay most years on our wine buying trips. Maybe I moved up in the world?

A little later on Yaniv rang, and we had a very nice chat that I much appreciated. Yaniv is Israeli, but so unlike the stereotypes we hold that it restores your faith in humankind.

I am now officially neutropenic, as I have been alluding to previously, which means I cannot leave the room, and good hand-hygiene is important. Also, I cannot eat unpasturised cheese. Which makes me wonder how French people survive this treatment:)

I updated my blog profile today, but singularly failed to put the URL of a picture of me doing the Christmas Auracaria (a cryptic crossword composer of renown) on the profile; every attempt I made to paste a link to the picture on picasa failed. If anyone has any bright ideas I would love to hear them (I googled to no avail). As a last resort, I can get Rose to add the photo from her laptop, but I would love to conquer the iPad! One day all these things will work seamlessly!