Good Morning to you all, and welcome to any new readers;
I trust that those of you from the Northern Hemisphere have survived the winter without mishap and my antipodean friends have not baked too much over your summer. And so, another year is well on its way.
I know that 3 months have passed since my last blog and some of you may think I've either passed away or decided to stop blogging. The truth is that I still wake up in the mornings breathing ( which is always the best way to start the day ) and I have been very busy over the winter months. I had a relatively long list of things I intended to do during the cold winter period, including updating this blog. However, we didn't get a cold winter . Yes, it was a bit wet but not sufficiently bad to encourage me to stay inside ( I'm a country boy and prefer to be outdoors ). Consequently, things on the list didn't get done.
Medically, there is nothing to report. A visit to my Dentist, who found my sarcoma in the first place but despite having no natural teeth ( or jaw) in the lower half of my face, still wont give me a discount - NHS rules,I guess. This was followed by my annual visit to Birmingham Dental hospital , who designed and fitted the bridge ( false teeth) to the steel pillars which Mr.Parmar installed in July 2012. The Dental Consultant responsible for the original design, Mr Geoff Bateman, has left to pursue other avenues in the Dental trade so I have been allocated to a new young Dentist, who sent me for X-rays and subsequently has decided to take out the bridge and give it an 'MOT'. I must confess that I'm not looking forward to that. Partly because I fear that disturbing the screws might loosen the steel pillars and partly because he wants to see me at 9am, which, as most of you who know me will realize ,is around the time I normally crawl out of bed - I'm more of a night owl- so a 3 hour trip to Birmingham means getting up around 5.30 ( I used to come home at that time ).
In mid-February, I was asked to participate in a BBC television documentary featuring the prosthetic s work at Queen Elizabeths, Birmingham. I agreed but knew what I was getting in to. The documentary was intended to feature the work of the Hospital and the mental effect on patients. As a relatively successful survivor, I was asked to go to Birmingham ( 6 hour round trip) to speak to Emma, a young lady who had undergone treatment, having a substantial and prominent part of her face removed and fitted with a prosthetic replacement. She was finding reintegration difficult, being very self conscious of the prosthetic, but wanted to be filmed talking to me. I think she found me slightly different to what she expected and told the producer that she had got a lot out of it. A week later, the BBC turned up at my door (by arrangement, I might add) and interviewed me for almost 2 hours on camera. I guess I didn't turn out to be as interesting as they had hoped. When the programme was broadcast ' Inside-Out' BBC West Midlands Monday 7th March, I was featured for all of 90 seconds. But, if I helped someone and highlighted the phenomenal work being done at QE, Birmingham, it was well worth it.
In January, I, along with a small group of other patients attended a meeting in QE to discuss the whole spectrum of Head and Neck Cancers, from diagnosis, through treatment and on to recovery. There were folk from across the UK and many had similar experiences. On the back of that meeting, it was agreed to set up a group to raise awareness of the incidence of Head and Neck Cancer, the sixth most common cancer in the world, a sort of advocacy group trying not to tread on the toes of the local support groups ( not that I knew they existed prior to this meeting). It is not easy setting up these things when delegates live across the UK and many seem unprepared to commit to anything other than the idea but I have found a chap who is similarly passionate so this thing will get off the ground.Looking to launch in September.
I'm also helping a Doctor from Birmingham University who is undertaking a study of ways of improving the patient 'experience'. Its a little theoretical at this stage , particularly for my more practical mind, but I can see the potential benefits from her research.
On the social side, life goes on. The village pantomime was successful, my part as Boris the bad didn't receive as much abuse as I expected but another £1300+ was raised for the Village Hall. The golf is still patchy, my beloved Lincoln City FC are still lurching from failure to success to failure ( Manager gave notice yesterday). I've been to see Tottenham again, probably for the last time in that stadium and I've watched Gainsborough Trinity a couple of times. We've been out and about for our weekly visits and had a few meals with friends and former colleagues; so now we are looking forward to summer. Cricket season starts in a fortnight ( I'm doing another season umpiring) and our first Holiday is mid-May.
Hears hoping for a good summer.
Best wishes to you all.
Chris
