Pristine

Today, Monday 30 July I had a blood test in the morning.  At 12.30 Barbara and I met with Dr Lisa Horvath.  She reported and showed us on the computer that the blood test results show that my blood remains ‘pristine’.  My liver is functioning normally – yippee!  So, I continue without chemotherapy.  Thursday, 20 September I am booked for a CT scan.  Monday 24 September is when I will next see Dr Lisa.  Naturally, I am hoping that the scan will show the cancer continues to be dormant.  At this stage my next blog entry will be a report on the meeting with Dr Lisa.

Meanwhile in this blog entry I will tell you a little about activities since our North American trip – Singapore, Cairns and Bathurst.

In response to some requests to know what I am planning to do, between now and the next blog entry:

• Barbara and I are driving next weekend to the Hunter Valley with Lesley and Steve who have arranged this weekend to begin celebrating Barbara’s 60th birthday
• then Barbara and I are driving on to stay at Golden Beach on the Sunshine Coast Queensland for eleven days
• most of my work will be in Sydney but I will be working in Perth in the last week of August
• the first weekend in September our family celebrates Barbara’s 60th, which she has arranged at the old Quarantine Centre, North Head, Sydney
• second week of September I will be staying with Matthew and Jacob on the Gold Coast while their parents John and Lynne have a holiday and Barbara will be holidaying in Cairns with our friend Pat, jointly celebrating their 60ths!

I think these are enough activities for the next couple of months – now to Singapore, Cairns and Bathurst.

I was home less than two weeks from the US when I travelled to Singapore to facilitate a three-day seminar, which was well received.  I arrived home Thursday morning 12 July and Friday afternoon 13 July, family and I flew to Cairns where most of the family spent a week together.  These photos show some of the highlights of a holiday we all greatly enjoyed.

At water filled volcanic plug hole, Atherton Table Lands

Feeding rock wallabies, Granite Gorge, Atherton Tablelands

Dinner at Blue Moon Restaurant, Trinity Beach,
the Cairns suburb in which we stayed

A Hey-Cunningham landing

Celebrating their tandem parachute skydives with Coke

Watching crocodile on our Daintree River cruise

Accessing coconuts on Cape Tribulation Beach
in the Daintree National Park

Aboard the Seastar at the beginning of 
our day trip to the outer Barrier Reef

We saw whales once on the way out 
and thrice on the return trip

This last weekend, Christmas in July was celebrated in Bathurst.  We had a fantastic time enjoying superb cooking and learning about our friends' trip with other members of their Church to a sister church in Tonga.

Displaying our Kris Kringle presents after Christmas dinner

How am I feeling – well – with reducing chemo side affects.  It seems that a level of numbness will permanently remain in my fingers and toes.  It is strange having numbness and having feeling together.  I am very grateful for the continuing dormancy of the cancer.  I think about this from time to time but do not dwell on it.  I have no idea how long it will continue but hope the cancer remains dormant for a long time.  Meanwhile, I enjoy each day I live.  I am enjoying a great mix of rewarding work, time away, time at home.  I have deliberately planned to be in warmer places for about half of the Sydney winter.  It has been great to be warmer.

You might think we are too busy but, no, please contact us if you would like to arrange some time together.