A Busy and Rewarding Month

Firstly, this week I've seen my consultant and yet again my results are fine: no detectable paraprotein and improving Kappa.

Again, the title says much of the character of this month.  The month started with a trip to Bletchley Park (now our third visit).  You will recall that BP is famous for its wartime role decoding our enemys' secrets.  The following day we went to the Light Aircraft Rally at Sywell in Northamptonshire.  Sadly for the organisers, the weather was not kind.  Never-the-less I saw much of interest to me - (maybe more in the months to come?).

The highlight of the month was a tiring but very enjoyable trip to Italy.  We flew from Bristol to Pisa and took the coach into Florence, staying for three nights.  Margaret had always wanted to visit this beautiful city.  The photograph shows the Ponte Vecchio bridge.

During our time in Florence we were especially fortunate to meet up with some Italian friends who live in Florence and we first met three years ago.  They treated us to an excellent meal in a genuine Italian seafood restaurant away from the multitude of tourists. (Yes, we were tourists!)

From Florence, we traveled back to Pisa airport by coach and picked up a hire car.  In this we now drove up to the resort of Lerici.  Margaret had chosen our hotel well.  Although it was something of an effort to walk up and down to the harbour, the view from our balcony was just fantastic.

From Lerici we were able to take a ferry and view the Cinque Terra.  The trip took all day and we could see the five villages that make up this extraordinary coast.

The next day we drove first to Genoa and specifically to the Staglieno Cemetery.  This is the location of my Uncle Stephen's grave.  He was killed along with his four crew members during WW2.  You can find more details at my website www.hf694.org.uk.

The picture shows the five Commonwealth War Graves on which I planted five memorial crosses.

After Genoa we drove to the village of Polverara and I walked once again into the hills to where Uncle Stephen died.  I placed a further cross here before we drove to the village church where I placed a poppy on the memorial plaque I had presented in 2013 (70 years after the crash). Given my myeloma, I had not expected to return to Polverara.  I am incredibly fortunate.

Now it only remained to drive back to Lerici and then the following day to drive back to Pisa airport where I handed the hire car (undamaged) back.  After a night in a local hotel we flew back home.  It had been a very busy week but oh so enjoyable and rewarding.

Perhaps only Confucius could have said of travel:

Wherever you go, go with your heart

Keep well, and remember, YOLO

Stephen

A Peaceful Month

After last month's celebration of my 50th maintenance cycle, little has happened since.  I visited my consultant yesterday and being the day after the bank holiday, the hospital was extremely busy.
Again my paraprotein was undetectable and my Kappa was stable.

Looking back through my diary I've had a relatively peaceful month.  One notable event was yet another spectacular concert at Colston Hall.  We were also invited to a lunchtime concert which featured the Choir of St Peter Bexhill-on-Sea.  Associated with this church is a very great and long-standing friend of Margaret.  The concert was in Bristol Cathedral but never-the-less I had not expected what proved to be a very professional sounding choir.  I had the very good fortune to also discover a piece of music I had never heard before - Eric Whitacre's Seal Lullaby.  This is quite enchanting and can be heard on YouTube.

Where words fail, music speaks

Hans Christian Andersen

Keep well, and remember, YOLO

Stephen

Truly Privileged

On Tuesday I attended consultant's clinic and, again, my test results were good with no detectable paraprotein and stable free light chains.  This meant, as hinted last month, that I was prescribed for maintenance cycle number 50. It is now a clear 4 years since I was discharged from having high dose therapy and stem cell transplant.

The significance of my 50th cycle did not go unnoticed  My trials nurse had provided a cake which was shared with my consultant and no doubt others later. For my part I decided to distribute a thank you card to those doctors, nurses and ancillary staff who have contributed to my current happy situation.

It is difficult to express just how privileged I feel to have come this far. In the last four years I have been so incredibly fortunate.  In 2013 our grandson, Finley was born.  I have been able to watch him grow ever since.

Later that in 2013, we travelled to Italy to commemorate the 70th anniversary of my uncle's death in World War II.  This was such a significant event which is recorded on my web site at www.hf694.org.uk

In October 2014 I had the honour to be appointed as a Magistrate. This had been a long-held wish and one which gives me so much fulfilment. 

In November 2015 Margaret and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary (which I even remembered!). 

In May this year we travelled to Scotland to witness the marriage of our younger son Chris to the love of his life, Becks: A truly joyous occasion.

Finally, as anyone who knows us will tell you, we have enjoyed so may holidays, especially in Cyprus. 

Through all this and most importantly I have enjoyed the love and support of my wife Margaret.

When you arise in the morning, think what a precious privilege

 it is to be alive - to breath, to think, to enjoy, to love

Marcus Aurelius

I am truly privileged. Keep well, and remember, YOLO

Stephen

Old Haunts

Again, I recently visited my consultant and my results were good with no detectable paraprotein and low free light chains. I was thus prescribed for cycle number 49. It doesn't take much to realise that next month, if I'm still in remission, I will be prescribed for cycle 50.  The staff at BHOC have made it clear that this will be something of a milestone.  Let's hope that the news remains good.

Since my previous clinic appointment, Margaret and I spent a few days in Northern Ireland. To explain, my first posting after training was to RAF Bishopscourt in Northern Ireland. Originally developed as an airfield in WWII it then became Ulster Radar with two huge radar systems, one on the former airfield and one at nearby Killard point. As such it provided long range surveillance for both civilian and military air traffic.  I joined the communications section providing high power UHF and VHF services.  We even provide the communications for the Concorde supersonic trials which took place over the Irish Sea.  I arrived in April 1975 and we married in the November.  Margaret immediately joined me so in effect we did not have a honeymoon. (we've made up for that since !). We were finally posted away in April 1977.

Being very junior in rank at the time, I didn't qualify for service accommodation so I successfully applied to live "off camp".  Initially we lived in the coastal village of Killough, but soon moved to the charming village of Strangford.  Our return trip started with a visit to the recently-opened Titanic Experience located in the famous docks area.

Well worth a visit, the impressive building houses a combination of audio visual displays which tell the story of Belfast's shipbuilding heritage, the construction of the famous liner and her ultimate demise.

We then drove on to Strangford where we booked into a very comfortable and friendly hotel.  When the weather allowed, we were able to walk around the village and especially to our former home.

Our home, of 40 years ago, was the lower of the only two bungalows in Quay Lane and within yards of Strangford Lough.  Across the lough is the village of Portaferry. During our trip, we were thus able to eat dinner in our own hotel and also, by taking the ferry, to eat across the water.  

Each day we had trips out to the site of the former RAF station and down the coast to Newcastle (with views of the majestic Mourne Mountains, and to National Trust properties of Mount Stewart and Castle Ward.  

This proved to a short but very enjoyable and fulfilling trip. Strangford was, and still is, a very special place for us.

And so to choose this month's saying:

Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory. 

(Dr. Seuss)

Keep well, and remember, YOLO

Stephen