5th March Chemo Day 12

A slow day! Again it feels like nothing new is happening and the day drags on, and yet at the same time I know that every day is a unique day, a gift of life to be treasured. Jane and I spend so much time together that at times we have very little to say. We share almost every conversation every activity together so there’s almost nothing we don’t know about each other and I have to say I love it! It might sound like soppy romanticism but I love this woman more than words can say. One day I trust we shall resume a more normal and healthy life, each of us engaging in different workplaces and we’ll have loads to talk about but until then we simply enjoy each other’s company.

I used to love coming home from work when the children were very young and hear about Jane’s day, sharing in her enjoyment of the numerous childhood landmarks such as first steps, first words and even potty training! I know that in some ways motherhood can be a very challenging and quite lonely experience but she was so enthusiastic and I was always so proud of how she coped. This was in marked contrast to my own experience in the workplace in which I was never happy and often came home quite miserable and massively stressed. Somehow Jane carried both the children and in some ways me through the challenges of life with a smile on her face and always with real encouragement to reach out to God in prayer and action. I’ve been quite seriously ill and off work for almost 12 years now and for all of that time Jane has supported me wonderfully, especially in not putting up with any nonsense such as accepting the condition. At the moment it’s my privilege to give her what support I can… though she’s set the bench mark by her example rather high!

Although rather slow it’s been quite a nice day as first my sister and her daughter turned up on the doorstep with both a gift of flowers and words of encouragement… it’s wonderful that people are so kind and put themselves out to stand with us at this challenging time. Then one of our daughters and her boyfriend cooked us a superb and quite professional Spaghetti Bolognese for a late lunch! I love the debates we have on world affairs, today briefer than usual but at least we avoided conspiracy theories and global economics. Jane continues to feel really ill after the double chemo on Tuesday, but she does say that there is a very small improvement upon how she felt yesterday. It would be great if the ill-feelings were to pass very quickly and then she might recover strength before her next cycle. She has a week off from hospital now and then another x-ray and blood tests before being given the go-ahead for more treatment. 18 weeks of treatment plus recovery time is a real long slog… we need to keep praying about both side effects and severe fatigue.

Philippians 4v8 ‘Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.’ (NIV)