Day 11 - At Sea

James had another talk to do today and it went very well again.



I haven't any photo's from dinner this evening. We tried something a little different and went to the Alternative Dining Area for their Indian night. We were so excited by the posh Indian food we were brought out that I completely failed to take any photos. What made it all the better was that we had tried to go the previous day and it was booked out, but today we went with George and Lois (the other onboard speaker and his wife), who knew a man and got us in. Result. It was curry, Cunard style!

Day 10 - Malaga

The weather in Malaga was a bit rainy so we stayed on the ship in the morning. However, when it cleared up and turned sunny later on we hopped on shore for a quick beer/coffee in a cafe.

Dinner tonight - semi-formal. We started it off in the Chart Room bar, I had the cocktail of the day "Berries Delight" - slightly dissapointing after the Martini's I have sampled previously.

Day 9 -AT SEA

A lie in! This cruise lark is quiet intense you know! I had visions of sitting for hours reading lots of books. In reality "Ship's time" passes seamlessly from one meal to the next with barely time to catch a talk, read a page or two or grab a swim before moving on to the next meal or snack location. Today has been pretty much just that!

Dinner this evening; Formal, started off with a martini (well, 2 actually ; watermelon followed by a pomegranate one. Neither quite as fabulous as the first raspberry martini I had earlier on the cruise) in the Commodore club with our cabin neighbours George and Lois.

Day 8 - La Goulette

My first experience of Africa. We went on a tour of Tunis, through La Kasbah markets and into a rug/carpet shop for local mint tea and a rug demonstration - before coming out with a nice new red rug!

When we got back on board, James needed to do some more work - so here we are, working hard!

After I grabbed a swim in the outdoor pool we dressed for this evening's semi-formal dinner, after joining our table for Gin and Tonic's in the bar before hand.

Day 7 - Valletta, Malta

Weather in Malta was very nice indeed. James and I got to wander around the streets for an hour or two before (yes you guessed it) having a beer/coffee in an open air cafe before heading back for lunch onboard.

Tonight's evening attire; Semi-formal.

 

Tonight was an extra special night for us as we booked into the posh restaurant (surchage required) for this evening's dinner for two. It was two years to the day since we were waiting for me to go into hospital for "lump overboard". We therefore splashed out on a bottle of champagne in the champagne bar (with strawberry nibbles). OMG, i didn't think it possible to feel full as continual grazing has stretched my stomach, but this was something else. I couldn't manage the chocolates with the coffee and had to take them home with me.

Day 6 - At Sea

Well, Today was fun!

Gale 12, 6m waves - reaching a peak while James was up on stage giving his second lecture. Everything was swaying so much, especially the stage curtain's. At one point there was such a tilit that James lost his footing and a lighting rig crashed to the ground behind him. The show must go on and continue he did.

He had a really big audience of around 400 people who all staggered out slightly green and holding on to whatever wall or pillar they could find.

Dinner this evening was a Semi-formal affair followed by a show (comedy piano duo) in the royal theatre (we chose a box tonight) and a night cap cocktail in the nightclub for Abba night (with a lot of dad dancing around us).

Getting used to this...

Day 5 - Wednesday - Dubrovnik.

Today we got off shore and went into the old town of Dubrovnik to walk along the town wall and through the red-roofed streets. Dubrovnik was very pretty even on the overcast day we have had today. After a quick beer/coffee we headed back to the ship for lunch (Puttanesca pasta made in front of your very eyes). And some more relaxing for the afternoon before James had to go off to be filmed for the ship's telly. (His first talk is already being looped on the Cunard Insights channel and people are starting to recognise him. What fun!).

So anyway, I have definitely got the hang of this whole cruise thing. It basically is just a big floating restaurant and the excitement is planning what meals you fancy partaking in today. The choices consist of;

Continental breakfast 4am-6:30am

Breakfast 6:30am-11am

Lunch 11am - 2pm

Afternoon Snack 2-6pm

Dinner 8:30 pm

Late snack 11pm-4am

add onto that the possibilities of getting a pub lunch or room service at any time of the day or night you can start to see why all my posts are revolving around food! Today I have just got back from afternoon tea of a nice cup of Earl Grey tea with chocolate cream eclairs and scones with jam and cream.

Day 4 - Tuesday - Katakolon, Greece.

Day 4 we arrive in Katakolon, Greece. A little tourist village on the coast. James and I decided to let the hoards go off to Olympia and relaxed on board in the Winter Garden with laptop (James) and a book (Dawn).

Just before lunch we went ashore to grab ourselves a Mythos beer before setting sail again mid afternoon. A late lunch meant I missed out the afternoon tea today (it requires so much will power), and to be especially good I attended a Salsa aerobics class so I could have the full 3 courses at this evenings semi-formal dinner. After dinner we caught the comedian giving a show in the theatre.

Tonight was semi-formal - am I getting good at this posing around ship for the camera or what?

We return every night to find our bed turned down and a pillow chocolate left for us.

Day 3

Out and about in sunny Sicily......

(yes despite having all the free food you could possibly desire on board, we still had to sample the Sicilian pizza's)

Formal night for dinner followed by Martini's in the commodore club.....

full photos at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=73249&l=1424f&id=532416061

Setting sail on the high seas.

Well where do I start? There is so much to explore and talk about after just a couple of days at sea that I think the best place to start is to base it around the main thing we have done since getting onboard..... and that is eat! 

Day 1

Our first night onboard was an Elegant Casual dining experience. Dinner was a lovely 3-4 course meal (depending on your hunger levels) which we finished off with cheese and coffee. We had made it successfully onboard in time to catch the late dinner sitting (delays on flights due to freezing fog had left us slightly uneasy about whether we, and more importantly, our bags, would make it onboard). Dinner was very lovely. Just as we were finishing off dinner the Captain made a special announcement, proclaiming that the weather was going to get a bit choppy on our departure and there was a high chance that the boat would list -  go secure things in your room! What an introduction to life on ship. The winds got up so much that try as it might, the ship could not move us off from the jetty. Several tugs and the rather big ship engines couldn't go against the gale force winds. We weren't going anywhere. So after a night cap it was off to bed not knowing whether we would wake up still in the port of Cittavecchia, Rome or in Naples. 

Day 2

At 8am the next morning we received a wake up phone call. We had made it to sea overnight, however due to rough weather we had aborted our trip to Naples and were heading straight to Messina, Sicily. It was to be a day at sea. Would James be able to do an extra talk at 10am? Yikes! Panic stations. However, he did it wonderfully and I was so proud. I even got in on the act as his "glamorous assistant" who grabbed a mike and made her way through the audience during the question session. Once that was over we headed up for breakfast and an exploration of the ship. 

My highlight of today (after James's talk of course) was discovering the afternoon tea! cucumber sandwiches (crusts removed of course), cookies, cakes, scones with jam and cream. This is the big advantage of having the late dinner sitting... you have room for an afternoon snack.

Evening attire this evening was changed to the Formal Black and White ball. And so we started the evening with champagne in the room (while learning to tie a proper bow tie), followed by the champagne welcome reception with the captain. 

The highlight of James's day was discovering the late night snack options, so after consuming brunch, afternoon tea and a 3 course dinner, the sheer delight on his face when he discovered the hot dogs cooked to order after we made our way back from the onboard night club was a sheer pleasure to witness! (I had to join in with cheese and biscuits of course) 

full photos at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=73249&l=1424f&id=532416061

Brrrrr it's cold outside.....

I could do with a break in the Mediterranean......

Well, what a streak of luck - that's exactly where I am going on Saturday!


James and I are off on Cunard's Queen Victoria for a 12 day cruise round the Med. I am so excited. James has been invited (with guest, me!) as a Royal Astronomical Society speaker on their Insights Programme for guests. He will be giving 4 talks in their on-board theatre on various subjects of his choosing (The Northern Lights and some space stuff) to anyone who wants to go along (I will be!).

So this is our itinery setting sail from Rome;



I am most excited by the Dress code for dinner each night;

Formal (4 nights) Black and White Ball, Masquerade Ball, Big Band Ball and Royal Ascot ball:
Black tie or formal dark suit for men. Evening dress or other formal attire for women.
Semi Formal (5 nights):
Jacket and tie for men. Cocktail dress or trouser suit for women.
Elegant Casual (3 nights):
Jacket, no tie required for men (no jeans or shorts). Dress, skirt or trousers for ladies.

So I have stocked up on my posh frocks, borrowing from friends and going on a bit of a splurge in debenhams last night. I hope to be able to upload pictures of my evening attire while sailing. We will be in an outside statesroom (with a window!). I am also looking forward to the nightly bed turndown service and pillow chocolate!

Champagne Hangover

oooooh I have got a headache today.

I met up with my breast friend Sarah for several glasses of champagne and a bottle of wine (not all of it to myself) last night. She has just slogged her way through her second round of chemo and radiotherapy - what a trouper. We had a lovely time over the champagne and a curry, but being a lightweight these days I am suffering slightly today.

Bye Bye Hixxy Cat.

This week is a very sad week. My lovely handsome ginger cat Hixxy was knocked down and killed on the road the other night. At least a nice person managed to find me so I could go and bring him home in some blankets.

So so sad. Those cats have seen me through some pretty horrible treatments. It's no exaggeration to say that having them here for love and attention while I was off was a great help to get me through it all. I think my little Sy cat knows that I am upset as she hasn't left my side since and comes to cuddle up to me when she sees me crying. Bless her little cotton socks.

Guess it will take a little bit of getting used to not having him around. We'll miss you Hixxy.

The Gargrave Triathlon

Well, James and I have been for our first joint training session. James is planning to do a long-ish run at the weekends and I said in my last post I would get out a bike and join him. So this morning that is exactly what we did.

The weather started off looking quite promising. No rain yet (that was soon to change). So we looked out James's bike from the garage, threw it in the back of the Landy and drove over to Gargrave to run/bike along the Leeds-Liverpool canal tow path.

If James was running and I was biking, where does the swimming part of the triathlon come in I hear you ask? Ah, now that part was all down to me! A slightly misjudged rock on a particularly narrow bit of tow path saw me careering off and landing up to my neck in the (rather chilly) canal. Not entirely sure how I managed to leave the bike safely on the tow path whilst going feet first into the canal, but I did.

I managed to scramble myself out, but did insist at this point that perhaps we turn back. A rather long 30 minutes later I was able to haul a rather wet me into the Landy to go back home, jump into the bath and be brought a warming coffee (+nip of brandy for the shock).

A rather successful first attempt I think.

A Marathon fundraising event

I am really very excited about this.....

James will be running the London Marathon next year! And he is doing it to support my favorite breast cancer charity; Breast Cancer Care. He was selected for one of 20 "golden ticket" places (out of 400 applicants) to run for bcc.

On the application we had to say why James wanted to run for bcc... that was easy as I have a list as long as my arm of services of theirs I have used.

As Breast Cancer Care relies on donations from the public to provide its services free, I decided for a bit of fun to have a little think about just how much I might have cost them... apparently;

• £5 allows 1 person to access the online chat forum and share experiences with other people affected by breast cancer at any time of the day or night . CHECK - oh and have i used these forums... they are a constant source of info, help and support from others for me during treatment and through this forum I have met numerous bosom buddies, including one of my breast buddies who I meet up for the odd glass of champagne and support now and then. I will still pop on there now and then even these days.
  

• £15 would enable us to send out breast cancer factsheets and booklets to 30 people in urgent need of information CHECK - The amount of hand outs and info booklets I have poured over for anything from loosing you hair, side effects of treatment to.... oh lots! and they send them right to your doorstep as well as online info.
  

• £35 covers the cost of a call to our free confidential helpline, offering crucial one-to-one support and information to anyone affected by breast cancer CHECK with bells on- I was part of a Young Women's telephone support group which was just amazing help. Basically they get 7 young-uns together on a conference call every week with a "mediator" and a nurse on hand and for an hour each week we were able to chat through and discuss any issue that were affecting us. It sounds like I was a jibbering wreck about my cancer needing this service - but I don't think I was. It was just nice to talk to other girls about how they were dealing with hair loss, side effects and some of the big issues we all don't talk about that often. I had this every week for 7 weeks as I was going through my treatments.
  

• £65 covers the hourly cost of “ask the nurse” email service which is a vital resource for those who find it difficult to talk about their feelings. CHECK - I used this on a couple of occasions to phone or email a nurse and ask for more info about some of my treatments. If they couldn't answer it they went away, did the appropriate research from all the sources they could and got back to me with advice - fantastic if you think about it. I can't believe I didn't actually think about how much this service might be actually costing them, bcc was just there if I needed it!
  

• £95 connects someone facing breast cancer with a local volunteer who will give that person the opportunity to talk through their experiences of breast cancer face-to-face -CHECK I tried this and was paired with a young "buddy" on the phone when I was first diagnosed and had to take time off work, she helped me overcome the feelings of guilt I was having about having to take some serious sick leave off work, I learnt to relish my time at home in front of the telly.
  

• £400 will fully train a volunteer to provide emotional support and information to people with breast cancer CHECK all the "young women's forum" weekends, healthy living days I pottered off to could not have taken place without the volunteers and staff to make them run. Just Brilliant!
  

So I am so passionate about this charity I can't begin to tell you how excited I am about being able to throw myself into this mammoth marathon fundraising challenge.

We have had to pledge to raise a minimum target of money, but we are up for the challenge. Not only will James be training hard to run the 26 miles (I am going to get a bike to go out and support him on his training runs - that's the plan anyway). I also pledged to hold some fundraising events including a Pink Champagne party... now I have to get my thinking cap on as to what I want to do... I am thinking manicures, champagne, girlie things and gossip (don't worry - James and I also are thinking of planning something the boys can take part in too - unless you are a boy and you like manicures and champagne of course!). And then there is the "Pick me up" fee which is going straight into the pot!

And best of all... I now have something to come and write all about on my blog. I never seem to have anything to say these days (fantastic isn't it!). But now; I have the training schedule (I am determined to match James hour for hour in exercise [pilates, swimming, walking, bike riding and cake baking all count]) and then there is the fundraising planning. Oh how I have missed you dear blog!

That Friday Feeling...

It's 4:30 on a Friday afternoon and I have got that Friday-Feeling.

That really is quite impressive seeing as a little over 24 hours ago I had that Monday-Morning feeling!

You see, I don't work Wednesday's - which breaks up my week a treat - and so when I come into work on Thursday it feels like Monday but with just one more day till the weekend. Result.

Earlier this week I had another occupational health assessment and after a long hour of probing about my physical and mental state, we (my Occ Health Doc and I) decided that I wasn't ready to come back full time and I should give it another 6 months at 4 days a week before I re-asses. He said I was doing very well, but I still feel like I am struggling slightly. So that's the decision and I feel good about it.

Let them eat cake :-D

I think I may have got a little carried away with the baking......

Clockwise from Top;
Dark chocolate-cherry cupcakes
Lemon Syrup loaf
Coconut Macaroons
Chocolate Banana Loaf
Marzipan Fruit Cake x2
Gingerbread x2

So tomorrow I will be packing James off to the Lancaster Macmillan coffee morning armed with cakes and also single-handedly filling the Robert Ogden Center cake stall. I am a cake-machine and that is my bible ;-D

Let the baking commence!

This Friday is Macmillan's "Worlds Biggest Coffee Morning" and my local Robert Ogden centre is taking part. Obviously they will be having a cake stall (as well as a steel band!) and so this week I am going to be miss-domestic-goddess-extraordinaire and have some massive cake baking sessions. I will update the blog with how the baking turns out and how prolific I have managed to be (I have high hopes for reaching record levels of cake baking later this week). So if you are in Leeds on Friday and fancy coming over to the Robert Ogden Centre for coffee and cake to the sounds of a steel band I will be there at 11!

Cake number 1 is already complete; a marzipan fruit cake (care of Nigella) which needed wrapping up for a week (and potentially lacing with rum if I am feeling extravagent) so I thought it would be a good one to get in the bag.

What a Wally!

Well, I can confirm that the lump I found was just a normal lymph node. Doh! silly me.

I went to the breast clinic today to get it checked out and the doctor at first couldn't find what I was talking about (as I expected!)..... but well it was his first day "on Breasts" as he is usually "a Liver man". But after checking with the man above they arranged to do an ultra sound and it looked like just a normal lymph node so they sent me off home. So I felt a bit of a wally, but well you never can tell. I guess that 2 week rule should stay in place for just such eventualities.

Thanks

I need to say a quick thanks to Moira (almost sister-in-law) who found me my great dress that I wore to the wedding this weekend just gone. I was quite chuffed with the £4.50 warehouse dress (care of RSPCA charity shop) and my matching scarf and high-high-high heeled red shoes. Someone I don't know even came up to me and said she loved my dress - don't you just love it when that happens.

lumps and bumps

I made a decision yesterday. I decided to call my breast care nurse. I have bent my 2 week rule (That’s the rule that if I have a strange symptom – I will not panic, I will wait 2 weeks and if it is still there then I will do something about it). Only I can't really be bothered to wait out 2 weeks, it’s on my mind and yesterday I decided I wanted to do something about it now. 1 week ago I felt a miniscule, tiny, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it lump in my neck by my collar bone. It’s soooooo tiny and I was going to give it 2 weeks to see if it was just a knot or random bit of grissle that will just move away. Sometimes it even needs a bit of hunting down when I go for a feel - so it’s probably nothing. But it’s playing on my mind so I thought I would make up a new rule; the Fast Track lump lane! (it’s like those 2+ lanes you get on motorways which by the way are great – we used one on Friday travelling to a wedding and I felt so naughty zooming by all the traffic standing still on the motorway – there should be more of those lanes). Anyway, I called my breast nurse and she is going to see if she could get me back into clinic and have me a little check over. I feel kinda better now I have done that. And now that I have flagged it up you can bet the lump will just go away and I will feel a bit silly about that one!

I have also been sticking my head in the sand a bit lately. I am a scientist so I should know what I am about to say is ridiculous, but such is the way my brain thinks…. The last time I went on a big, great adventure holiday was my honeymoon and when I got back from that things went a little pair shaped. So, I was a bit worried about going on another big holiday cos sod’s law suggests things might go pair shaped again. So in the run up to my holiday I must admit I was almost not opening post because I didn’t want any results coming in which might put pay to a lovely holiday. Now I am back, I am having to do some chasing up…. Blood test results from the Doctors (just checking anemia, liver and thyroid function – pretty straight forward, but the doc had just seemed a little surprised when I said I was still not up to full steam) and an MRI scan results. This is the scan I was supposed to have to find out why I have swollen optic nerves… this was supposed to be done last year, but the system is so poo I got dropped off and had to get my GP to chase up. Anyway about a month before my hols I went for a scan. No word since! But today I made the decision to also chase that up and everything has come back all fine so I can draw a line under that. I am sure the lump will be nothing much either and I bet the Doc won’t even be able to find it… but well to be honest it is 9 months since I had a check up and that seems much too long for my liking so a bit of a prod and poke might be in order anyway.

Top of the World

Well, who would have thought a little over a year ago I struggled to walk to the local shop. Now look at me. I've been to the Canadian Rockies and climbed glaciers and mountains. I've come all the way up from that lake down there. All in all that walk was 15Km! and what a view.


I have also walked up the plain of six glaciers trail from Lake Louise (again 15km return!)



like this.....

I've seen bears (from the car luckily, not out walking - although I had a bear bell and bear spray for just such an eventuality)


and chipmunks....


and stood on ice!



What a great holiday.

365 days

365 days ago I posted this on my blog;


Well, there you go! it's a year since I finished treatment.

It's amazing how quick you forget what it was like to be on treatment. I caught up with my friend's blog who is back on chemo. I read all about the little side effects, the little things you forget and I have to remind myself how far I have come. There was a day when a 5 minute walk to the local shop was way too much for me. Now I am excited about going walking in the Rockie mountains soon.

I have had a good few months where I have almost allowed myself to forget about this cancer thing. I didn't think I would get to a stage where what has happened to me wasn't shaping every thought and action. But, I got there and it is nice. Work has been occupying me. I haven't been thinking about it that much. I am just normal me again. I am looking like me again as well. I am never to know how long things will remain this way I guess, but I am getting quite good at neatly pushing thoughts like that into a far corner of my brain.

This weekend I have got a bit of a throat and ear infection. So not much is happening here. I might go and watch a DVD and cuddle the cats.