Ok, that’s overstating it.  I never saw the beach, let alone the sea.  But I did see my Dad for the second time this year, an achievement not matched since 2005.

Its a day that started badly.  My right leg which has been much improved but not perfect since my change of medication woke up weak.  Pins and needles had spread from my foot to the whole leg.  Oncobabe has referred me for an MRI scan on Monday to see if the cancer has spread to my spine.  Given that my initial symptoms of cancer were spinal it’s not an unlikely theory.  But then surely the osimertinib would zap that for now?  Unless part of my spine has collapsed?  That could come from old bone damage or new.

The other negative this morning is a wicked cough that hurts my chest when it’s released.  And it is released way too often.  A couple of days of discomfort from that!

The drive to Southport involves country roads when two cars can’t always pass, traffic jams in a town called Colne, a hit of motorway (for those that remember Swampy he lived in trees here for a bit trying to halt construction) and some half decent roads between the end of the motorway and my destination.

I opted out of the queues in Colne to grab a McDonalds coffee.  Necessary for throwing down my cancer pill.  Exciting too, because the loyalty sticker on the cup means my next McDonalds hot drink will be free.  It’s not quite a free hotel room but I’ll take it.

Despair as I saw petrol priced at 111.9p a litre.  3p less than I’d paid the night before for a full tank.  The pain at being out of pocket to the tune of £1.50.  And then an uneventful journey where, other than cursing a Nissan Qashkai doing 35mph in a 50mph zone, not a lot happened.

Then time with Dad.  We compared our medical ailments, had lunch at his expense and shared humour.  It’s amazing how well you can get on with somebody you’d fallen out with and virtually ignored for over a decade.  Make peace with your families!

Back to finishing the spring clean tomorrow.

The Spring Clean