Don't say the C word

I've thought long and hard about this, but have decided to share some recent diary entries with you.

12th March, 10.30 - Go to medical centre and have routine blood test for diabetic check; nurse spots the angry red itchy rash at the bottom of my right arm and makes an appointment with the doc at 5pm the same day.

12th March, 17.00 - See doc, who prescribes penicillin, special soap, skin cream and strong steroid ointment. He asks if I have any other problems and I mention one or two toiletry issues. Before I realise what's happening, he dons plastic gloves, pokes his fingers up my backside and refers me to the bum department at Salisbury Horsepiddle.

22nd March, 11.00 - Have barium enema (*knock knock* - is that a friend or an enema? The old ones are the best) which, if you weren't aware, is quite horrible.

22nd March, 15.00 - Hospital rings to say I have to go back and see the consultant surgeon - "there's a problem".

26th March, 10.30 - See consultant (she is a very lovely person, by the way) who says there is a tumour lurking in the lower bowel and it is cancerous (how did I know she was going to tell me that?). Best case scenario - we cut the little bastard out and rejoin the bowel, but first I must have scans to find out if it has spread to other organs.

1st April, 11.00 - Have MRI and CT scans and spend the days following in a hell in which I am convinced that every spot, mole, ache and pain is raging cancer.

8th April, 12.30 - Consultant tells me it hasn't spread. Am a bit relieved. I then have an examination and biopsies under anaesthetic to determine whether or not the best case scenario mentioned earlier can happen. The consultant comes to the recovery ward to tell me that it can. I kiss her - I did ask permission first.

15th April, 12.00 - I now have a date for the operation - 26th April - and, today, the consultant fills me in on what will happen. I will have to have one of them bags (*groan*) but only for a temporary period and, possibly chemotherapy afterwards. I then go to see one of the stoma care nurses (the consultant calls them bag ladies) with whom I spend a happy hour going over some practicalities. She was very forthright and words like 'wee' and 'poo' slip glibly off her tongue.

25th April, 15.00 - I go to the horsepiddle, have a blood-thinning injection, go home and return on the morrow for the surgery, following which I'll be in for four or five days, then signed off for two weeks. Good job my employer now has a sick pay scheme!

I feel like I've been in a whirlwind; still, given the alternative, I should think myself lucky. See you again soon.

Spring Has Sprung

You'll all know that Stu had to stop running the Tuesday Challenge for work-related reasons. Well, Jonathan Gazeley, a regular contributor, kindly offered to step into the breech to host a new weekly challenge and jolly good it is, too! It's now up to #20, this week's subject being "Spring Has Sprung". So, armed with an idea (and a new digital SLR), I went out yesterday to search for Spring foals in the New Forest. I only saw one and it was lovely; however, there was nowhere to stop the car and, by the time there was room, it was too far away for my poor old leg to cope! Anyway, I took some more piccies and, after much umming and aahing, eventually narrowed it down to one from the three up there ^^. I chose the top one, hoping that lazing around in the late April sunshine was normal Spring behaviour for deer in the New Forest. Please tell me I was right!