... WOW... a whole day with no appts, and no need to go shopping. Quick, get blog updated!!

So, following on from the last update... After lunch, Kai and I went back into town for his appt: I did a little shopping. The Yule market is taking up most of Broadmead: will take Kai there when we're next in for a good look round.

The rest of that week and the start of last was mainly shopping, washing, general housekeeping, Yule card (and accompanying letter) writing and posting, and trying to get organised so I can have some time off!

Pretty rainbows!

Last week Kai was suffering with another bug - a bit nasty this one, swollen glands and very sore throat - so since most of his classes had finished I had him stay here and work from home. (Got his last project in early this morning, so now he can relax until the New Year. He has one exam, on the 10th of Jan, I think.) He was well enough to go to the carol service on Thursday, however.

It was lovely! We had a very funny MC to introduce all the musician and choirs, and the speakers - a doctor, a senior staff nurse, the Chief Executive of the charity, and three ex-patients, fund raisers all, who'd all benefited from the work of the BHOC, BHI and BRI as a whole (Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre, Bristol Heart Institute, and Bristol Royal Infirmary, for anyone not sure.) We were treated to the Bristol Citadel Brass band, the Cosmos Children's Community Choir, the Above and Beyond Singers, the Welsh Wizard (Byron Jones) Organist, two members of the Bristol Opera - Abigail Rogers and Georgia Katsiroumpa, and the Thornbury Ukeaholics. Our ex-patient speakers were Tom, a 16 yr old who'd been diagnosed with and treated for a brain tumour when he was just 5, Simon, who'd suffered a heart attack at 40, and a Michelle, a grandmother who'd had a liver transplant a few years ago.

The best news was that the charity have reached their £6,000,000 goal. The funds raised have supported the BHOC and BHI, funded the haploidentical allogeneic stem cell transplant trials which saved Kai's life (the only 'silver lining' in the whole experience of the last four years is that what we - he and I - did will now go on to help hundreds of other people), and bought a microwave ablation system for the BRI. And the fund raising continues!

It was a wonderful celebration of life (and made me tearful in a couple of places). We both sang (Kai usually won't) and really enjoyed the whole event. A fantastic introduction to the festive season!

On the 17th GoodTwin and Sue visited, which was, as usual, a wonderfully happy and funny and stress-busting occasion, in which I learned I know soddall about the Carry On films but that I can, sometimes, read GoodTwin's mind.

And we all loved Sue's card! (It's by Newton and the Apple - must give them due credit!)

Thank you both - I had a fabulous day!

Yesterday was stupidly manic. Ken came with me to help with the shopping - of course Sains was full, so it took much longer than usual. Then it occurred to me that I'd need to watch the Strictly Come Dancing finals on replay before we went to the BHOC for Kai's venesection, in case someone talked about it - only to find that the programme was 2 hours 15 mins long and we only had an hour before we had to get the bus! Cue fast-forwarding through most of it and only stopping for the dances... This season has been the most fantastic fun - I somehow doubt anyone who watched will ever be able to get the image of Ed Balls dancing Gangnam Style out of their head. I don't think even brain bleach will work!

And then no-one mentioned it...

But we got in in plenty of time, and since the day unit is usually quiet on a Sunday, Kai was able to get the whole thing over early and speedily, and we came back on the number 2 bus, walking down Talbot Hill and admiring all the sparkly Yule lights. His last ferritin level was down to 2,100 odd, so heading in the right direction!

And that's me now about up to date. There's still a fair bit to do (and buy), we have a couple of appts still this week, but the main rush is over. Ken is taking annual leave Wed through Fri, and Mon and Tues next week are Bank Holidays, so he has a clear week off over Yule. We're planning a quiet holiday -

with lots of DVD watching. Over and above the Yule-related films I've picked up over the years - Santa Claus The Movie, Scrooged, Frozen, Rise of the Guardians, The Polar Express, Jingle All the Way, and of course Love, Actually (which I adore and which is the only chickflick I've ever liked), this year I've picked up a whole slew of new films, including Spy, Suicide Squad and Warcraft: the Beginning. (No, never played the game but the blurb suggest you don't need to know the background for the film to make sense...) Should be fun!

Finally - food porn for Lutra. This is our new Sains bakery (late in the day, alas, when some of the cakes are completely sold out). All extremely tempting!

Labels: busyness, films, food porn for Lutra, medical matters, Yule