Update upto Saturday 7 September

Sorry I am late updating the blog but the last two weeks have been quite difficult for me despite in theory being on holiday. We left on Sunday 25 August in glorious weather heading for Willersley castle just south of Matlock a journey of 160 miles. I did the first 80 miles and then Wendy finished the second leg. We arrived just before 5 pm having stopped for lunch at the local IKEA at around 2 pm and were able to park right outside the main entrance to the Hotel, which as events turned out to be very fortunate later considering that we normally don't use the car once we get to a resort. we were on the second floor in the middle at the front of the castle with a turret either side of us and beautiful views of a cliff face and the top of a hill right opposite us, with cattle in the field next to a small river below us. Meals were 8 to 9 am breakfast and 6.30 pm for dinner, the food was very good but a bit basic.
On Monday I was feeling tired as the chemotherapy was beginning to kick in so I decided to stay at home and rest and read my book called Dark Fire another historical novel set in Henry the eighths reign, whilst Wendy went on the coach trip to see some Well dressing, a common practice in this area apparently. As we were waiting for the coach I looked over to our car and noticed that the rear offside tyre looked a little flat -- we had a puncture! That evening we decided that as the tyres were due for renewal after 33,000 miles it was not worth having the puncture repaired so we arranged for Kwikfit to send their mobile van to replace the two rear tyres a job completed by 7 pm on Wednesday.
I was beginning to feel increasingly tired and could not understand why.
On Tuesday we went to Bakewell and then on to Chatsworth House and gardens and I felt utterly exhausted having to sit down in every room for a rest whenever possible, needless to say I slept well that night.
The next day was a free day, so we had a short walk in the morning and then read our books in the afternoon. That night I could not sleep properly waking up every hour or two with raging pain in a rear wisdom tooth. Luckily I found a couple of paracetamol tablets in my wash bag which helped a little. However at breakfast I found that I could not open my mouth wide enough to eat anything larger that a pea. In the end I was mashing my food up and spooning it carefully into the small gap between my teeth. today we were driven to Buxton where we spent most of the afternoon and again I had difficulty walking any distance.
On Friday Wendy drove us home stopping about halfway for a short break for food and drinks. I immediately tried to make an emergency appointment with my dentist and the earliest date I could get was the following Wednesday afternoon. However there were emergency dentists in Kingston Hospital --just turn up! Unfortunately we got there just before the 9 pm closing time and had to try and persuade the receptionist to let us in for treatment. She went off to consult with the dentist and he said that he would see me. He had a quick look and said that it was a bit swollen at the back but not infected and prescribed a mouth wash known as Corsodyl, more about this later. All we had to do now was to find a chemist that was open and went to the one in Feltham that we always use in cases like this.
Earlier in the day on Friday at around 4 pm Alison came with me to the hospital and she set about cleaning my PICC line under the supervision of the Ward sister, the worst part is taking the adhesive cover off your arm so that you can clean up around where the line goes into your body, quite a sensitive area which hurts if you don't peel the cover off gently. Say no more. She wants to have one more go under supervision as there is such a lot to remember before she can start doing it at home for me. It was good to be home again.
The weekend passed uneventfully but I was still having problems eating so I felt that the mouth wash was not working. On Monday I went into the SWRU clinic to have my bloods taken ready for checking before treatment on Tuesday. However when I saw the doctor on Tuesday and I told her of the problems that I was having with my teeth she decided it was inappropriate to start treatment and that I should seek further help from my dentist. As I had already booked to see my dentist on Wednesday I felt at least I had got something right! After the refusal to not have treatment I felt at quite a low point, something was always conspiring to have my treatment slowed up.
I went to the appointment with my dentist on Wednesday and he did a good job examining my teeth. He said that there was a bacterial infection around the tooth and prescribed a 5 day course of penicillin. He also said that it would make good sense to have the tooth removed as soon as possible as it would only cause more trouble later on, he advised that I should discuss with my doctor to decide on a convenient time in my treatment to have the tooth removed. Still feeling tired, in fact I slept in until 1 pm on Friday, but now I know that it is due to the tooth infection and not necessarily the chemotherapy.
Monday 9 September.  I am feeling much better now although I am still having problems eating, maybe that will correct itself by Wednesday when I am due the next cycle of chemotherapy, I hope that it does. Tomorrow, Tuesday I need to go in to give bloods. I think I might ring the doctor today and see what she says about having my tooth removed. I will let you know what happens next.