A long drive

We set off for Manchester at 6.45am to get to out appointment at The Christie. It was dark, foggy & icy. We’d had to clear windscreens of ice before setting off. Soon we saw lights ahead – an extra big vehicle perhaps? We passed, skidding a bit on ice. I looked to see what was happening. A car, which I had thought was trying to come out of a road was actually half stuck in a hedge where it had clearly skidded into & was now stuck. The large vehicle was the sort that carry damaged vehicles away. It reminded us that whatever else the Fox did he was going to drive carefully, even slowly if necessary.

 

It was a long trip down to Manchester. We hit some roadworks on the motorway. When we’d left home, our Satnav had reckoned we would be half an hour early for our appointment. Now it said we would be half an hour late! However, we stuck to our resolve not to speed. The Satnav came up with an alternative route bypassing the motorway. We hastily took that option. Light was slowly endeavouring to appear but wasn’t really getting through the fog & ice.

 

Eventually we arrived at The Christie car park at 9am, the time of our appointment. I put one foot out of the car & realised it was covered with a sheet of ice. The Fox skidded his way to the front with my wheelchair but I wasn’t going to hazard getting out until he could hold firmly onto the chair, otherwise I was confident the chair, even with its brakes on, & I would slide off in different directions with me landing flat on the ground. We carefully made our way to the hospital. At least someone had salted the pavements.

 

We then went through long anti-Covid measures before finally getting directed to where the appointment was to be held.

 

At the end of the day, I was given a little bit more information about the Star Trek scheme & a form to sign giving them permission to have access to my medical records & some of the tumour that had been removed from my earlier ops. With the delays due to Covid-19, I will probably not hear until 12 weeks’ time. If I have the right DNA abnormality then they will call me in for tests. I couldn’t help thinking it’s anyone’s guess what state I will be in by then. The cancer is spreading quickly, almost daily. I was also told if any new trials arise meantime for which I will be appropriate they will contact me immediately. With that, we left for another long drive home.

 

The homeward trip was better. It was lighter. The fog thinner. You could see how pretty the hoar-coated grasses & trees looked. As we moved further north the sun came out, the fog disappeared. Now you could see how fabulous the snow covered Pennines looked.

 

At the end of the day we wondered why we’d had to spend so much of a very tiring day to be told something that could have been told over the phone, & to sign a document I could have received by post & returned by post signed.

 

To complete my upset this morning, the cancer seems to have spread considerably overnight. Now I have something akin to a hard piece of metal or plastic pressing down right across my chest, from one armhole to the other. There are various small tumours pushing up through this sheet right across, especially on the left side. On the left side, above Lump there is an area of numbness that reaches up to my chin, making it difficult to move my neck around much. It’s also painful lifting my left arm. In fact I’m generally feeling rather sorry for myself. I’m telling myself I’m just overtired after yesterday. It’s all uncomfortable rather than really painful which is something at least. I seem to be loosening up as the day goes on.