Today is our 39th wedding anniversary day. Celebrations will necessarily be somewhat muted but will include a takeaway dinner from the very excellent Vojan http://www.vojanrestaurant.com/ which claims, with good reason, to be the best Indian restaurant in Essex. It's certainly the best one we know.
Next year, if all goes well, we may try for something a little bigger...
Another very warm, spring-like day. Snowdrops out in force, crocuses starting but not at their peak yet. There's a real feeling - in all sorts of ways - of the world gradually and tentatively edging its way back to "normal".
Usual slightly indulgent Sunday breakfast (a potato waffle with a fried egg, made by Sue) then Pill Organisation, then I made Thermomix Brownies - which would have been easier if we'd had the right amount of chocolate on hand... Some maths required to convert to smaller quantities, but the result was fine.
For the walk, we loaded black bags and litter-pickers into Victor's capacious frame and did our duty by collecting enough roadside litter to completely fill one bag. That will let us opt out of the more organised litter-pick that will be happening in March. Not, for obvious reasons, the community-level event we've had (or tried to have) in previous years, just basically asking people to look after the area immediately outside their property. Crashed out again after that - stamina is really not what it was. I blame the dexamethasone..
22;20 and still completely crashed out. Haven't even got the energy to watch some rubbish on TV. This is the worst one so far,
I started yesterday morning with the firm feeling that we both needed to get out somewhere different for a change and a bit of a re-set of increasing cabin fever. Oaklands Park and Admiral's Park etc. are all very well and we like them both, but sometimes enough is enough. We decided on Thorndon Park South, the other side of Brentwood. That's pushing the "guidelines" for travel to exercise rather a long way but I thought the mental health argument was strong enough.
The car park was more packed than I've ever seen it, although there were a few disabled spaces right at the end. Much warmer again (15 or 16C), sunshine, and a strong wind so we diverted onto a path through the woods rather than staying on the open hillside of the park. We had a good long walk to the lake "Old Hall Pond" and then on in the wrong direction until we realised and backtracked towards the cafe (closed). Both felt a lot better for it, and I had the usual collapse for a couple of hours after we got home. That, of course, is a result of either the myeloma or the Len/Dex drug regime. And me being me, of course, I get to midnight and start waking up and feeling like a normal human being again...
Activity level for the day, BTW: 628/400.
It was a good expedition and did us both a world of good getting away from routine. Here's the lake:
Had a good walk in Hylands Park yesterday, and that got my Activity for the day up to 632/400, as well as discovering a new circular route on good footpaths. ' Phone consultation with GP led to us deciding to stop treatment for the Benign Essential Tremor or whatever it is and just live with it at least until such time as it gets significantly worse. Increasing the propranolol dose would risk pushing blood pressure and heart rate into dangerously low levels, and reducing it to the level the NHS neurologist suggested would seem pointless. Dr.Ku says, rightly I think, that he'd be reluctant to move onto things like Diazapam while I'm on treatment for myeloma. The only loose end still to tidy up is the NHS DaT scan that Dr.Zo (private) was supposed to be arranging. GP asked me to contact him or secretary to chase this up. And there's the invisible oral surgeon as well, but I've done all I can about that.
It's been a bad day (after a bad week) on the Facebook Myeloma group. Too many deaths - one of them of someone who was admitted to hospital because of his advanced myeloma, caught COVID-19 in there, and died of it. After all that shielding... Too many people having real trouble coping with the emotional side (and some of them carers not patients). One of the admins even asked people to post some positive myeloma stories to counter the gloomy mood.
Too many graphic and uncomfortable reminders of what may lie in store further down the road. Best thing is to keep this remission going as long as possible. Had a letter today from Hancock & Jenrick about extending shielding to the end of March for the clinically extremely vulnerable - "guidance not law" - but I shall certainly follow it at least until a couple of weeks after the second Pfizer injection, and that's a good while away yet.
A very successful trip to Specsavers - easy on-street disabled parking followed by Mohammed fixing the pairing problem in just a couple of minutes. I don't go into shops etc. enough for facemask-wearing to feel natural, but I'm getting there. When I came out the rain had just about stopped, so called in at Admiral's Park and had a good long walk with just a stick, which is OK as long as I know I'm going to be staying on good hard level footpaths. Anything less, and I need the extra security of a walker. Probably the best bit of healthy exercise I've had since the ice and snow set in a while ago.
Spring is sprung in the Park, or at least started springing:
Nice to see something of the "old normal" in these strange times.
Rain again, but we went to The Bakehouse next to the Fox & Goose "gastropub" which is of course closed during the current lockdown. The rain stopped for long enough to allow a short walk along Wyses Road off the A414 between Ongar and Chelmsford. Sue did the tedious business of queuing to get coffee and lunch (bacon and egg florentine muffins) while of course I had to wait in the car.
Back at home, another long questionnaire to complete from RUDY (Rare Diseases) about impact of COVID-19 restrictions on quality of life with myeloma, plus both a phone call and an email from AXA confirming next year's cover for Lenalidomide and Dex.
Inside The Bakehouse. Not that I've been inside for over a year...
A warmer day (10C!) but constant light showers putting me off a walk. So I think I'll dodge the rain - such as it is - and clear out the insides of my car a bit - due in for service & MoT in a few days and it's been ferrying muddy walkers around for the best part of a year since I last did it. That should boost the activity score for the day.
