D Day + 33: Tuesday 14 September 2010 - "Antici.............pation" a la Frank n Furter

Today we had to return Sebastian.  Shame really, C has become very attached to him!! He's been a lovely car to drive around in, once I got used to it being so flash, and it was very exciting how quickly he could accelerate away when C twitched his big toe!!!!
So we dropped him off at Esplanade and handed him back to Mark and David (who read this blog - hello!!), and went to pick up my Jemima Jaffa.  C's mobile rang while we were there - Sonya, his Macmillan nurse specialist, was ringing to ask us to go in and see her at St Mary's at 2.30.  We agreed, of course, but there's nothing like an unexpected, short notice meeting with your cancer nurse to give you the jitters!  Lots of time to kill, so we went up to B&Q to have a look at exterior doors as we need to replace our back door (see previous blog for the damage I did to it recently...) as it's been getting gradually worse in the wet weather - trying to yank it open or kick it shut in the winter makes the house shake and is not good...We found a couple we liked, in the right size, so stored the info to check it out on the internet later.
C didn't feel like going home straight away - it would have meant lots of pacing around waiting to leave - so as we were out anyway we decided to have a drive around and lunch - we ended up at the Spyglass in Ventnor; we'd been to The Woodvale in Gurnard but they weren't open until 11am, and the little cafe we've been in on the front was closed today.  So off we went.  Had a cup of coffee at the Spyglass and then ordered a sandwich for lunch - very nice, but it was a bit weird as the place smells strange (wet dog/tourist?) and it got boring listening to the conversation of an elderly local sitting around the corner, and watching some bald, drunk bloke coming down off his high from Bestival....So we had lunch and got in the car, drove along the Military Road and parked up at Compton to watch some mad fools trying to surf amongst the foam and spume that was the sea!!! The ice cream man was there though, to his credit, and did a bit of trade - although I did think the guy who bought two cornets was going to end up wearing them in the very high wind....
So up to St Mary's to see Sonya.  The parking at that hospital is ridiculous in the afternoon - the world and his wife descend upon it from 2pm and there are no spaces to be had; we parked along a double yellow line but bought a ticket anyway, to show willing.  We had to see Sonya in the Fracture Clinic - I thought I knew where it was, but it has moved and has been refurbished; very strange...all new furnishings etc but it still looked untidy!! Sonya was a lovely and helpful as she's always been with us - she wanted to meet up face to face as she felt it was difficult to discuss things over the phone and it's been such a muck up lately that I think she wanted to be reassured, and to reassure us, that things are going to happen.
So this is where we are - BREAKING NEWS as they say!  Southampton General, where the liver specialist is based, haved decided that it is "not appropriate" to operate to remove C's right kidney at the moment, because of the way the tumour is attached to the liver.  They are also a bit flumoxed by the shadows/spots on his right lung, and feel that it would be prudent to deal with these before removing the primary tumour.  So they are going to put him on chemotherapy initially; he is going to meet the oncologist on 30 September, and will have a kidney biopsy before that, plus blood tests, to provide all the background the oncologist will need.  Sonya hoped that the biopsy will be on this Thursday, and C will have to stay in overnight for that.  Then once the oncologist has seen C, he can start him on chemotherapy, which apparently will be in tablet form and he can take them at home, with monitoring from Sonya and the chemo team at St Mary's.
We came out of there and went straight up to Pathology to do the blood tests; amazing how many doors cancer opens for you - we were bumped up the waiting list to get the bloods done!!  
We both felt a bit more uplifted after today's talk with Sonya - finally it seems that something will happen, things are on the move, and to know and physically see that she is on the case and concerned was a huge boost; phone calls can never replace face to face meetings where things like this are concerned.
We came home to find Romilly here wondering where we were!! Post on the hall carpet, so clearly we've been out all day - it was like explaining to you mum where you've been!!
I do worry about her; she is such a Coley she keeps things inside too much and it's like trying to get blood out of a stone getting her to talk about it all - just like her brothers, and her Dad...clearly genetic!!!  Daniel came round tonight though, and I made dinner for them all, and it's been a really really lovely relaxed family evening - fire lit, dinner cooked, and now they're watching the footie...I'm happy on the computer, drinking nice wine.
What a day - many more ahead I guess, but I can't think about those until they happen.....