A good clear out

 Good news yesterday. I had waited all day for news from the medical team at Addenbrookes, who were meeting that morning to discuss my case. Finally at 5pm, when I had assumed I would not hear that day, the consultant at West Suffolk phoned in person to tell me what had been discussed: the PET scan last week, looking for any secondary spread from the lung, was clear. This was a huge relief. Until then, I kept wondering with every ache in my body if the cancer had spread to some new part. Now I must just wait for the appointment to discuss what they will do to manage the lung lesion. Possible excision of that part of the lung is one possibility, which itself is not a happy prospect, but much better than being told the thing is inoperable. 

Edwin too has had some good news: because of the dearth of openings as an academic lecturer, he has been sending off job applications for a whole range of alternatives to see if anything will turn up. He has now been offered a job as Post-Grad careers advisor which he may accept, but also has another interview as Conference Organiser for Wolfson College in the University of Cambridge, where the majority of students are postgraduates. His future is beginning to open up, and its direction will soon become clearer.

The old grandfather

We have now cleared out the garage, a monumental task for which we sought professional help. A woman with a van came to help Ann go through everything and threw it all on a large open truck. Some she will keep or give to friends; other bits will go to the charity shops (though she agrees they aren't taking much at the moment) and some will have to go for recycling or to the tip. Her total charge was not much more than skip hire, so she was well worth having. Also, Ann advertised all the old clocks on the Hundon Facebook page free for collectors - they were snapped up, especially the old grandfather clock. I had bought it with the best of intentions to get it going, but like so much else in my life it came to nothing. The only thing that has not gone is an old barometer. Someone promised to come tonight, but never turned up. Good cars are so scarce at the moment, a knock-on effect from a shortage of chips from the Far East inhibiting new car production, that Ann has gone with Edwin to Lichfield today to pick up his new car. 

Last night I had one of my worse nights, awake for long periods with coughing that nothing seemed to ease. I felt as though I were clearing my insides out, in sympathy with the garage. Even though I came down for a couple of hours, I so disturbed Ann she suffered equally with me. She thinks she will sleep all the way to Lichfield.