When we leave on the 30th our journey will be northbound but owing to a bridge being re-built in Milton Keynes our route past is blocked until March 13th. Six weeks is nothing and a slow journey with stops along the way will be a good way of easing myself gently back into boating.
I have of late been reading quite a few blogs some of which tell a similar Mr. C story to the one that has unfolded aboard Nb Valerie. A lot of different stories, none of which I wish to refer to, some still ongoing and some like mine that.... Now here`s the difficult part, how do you describe the stage I`m at? In remission, cured, all clear.
Understanding the Difference Between Cure and Remission
Cure means that there are no traces of your cancer after treatment and the cancer will never come back.Remission means that the signs and symptoms of your cancer are reduced. Remission can be partial or complete. In a complete remission, all signs and symptoms of cancer have disappeared.
If you remain in complete remission for 5 years or more, some doctors may say that you are cured. Still, some cancer cells can remain in your body for many years after treatment. These cells may cause the cancer to come back one day. Most types of cancer usually return within the first 5 years after treatment. But, there is a chance that cancer will come back later. For this reason, doctors cannot say for sure that you are cured. The most they can say is that there are no signs of cancer at this time.
Because of the chance that cancer can come back, your doctor will monitor you for many years and do tests to look for signs of cancer’s return. They will also look for signs of late side effects from the cancer treatments you received.
My choice is remission or at least on the way to it. Use this LINK and read the terms doctors use. I don`t think I would ever use the word cured unless in twenty + years time perhaps if I`m lucky enough to fall asleep never to wake and still no sign of cancer then my family can use that word.
In the meantime fellow fighters live each day and hope or pray, depending how you live your life, that the scans keep coming up clear.
I did intend to blog about the left and right hands of the NHS but the sentences were like gates blocking my thoughts and leading me along a different route until by the third paragraph there was no turning back.
Flesh eating fish and boat horses were believe it or not also to feature in a blog post. These two subjects would at least keep the blog along a boating route.
It's been a long hard road Les that you have come to the end of and soon you will be free of any ties stopping your wonderful cruising life.
ReplyDeleteYour six weeks waiting for the bridge to let you completely free will be a wonderful six weeks just to meander and take in the air, walking the towpath, spotting the wood in the bushes and stoking the fire..
Enjoy.. xx
We are so glad that you are mending well under the care of the lovely Jaq, Les. You have a gem there, mate!
ReplyDeleteI can see you two having a wonderful gentle cruise northwards, enjoying the relative quiet and truly relishing the peace of your own company and no one else's unless you choose it - good thing we aren't back till May or we would be stalking you, for sure ...
Not sure if you've ever done it, but maybe when you get there, you could walk into the village of Soulbury - it's a lovely place and I remember The Boot pub being very nice for a celebratory meal as well. Find 7 Chapel Hill and say hello to it for me - it was my Aunt Daphne's house.
Love and hugs, M&Dxox
No cure exists for cancer.
ReplyDeleteHowever if the medics say you are cured... The situation is the cancer may well appear somewhere else in your body.
I have been through the process as well you know; suspect four years of chemo basically killed whatever cancer was in my system however the chemicals perhaps did more damage than the cancer would have done over the same period.
So now it is a return to basics. No more P.E.T.A. if that but once a week.
PETA? People eating tasty animals...
Hi Sue
ReplyDeleteYep the time will pass quick enough. Just being free of that closed in marina will be a blessing.
Lesx Big hi to Vic
Hi Marylin
ReplyDeletedid try to walk into Soulbury once but the road was closed off.
The interest is that I read a few boat children are buried in the church yard having drowned in the Soulbury 3. Sad as it is it`s another piece of canal history.
Les
Hi Bryce
ReplyDeleteAll so true my friend. A lot of folk don`t realise is often not always the treatment is what kills you.
Les