Update 7

UPDATE 7 – Sunday 20 September

We have had another roller coaster ride this past fortnight, with big ups and big downs.

John had such a good start to the week after the chemo on Monday 7 September. It was really something special. On the Wednesday he had enough energy to stay out shopping in Limassol after he’d had his drip removed (the one that stays in for 48 hours after he leaves the oncology centre). So he lasted out and about from 10 in the morning till 3 in the afternoon. And he got out of the car to get the paper from the shop, the things from the DIY store, and came around the supermarket – where once he would stay sitting in the car. When we got home he got the step ladder out and changed the light bulbs, he helped wash up and he undid the dish washer – all these things that before he’d had no energy to do.

And he walked further each morning around the village. We did make it to our picnic by the bridge, one of our favourite places in Cyprus (see photo). But by the Saturday all this was reversed and he became a shadow of himself, totally lackluster and exhausted. This is the problem with the chemo – you cannot predict how he will feel from one day to the next, from one week to the next.  There is neither rhyme nor reason. Hence I have not arranged visitors for him each day as he looked and felt so wretched. He has been bothered again by muscular cramp in his right leg – but it did not seem to be anything of concern to the doctors.

A major plus was the arrival on Sunday of our old friends from Hampshire Lynne and Peter, who came out for a week not for a holiday but to help us. Lynne has cooked creative meals for us every night, has cleaned and ironed whilst Peter has done umpteen DIY jobs around the house as well as assist John in loading new software onto his computer. Best of all Lynne has cleaned up John’s railway room so that we can now even see where the floor is. It has been marvelous, like having your own caretaker couple.

They also drove us to Paphos this Friday for a fun photo-shoot on the beach in which John took part. The aim is to create a fund raising calendar featuring only people who have had cancer. Each month shows a different film title – and John will be the husband of Shirley Valentine, in the scene where he arrives at the end of the film to take her home.

The other good news is that our holiday insurance company, who had been quibbling over our claim, has agreed to cover the medical costs (some three thousand dollars) in America and most of the extra flight costs. It has taken more than two months of fighting but they finally agreed it on the phone this last Friday.

Tomorrow we make the trip once again to Nicosia for the forth session of chemotherapy. It appears John will now have a scan after the sixth session, to see if it is working. Karina is coming with us again to help with the driving and give moral support. We keep focusing on the positives – and John is looking forward to being fit for Natasha and Alan’s wedding, which we now know will take place next summer in Cyprus.