Back Ache

The backache that appeared by magic a couple of weeks ago disappeared by magic the day after I went to the doctor.  Yesterday it returned, so I'm going to the kinestherapist tonight.


And Nala is going to the vet for an abscess on her neck.

And I'm stopping by the doctor to get the prescription for iron.

So far, I'm impressed with my new doctor.  When the blood results arrived last week, she called me.

Nick and the rest of the animals are O.K.

A Little Clarification & Other Matters

It's hard to stay chipper when you're just so damned tired!  Some days I think I need more antidepressants, but then I remember it's just fatigue.  It better be something I'll get over because I am leading a really useless life just now.

But I'm cheap to keep.  I've lost 13 kilos (28.5 pounds; 2 stone) since my operation.  Just not hungry.  Losing 13 is O.K. because that's what I'd gained, but it's time to call a halt.

Anyway, on a cheerier note, sort of, I have recalled that I've had spots before -- on my lung.  Sometimes they're there and sometimes they're not.  Or sometimes the oncologist mentions them and sometimes he doesn't.  When he does, he tells me they're "nothing."  So I guess the liver spots are the same.

And here are a few pictures I've been meaning to post.

Lance Armstrong's 1999 Yellow Jersey from the Tour de France, donated to Centre Léon Bérard, the hospital I go to.

The T-shirt says, "Behind every successful woman there is frequently a rather talented cat."

The 13 kilos disappeared between this picture and the next.

Wave bye-bye to what hair we had time to grow.

The T-shirt says "Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods.  Cats have never forgotten this."

Scan and Checkup

I'm better.  I managed to stay up for a whole day Wednesday, though much of it was spent in the car or waiting around on chairs.  And another day yesterday until 4 PM when we got home from Lyon.

The tumour is still good, but has grown slightly.  And I have spots in my liver.  This is not liver cancer, explains the doctor.  This is ovarian cancer in the liver.  Very subtle; too subtle for me.  Nick says that the liver cells are fine, but the liver is being invaded.

Anyway, not to worry now, but to keep an eye on and control. So, back to chemo.  Starting September 9, every two weeks.

Onward!

AAFCO Admits Rendered Pets in Pet Food

My pets have been on a diet of raw meat and bones for five years.  Human grade.  From the supermarket.  Like us.  Everyone I know thinks I'm a nut, but I have friends on Yahoo Groups.

The animals are healthy and FloJo's teeth, which were disgusting and had to be cleaned under anaesthetic five years ago, have been sparkling clean since we switched.  Unless you are buying top premium pet food from small manufacturers (getting harder and harder; Purina keeps buying them up), and you really know how to read labels, your pets could be eating anything, including your previous pet.  And, at last, it's been caught on camera.  Not gory, just an interview with those folks in charge of pet food standards.

Baby Miosa's first chicken wing

Quick Visit

In and out of hospital for three days.  With my usual habit of telling myself "jack" stories, I'd managed to convince myself that my back was O.K., but my kidneys were going.  Probably the catheter was killing me.

I pissed off the doctors and nurses by refusing all pain meds except paracetamol, but I'm not cut out to be a morphine addict.   It takes weeks to get rid of the mouth and throat dryness and the after taste of withdrawal. 


Scans and x-rays showed nothing wrong with my kidneys, so I guess it is my back, again. Monday evening I'm interviewing a new GP; I'll ask for physio.

I'm still too tired to do anything except get dressed, but yesterday we had the yearly lunch with our neighbours where we used to live in Rémuzat.  Six hours at the lunch table and we were the second people -- only -- to leave.  I ate more than I've eaten for 3 weeks and promptly threw most of it up.  It had tasted good going down, though.

In fact, the food was so magnificent (cooked by a Belgian neighbour and his wife) that we are sworn to not discuss the meal -- to avoid a real estate rush, everyone wanting to live in La Combe and pushing property prices up.  (Yes sirree, the wine was flowing.)  This would  be good news only to the people who bought our house and  are now selling to return to the bright lights of Brussels.

A couple of friends who were there were supposed to visit today, but are suffering the aftermath.  Evidently the "lunch" didn't break up until 10:30.

It's been so long since I've written. . .

. . . that you're all going to stop writing me.

I may not have a back problem.  I think I have a kidney problem.  Blood in urine.  Feels like infection, but no infection.  I think the catheter is causing problems and the medicines are making me sick.  Stopped the meds and hurt more this morning, so I had to go back to the morphine.  Going to the doctor.

Have you noticed that the doctors seem to mess me up as often as they do me some good?

Bad back

Not been bloging the last few days because I have been laid-up in bed with a bad back. Future blog posts are accumulating in my head at the moment.

Good Enough for Them

Good enough for me.