Sure it's all fine. Sure.

So. My metas. The wonderful French healthcare system. Wonderful modern medicine in general. The main point being, I am still alive and I am basically in good health. Which is pretty amazing, no?

Well, it's been another grueling time. Apart from my own health issues, I had spent most of the last three years caring for my parents - spending about half my time living at their house. My mother was already bed-ridden with issues with a dislodged hip replacement - long story - and was diagnosed with inoperable bowel cancer. We had got her up and about again, and able to enjoy going into the garden - when she fell over and damaged her other replacement hip. Re-bed-ridden, and inoperable because by this time the cancer had cut in and was making her too weak to risk it. Meanwhile, my father was developing a form of dementia - logic unimpaired but memory disappearing.

My mother finally died in April and we had to place my father into care. Meanwhile, I was not able to be with my mother at the end because I was undergoing very tough chemotherapy, following a protocol named 'Extreme', because it is. By June I was very ill, but my new metastatic tumour had almost gone. I am now continuing the 'Extreme' protocol through a weekly treatment of Erbitux starting in August, which is a cancer cell growth inhibitor. Half a day a week out of my life, but it gives me life, right? Right.

OK I'm not in my most up period right now. I'll come back up.

Another year another bummer

Dear all. Humph. Well, I got over the lung bit. But scan on the 15th shows yet another metastatic enlarged lymph node, in those around the oesophagus - they didn't scrub them all out when they did the last op., deciding it was better to keep them in to do their protection job. Which I guess they've done, since it has not reached the other lung. Exploratory op. due on 8th. This time the initial reaction was that it would not be operable, but preferable to reduce its size through radiotherapy only. Not sure what they do once its size is reduced. Anyway, all might change after they've done the exploratory op and discussed the case. We shall see. They seem to think they can carry on keeping me alive for the time being, anyway.

Frankly would have liked a nice care-free Christmas.

Meanwhile, anyone who has some good advice on how to write a descriptive case study of a translation, I'm open to guidance and suggestions. Thank you!

But all is well!

I have just seen my last post - that was a downer, eh. So I thought I'd better add another one quick - because I am just fine. I am working like a dervish, having started up as a freelance translator, and now running a mentoring group, through which I provide guidance (I hope!) and sometimes work to newly starting translators. Because there is a lot, lot more to translation than just speaking the lingo, trust me.

So - anyway - they didn't take the whole lung out, only about half of it. And I went to a 'Breath Clinic' for a sort of boot camp experience afterwards - 3 weeks of intensive and progressive exercise, coaching and careful support. First off, I could hardly make it once up a slope in the beautiful grounds. By the end I was going up and down three times at a fairly normal rate. First off, I couldn't get up a flight of stairs - well, I have tons of practice with stairs now, and at my parents I zoom up and down their three flights with only mild panting. So, it is all good and thank God for that eh.