Patiently waiting for the end of treatment.

Hello again from the gorgeous country of New Zealand

It has been a while since I last wrote as we have been busy with all the usual stuff: cycling, golf, entertaining friends, visits to hospital for the regular jabs in the belly, pottering around the garden, trying out new and rediscovering old recipes.

To start with, we crammed in activity, then the effect of the drugs kicked in and I have slowed down to more of a sedate existence.






Best adventure was the Around the Mountains cycle trail, 187km over 2 days from Kingston to Walter Peak around the Eyre Mountains.


As I was not feeling strong, I hired an e-bike, whilst Sarah did it the hard way. We started the ride in cloudy and cool conditions. (It is now autumn in Otago with misty cool mornings and evening)

I wrapped up. There is a sprinkling of snow on the hills behind.

Around the Mountains cycle trail is full of bridges, river crossings, winding its way through vast areas of farmland from Kingston to Mossburn (80km).

Our only coffee and cake stop was in Athol, renowned for its fishing and art galleries.

We shared our overnight stop in the old Railway hotel Mossburn, with truckies (taking lambs to the coast to feed on better pasture; this logistical exercise must add to the cost) and motorcyclists.

We were looking out for the Southern man, but no rider appeared.

Day 2 started badly with a puncture, but with sunshine and blue skies to cheer us, we choose to fuel up with coffee before we started our 107km day.

We took our time, as the morning ride up to Mavora Lakes was mostly dirt road due to an ongoing environmental dispute around the Oreti river section.

Luckily, we had picked a quiet day, not too busy, dusty or onerous, just more of a grind on a dirt road with only a few nasty corrugations and the odd passing 4WD.

Our lunch spot was at a high point of 760m above sea level, with the best bit to come. As the road reaches the mountains, it crosses high plateaus and finally descending into a magnificent river valley.

Some of the river crossings were without the luxury of bridges.

We felt as if we had the place to ourselves apart from at the river crossing!

Finding shade was a challenge but our afternoon (Cliff bar) stop was by the river.

When we reached Mt Nicolas station we were on the home straight with more familiar scenery and 12km later we arrived at Walter Peak.

Luckily the manager took pity on us (we looked hot, dusty and sweaty) and offered us use of the staff shower. Washed and refreshed by tea,

the day was ended with a slap up BBQ dinner (with 250 tourists from the Earnslaw steamship) a cruise back to Queenstown (complete with pianist and 48 vintage tunes to singalong) and bike ride up the hill home (thanks to the ebike power assistance). An epic trip.

Sarah has got serious about her golf, practicing at every opportunity and now has a handicap of 19. I'm still on 8 or 9 depending on where we play. The twice weekly steroids help me get around the course otherwise I get very tired and need to use a cart. This is a bonus as I did not think I would be well enough to play at all.

February has been very rainy so far and as I write the remnants of cyclone Gita is due to hit NZ in the next 24 hours, with gales and torrential rain forecast. Queenstown should escape the brunt of the winds but will get the rain. The garden has loved the rain so far. The tomatoes and roses are taking a bit of a hammering after a stunning summer for flowers and fruit. We have attempted to recreate some of our Italian garden here minus the zucchini. My first attempt at pesto was a success.










For a healthy and colourful change, we tried an avocado, watermelon, pomegranate and feta salad.

For a less healthy naughty and ultimately satisfying breakfast Sarah made some blueberry pancakes.

My favourite.


Good news from my consultant after a visit to Invercargill.
My paraproteins are down to less than 1ml per litre of blood. If they go to zero this month, I will be able to stop the treatment early and stop at 3 cycles rather than do the whole 5. There is no point in treating something if it has disappeared. The side effects of the drugs are not good:

• They make me dopey and fuzzy, I can't concentrate on more than one thing.
• I am tired all the time and feel like I want to go back to bed (all day)
• I am lethargic and it is an effort to get out and exercise
• My digestive system is running fast (getting the balance right between constipation and diarrhoea is a daily challenge) 
• I feel sick and nauseous at times despite the pills designed to counter this
• I can taste more now (I do not crave salt and sugar so much as last year) but taste is not as sharp as it should be.

I can't wait to stop this treatment but know I should keep going if it makes a difference. I now fully understand why the consolidation chemo is considered to be difficult mentally. I am getting better according to my blood tests, but the drugs to make this happen make me feel so lousy when I should be feeling good.  It is a mental challenge to stay positive and focused. It is easy to get depressed about not being up to doing much when there are so many adventures waiting to be had. I just have to be patient and keep taking the medicine.

Thankfully, we are now able to start planning a trip back to Europe now that we have finalised the Zometa infusion schedule for 2018 with the nurses in Clyde. I am allowed a 3 month holiday in July, August and September. A drug free, 3 months with no blood tests is something to look forward to, as is the end of my visits to hospital. The Zometa infusions will continue until at least the end of Feb 2019, then fingers crossed, I will be in free again.

Kung Hei Fat Choi. It's the Chinese Year of the Dog. Not so great if you are a grumpy pussy.
My favourite image so far (thanks to Steve G)

A sense of humour is precious. Laughing out loud is a great tonic.
I am hoping for a better year than the last and will be smiling when you next see me.
Lots of love
Jo
xx