Christmas Lights Switch On + Good News

It has been so bitterly cold the last few days but, just as I suspected, no snow fell here. We got the rain.

Saturday night last saw the switch on of our village lights. How times have changed. Probably because councils are now leaning more towards Winter Festivals than Christmas. Just a couple of years back, we had the traditional switch on . There would be the tree, the Salvation Army Band would play, there would be a Carol service, the local dance school would put on a display - all resplendant in their Christmas costumes. Christmas as we have always known and celebrated it.

What rides and a house of horror have to do with Christmas I have absolutely no idea. However, I suppose it is better than nothing and did attract large crowds to our little village. There was a Father Christmas but he was sitting inside one of the shops at the very back, so was not on public display. As I said, having all these things is better than having nothing at all, but I would so liked it to have had more of Christmas about it and less of a funfair.

Anyway, Mike did pop up there and get a short video so you will be able to see for yourselves. It is colourful and it is noisy and no doubt the children and teenagers loved it all. At the end of the day, I suppose that is the main thing.



At least our hardware store stuck more to the Christmas theme:

Now for the good news of the heading. I attended the breast clinic this morning. It was harder for me than usual because I have had a stomach bug all weekend. I have been living on soup, dry toast and sugar-free jelly. It was touch and go whether I was going to be able to make it but I was determined not to cancel again. I did not want more weeks of that hanging over my head.

The journey went quickly but we did have a pretty long wait once we arrived at the unit. It had been just over a year since I had seen the wonderful Caspar, my surgeon. He was his usual comical self. He has such a great sense of humour and we have always been easy in each others company.

He asked me lots of questions and went into great detail about how I now felt about everything, did I still worry over it? I told him that in a way it is like always walking with a shadow, a ghost, so to speak. He told me not to talk about him in that fashion and then I said "Oh yes! Caspar the friendly ghost". He burst into laughter along with his nurse and the two students that were in attendance.

He told me that was something that would never go away, he has heard it from so many people and I told him that I also knew - because of the long discussions I had months back with the cancer counsellor. I told him I had learned to live with it and that it no longer occupied my every waking moment. In fact, most days I do not even think about it. Of course, when something is mentioned on the t.v. or in the newspapers, that really brings it into the forefront.

He then told myself and his students, that he has found over many years, that peole who react very badly in the early days, as I did, crying all the time, unable to sleep, living in constant dread, usually do much better in the long term, better than those who say that they can handle it, which many apparently do on being given their diagnosis. They are the ones who tend to go to pieces later on, because they are bottling it all inside themselves.

He then gave me a very detailed and thorough examination at the end of which he told me he could find no abnormalities and that he was extremely pleased with me. He does not want to see me again for another year, all being well.

Of course, I still have a long way to go. I have my mammogram and my meeting with my oncologist in May next year. If all is well then, that will be my second year all-clear. It will be two down and three to go. Of course, I am not counting my chickens, I would never tempt fate like that. I have learned to take every day as it comes now, try not to worry about the future. To count my blessings, and I have been blessed, I do realise that. I just hope and pray it continues that way.

As you can imagine, I am very tired now. I still have my diabetic check to face within the next couple of weeks but I am not going to worry about that now. What with the stomach upset and the tension of this morning, I am typing this with my eyelids dropping, so I am going to get off the computer, have a nice cup of tea and then an afternoon nap. I promise I will get to your journals when I can.

Wishing each and every one of you a wonderful week.