The time in between chemotherapy 2 and 3 (which is this coming Monday to Wednesday) has been very enjoyable. I have been well with improving energy levels over the last eleven days. My only discomfort has been feeling queasy – a feeling of mild indigestion that tends to ease the further from the last round of chemotherapy. I do burp and fart more and have more trips to the bathroom but these are small matters compared with what some people cope with while undergoing chemotherapy.
Saturday April 23 – lunch at our second son's fiancé's family home. An enjoyable time was had by all. Later that afternoon, my friend Murray and his partner, Rachel, visited. Murray was the human resources manager at one of my clients. He is the most dynamic and different HR person I have ever met. He was an enabler of people throughout his organisation and fostered the coming together and connecting of people to enhance the organisation’s performance. Murray had his own encounter with cancer two years ago. Among our discussion, he mentioned that if he had to do it again he would ensure he ate and drank more. Now, the eating and drinking can become a chore at times. I will make sure I follow Murray’s advice.
Monday evening April 25 – in the evening, family dinner with some friends from Petersham Baptist Church times in the late 1980/early 1990s. Barbara had prepared a delicious and hearty stew as the main course. These friends now have families of young adults and teenagers. It was wonderful for the fifteen of us to be together. By adding an extra table we were able to all eat together in the dining room. With the loss of hearing in my right ear, I find it hard to hear conversation in a group and so found it easier to converse before and after the meal when we were in smaller groups.
Tuesday and Wednesday we travelled to and from Boomerang Beach (south of Forster on the lower north coast of NSW) and stayed at Don and Lorraine’s home. Our friends (and former small group members) Simon and Diana and their children from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, were visiting Simon’s parents. They usually come at Christmas and we have seen them at Boomerang Beach almost yearly in recent years. I have also visited them often in KL during work visits. In fact I have seen them four times since last December (twice at Boomerang Beach and twice in KL). When Luke was two we somehow connected with each other in a deep way and this connection then extended to Erin. I have seen Luke and Erin enough times that this close connection has remained. They give me the loveliest cuddles when it is time to part. This time Luke said ‘Get well, soon, Uncle David’. I promised I would do my best.
Thursday April 28 there were three social engagements. One of our daughter’s long time friends from school days joined our family for breakfast. Penelope lived with us for three months when they were in Year 10, while her mother and brother were overseas. This created a close bond with our family. At lunchtime we went with Phil and Catherine to the Persian Room in Harris Street Ultimo (our neighbours Joy and Graeme took us here two weeks earlier). We had delicious Iranian food, sharing the four different main courses and a small platter of desserts. During the afternoon, we received a phone call and then late afternoon a visit from John and Phillip Tully. John was staying on the Central Coast with Phillip for a couple of weeks. I had visited John and his son David at their home on the Gold Coast. We had not seen Phillip since he left Glebe as a teenager when his family moved on from Glebe Uniting Church to the Gold Coast. We enjoyed catching up and sharing with Phillip about each other’s children. So Thursday was a very special day with friends of a wide age range.
Friday I attended ESFNG small group for an evening meal and watched parts of the Royal Wedding. Barbara stayed home to recover from the busy week of socialising and relaxed watching the Royal Wedding on our big screen television.
Saturday we hung some of my family pictures and three artworks of our Tamworth friend Alison in the dining room, played some Yahtzee and did the crossword puzzles from the Sydney Morning Herald. Our youngest came for dinner and stayed with us overnight.
Sunday May 1, one of my cousins and his wife visited with us for afternoon tea catching up on each other’s lives. Family members came and went. All but our two living in Edinburgh made sure they saw us soon after they heard the news of my cancer.
So, I have travelled well and enjoyed the last eleven days between chemo treatments.
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