27th March 2008 - Day 1

A quiet Jon left the house for work this morning, I myself too was scared of what was going to be happening today but work kept me busy. One of Jon's workmates too him to the hospital today.

Jon arrived home with a smile on his face which was such a relief to see, he said the treatment had taken about 40 minutes because they took some photos, and it wouldn't take as long tomorrow.

He came home with a tube of cream and has been told he will lose all his hair on his head again this time, was just getting used to him without the skinhead haircuts, he had just allowed it to grow little longer... oh well..

Jon said the process itself had no pain at all, in fact there was no feeling of anything at all just laying there and letting the radiotherapy happen.

In the evening Jon had a headache, and fell asleep many times in the chair, I think this was a combination of the treatment and the lack of sleep from the past few nights.

Roll on day 2 were here to fight Brian the 2nd back out.

20th - 24th March

Thanx Mum and Dad for giving the kids a lovely break away.... they especially enjoyed the special Easter Sunday at your Darts social club in Yattendon.... well done on the prizes you all won for the easter egg hunt.

I also want to thank Stuart, Marion and the family for looking after the boys on Monday, keeping them entertained playing football and XBox games. Rob also wants to say Thank you very much for the fantastic clothes... he is already parading around in the football shirt. (and Chris has claimed a few of the hats).

18th March 08

After going to sleep last night wearing my dressing gown and a bobble hat much to Jon's amusement... I went to work today freezing but came home to a warm glow at lunchtime... thanks British Gas for not letting us down again... (but maybe one time it can be fixed on the first visit should it break again for its yearly breakdown)

No other real news so wont bore you.... kids are looking forward to easter and the easter eggs... Im dreading having that much chocolate in the house when my diet is going downhill...

Oh well have to make sure the kids hide their eggs from me!

17th March 08 - Oh so cold

Grrrrr woke up this morning to a cold house... I never want to get out of bed when its too cold... but I eventually braved it... crashed about blaming Jon for turning down the heating last night... hes always so hot... am always so cold... eventually after enough crashing and banging of stuff Jon got up...

He hadn't turned the heating down... the boiler has decided to stop... so had to appologize... humbly..

British Gas arrived this morning... as usual didn't have the right part... will be back tomorrow morning (means another day off work for someone)

So sitting under blankets watching tv, with two covers on each of the beds... and a Calor gas heater in one room to heat the whole house... I hope it doesn't get too cold tonight!

13th March 2008

Today Jon had his mask made to protect his face from the radiotherapy I was allowed to sit in and watch while they molded the plastic to his face.

They also use the mask to mark the areas they need to do the treatment so Jon doesn't have to have permanent marker on his head all the time.

Its looks a pretty strange contraption, its pinned down onto the bench to stop Jon from moving during treatment, he's used to wearing breathing apparatus masks and even though it isn't exactly the same its a similar experience ( I myself would freak at being trapped... am such a wimp )


Jons treatment schedule at the moment starts on the 27th March and he is going to have 4 weeks of daily radiotherapy. So far we have the times for the first week.

(see treatment schedule)

We have been warned that Jon will be very tired after these sessions so it maybe worth phoning the house first (or my mobile )if you want to come visit Jon to check he isn't asleep.

12th March 08

Happy Birthday Mum Ward

Hope you had a wonderful birthday mum,(haven't mentioned the age, see am a nice daughter) I certainly enjoyed the meal at the tutti pole.. was nice to see Dad and you meeting old friends from Hungerford.



Big hugs to Auntie Rita and Uncle John who are visiting from Yorkshire at the minute and staying at mum and dads, its been far too long since we've seen you, Jon and I will come up to Yorkshire hopefully in the summertime to visit Whitby and Scarborough.

Bob... Thank you for the meal... I wanted to pay some towards mums meal but your so sneaky !!!

Nerves are starting to set in for tomorrows Hospital appointment, but we will let everyone know whats going on asap.

9th March 08

Eeekk... will have to ring Suzie... I cant move my arms much today... I know they said the Wii is good exercise but My arms feel like lead weights.. maybe we did too much olympic sports...

hmmm off swimming now... hope I can move my arms enough to swim... still taking Jon with me and the kids... he will rescue me Im sure!

8th March 08

Busy day today... apart from the usual weekend flurry of housework... we survived the sleepover....I must add that all the boys were excellently behaved, no arguments and no noise... (maybe we should have other children over more often!)

When the friends left at lunchtime, Rob went to our local football team playing with his Grandad Alan (Hungerford won 3-0), We took the car to Newbury to the Firestation Charity Car wash...our car actually got washed by Hungerford Firefighters who were also helping out for the day. Hopefully they raised lots of money.. there certainly seemed to be a steady flow of cars going through.

In the Evening Chris,Suzie and Chloe popped round... we had the usual Boys vs Girls on the Wii.... I do think the boys won slightly more games than the girls but to be honest we were all laughing too much to really notice the scores.. thanx for coming over guys and making us cry with laughter.

7th March 08

Bit of food shopping this morning ready for this afternoons fun and games...

Both the boys have a friend each for tea and a sleep over... we felt it best to do this while Jon isn't so tired as we had promised the boys friends over for a weekend once my chest infection cleared up.

At the moment its working out well... all is quiet... ish... 2 are playing inside and 2 playing on the trampoline... then they swap over... after tea will be a competition on the Wii... then dvd's with popcorn in there rooms.

Am off to finish cooking the roast dinner now... keep safe everyone!

6th March 08

Quiet day today.. a visit to the local doctor to inform things are happening again, this afternoon while I had popped into work Jon had a call from the hospital asking him to go in on Thurs 13th March for a consultation for planning of his treatment, and to have a mask fitted that protects his face throughout the treatment stages.

The boys have been told.. the youngest has cried and opened up asked questions.. the eldest has gone very quiet.. hes spending time with Jon but not asking any questions at all, going to have to keep an eye on him.

Jon himself is pretty quiet too, asked if he had anything to say on here and he just wanted me to add "thanks for all the support from everyone so far".

It's not the easiest thing to know what to reply to or say when being told about Jon's condition, we understand this, just knowing your there is enough for us.

4th March 2008 -Give us Strength

Yikes was New Years really the last time I posted....

Things haven't been easy at home recently, Jon has been showing some of the original symptoms of having the tumor. We both noticed it but had hoped it was just tiredness or anything.. We called Adelaide Ward yesterday evening and they suggested popping to the hospital today to get checked over...

I think we both knew the outcome before being told ... but had hoped and prayed it wasn't so!

After a CT scan we were called to a meeting with the consultant who gave us the news that the tumor has in fact returned.

Whats the plan now... at the min to be honest we are home again with steroids and awaiting another appointment to be given a plan re: Radiotherapy.

Will keep you posted how we get on and dates etc. I think the play at the moment will be an outpatient program of Radiotherapy over a period of weeks. So Jon will be home much more than the last session. Jon's pretty tired at the min but please keep in contact... If he starts getting over tired from treatment I will post on the Blog best times to visit.