C-3 Three days to Chemo It’s Monday and today I have the first blood test / clinic to check I’m healthy enough to start chemotherapy on Thursday. I slept well, which surprised me. I think this was mainly due to running the last Salsa Rapido 1-Day Intensive course until July 23rd! They were a fun group and I really appreciate that one couple deferred their date after I appealed for anyone with flu sniffles to postpone. The last two weeks has been full of endings: I completed the Mambalsa course at the Nightingale which was a great success. I’ve also paused my counselling work there as the counselling rooms are too small for social distance. The feeling I'm experiencing is closer to preparing to move abroad, I’m both anxious and excited. I’ve also been shopping. I’m now the proud owner of an orange bucket and a multi day pill box. The bucket is carrot coloured, do I need to say any more? The pill box is for the muesli of pills that comes with chemo. There’s anti-inflammatory, anti...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce to you, the one and only (Cue drum roll) Capitano Chemo! It feels quite fitting that my marathon blog evolves into my cancer journey blog. The similarities are numerous. For last year's (2022) Brighton marathon I trained for six months, which is the proposed length of my chemotherapy. I’d actually prepared for the 2020 Brighton marathon which was postponed due to lockdown and it was 2019 that I received my first diagnosis of lymphoma (See earlier post for more details). Both are uncomfortable at times and there's always the possibility that you wont make it to the finish line! So what’s Capitano Chemo all about? Truth is I’m not quite sure but I’m hoping he’ll reflect many aspects of my life so far: comedy, counselling, running and something I do extremely well i.e. sitting on a sofa doing sod all! Let’s start with comedy. Captain Chemo has two main super powers: The aforementioned doing sod all and projectile vomiting hence his trusty bucket! ...

  Scanxiety This is a B-Cell Tomorrow I have a consultation at UCLH to discuss my recent CT scan and treatment options. I had a routine consultation two weeks ago after a blood test. They informed me that I would need chemo within the next year. I felt unprepared for that news as my bloods were exactly as expected, i.e. the white cell count is doubling every 10-12 months and I have no symptoms. Chemo will consist of two drugs given in six, monthly cycles for six months. Each cycle consists of  two consecutive days of chemo. This will knock out all my white cells both good and bad so I'll have no immunity for 7-10 days. This will make me especially prone to viruses.  For two years after the start of the chemo, I’ll also have depleted immunity making me prone to bacterial infection.  Tomorrow is my chance to present my thoughts. I accept that I have limited knowledge and experience so my perspective has to be guided by the experts. My role is to convey my preference an...

Who's Lynne and what's she FOMO about? My cancer journey so far. Before we start, please recognise that this blog may be upsetting for some. It's not my aim to upset anyone, only to speak my truth. You have a choice as to whether to read this or not, make it now. I like the idea that when I was first diagnosed with Lymphoma my mind went into a fuzz and all I could remember after was the miss-heard statement "Who's Lynne and what's she FOMO about?" But it didn't happen like that. Aug 2019 I'd been stuffing my face during lunch at my Salsa Rapido 1-Day courses. Service was often slow so I'd have to gobble my food down then get up and dance. It was uncomfortable and after a few weeks I realised I had a lump a few inches above my navel a little to the right. I went to the GP who was one of those young and tech savvy GPs, who sent me for an ultrasound scan without any physical examination. The ultrasound was 'inconclusive' and there were ano...

So, I did it! I started writing up this full account, the day after I ran the 2022 Brighton Marathon. Time to reflect on yesterday's achievement. I'm 56, two stone overweight and hated cross country running at school, and yesterday I ran the 2022 Brighton Marathon in 6 hours and nine minutes. It’s the day after and the stiff bits are a little less stiff and the sore bits are less sore. My mind's a bit slow and foggy as it recovers, but I’ve the dull satisfaction of achievement. It feels very nice and I question where that nice feeling is coming from, then I remember yesterday and go arrrrrrr it’s over. There is also now an empty space in my life that was filled with preparation, anxiety and excitement. Prep: I feel in my own way I’ve done it the sensible way. My running has built up over the years and my significant preparation was for the 2020 Brighton marathon, where I’d run the distance in North London. There was no expectation then. No exposure to public scrutiny. Noth...

 I did it!  Wow what a ride!  I'll did a full post later with all the details as I want to look back on this years down the road. Meanwhile here's a few stats: Me : Alastair Sadler 56 years old Brighton Marathon 2022 (Delayed from 2020) Time : 6hours and 9mins, a PB as we runners say :) Walked for c.one mile (it hurt more to walk than jog!) Sponsorship raided so far £750+ No hitting the wall,pavement, sea defences or esplanade! Injuries: No blisters! only a slight muscle pull in my right thigh, kidney OK. Ave. pace equal to man dressed as the Gruffalo! The only equipment fail was my headphones damaged in transit. Consumption: 8 gel packs, 2.5 litre water, about an orange and a half, 20 jelly babies and one vegan sausage roll! Post run: Beer and burger!

It's the Friday before Sunday's Brighton Marathon. My nerves are growing! Thanks to everyone who's sponsored me. Friends family and colleges, you're all wonderful.  I've exceeded my target of £500 but you can check out the latest amount at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/alastairsadler While you're there you can donate too :) Fliss and I travel to Hove tomorrow after picking up the race pack in Brighton. Hopefully we'll get a chance to pop into my cousin Maia's second birthday party as it will be the first time I've seen her in person. We've an Italian restaurant booked for an early evening carb-alitious meal. I'll probably have a carb-onara, or a Kcal-zone! I've been taking it easy and carb loading all week!  It's the first part of this adventure I've felt really qualified for :) To be honest I feel a little bloated all over but that'll be gone by Sunday evening. The idea of carb loading is to store up energy and water in the...

On Tuesday morning I did my Twang test , a neat little 13.4 mile half marathon, up and down the hills of North London. Ally pally, Highgate village, Highgate Cemetery and Crouch End, not to mention the dog leg to Finsbury Park and.....  nothing went twang! No ligaments, muscles or other bodily parts were hurt or harmed. My dress rehearsal for the Brighton Marathon on April 10th went well.  I even bumped into Jan, an old friend that we were in a salsa demonstration group with back in 1994!! (We have not changed a bit!) P.S. I don't know the dog it just seemed so happy rolling by the Kenwood magnolia. Happy Feet! Something strange did happen. All my feet aches stopped the next day. Last Sunday, the day before my twang test, my feet, as usual were aching to the point considering withdrawing from the marathon. If they hurt with 10 mile runs what would 26.2 miles do to them? But when I woke up on Wednesday there was no pain at all! Zero, zip, zilch and that's just the Zs. I have ...

It’s just fifteen days from my first, and probably my last, attempt at the Brighton Marathon . The training is going really quite well considering, and the heel problem has stabilised. I’m still in pain between runs and often walking with a limp, but I'm able to do the ten mile runs so my training has not stalled.  On Monday I will do a 15 mile run that I call the twang test. I call it a twang test because if some muscle or ligament is going to go twang then I’ll be close to home.  This is a dress rehearsal where my kit is fully tested. Two years ago I was surprised at the difference between a ten and fifteen mile run, where a seam on my running top was comfortable at ten miles, but it became a bloody chafing mess at fifteen! In the last few days before the big day I’ll just do a few short runs just to keep the muscle tone up but really it’s about recovering so that I’m fully up for the big day. The arrangements for the Marathon are coming together and there’s ...

    It’s been hard to pick a good moment to write a blog. I like writing when things are going well. It’ll make it easier for the Hollywood script writer to dramatise my life for a Netflix's mini series. Considering there’s a 24 hour knitting channel in Norway, I think there’s room for a little me on Netflix? My problem has been that things have been both going, with an intensity that I’m not used to, and things haven't been going that well. As a result there’s a lot of information to share which means there’s a backlog. So first the backlog: Skip this bit if you can’t stand middle aged men banging on about their health conditions! You've been warned!...   Medical stuff  I pretty much had to stop running since last summer. When I ran I had a mild burning sensation in my oesophagus and tingling in my fingers. In my mind that screamed HEART ATTACK! I called my GP who fast tracked me onto several waiting lists! First we got all angina-ery with the corresponding under t...

The last time I got a C+ must have been in O Level English when I was in my teens! I know that’s not long ago on a geological timescale but I’ve just got another! This C+ is for testing Covid positive. Apart from the excitement of passing the test, apparently sarcasm is unaffected by covid, I have to say it’s a bit of a shock. I’d imagined something more .... spectacular? Or maybe I’d be one of the asymptomatic ones, the James Bond of the viral vector world (sounds better with a German accent), slipping in and out of the supervillains volcano/pied-à-terre unnoticed. Unfortunately, this particular James Bond came crashing through the volcano’s front door in a white van marked James Bond - Fabric Dyer to the Stars! Out I popped in blue overalls similarly liveried, where upon super villain says: “Vell, Mr Bond, Velcome to my Viral Vector’s volcano.” (If an alliteration works, milk it!). “No, say nothing! I don’t expect you to talk, I expect you to dye!” (And the pun mussel still works e...

So what would you like first? The ups or the downs? Ups: On the up side I'm on holiday with Fliss staying in Wales at Nickie's and Jason's bnb It's a relaxed ramshackle village in West Wales called Ferryside on the estuary of the river Towy. Last night we chilled out on the upper deck and looked across the river to Llansteffan, the picture postcard village with a castle and supurb tearoom, I realise that we've the best view, and the sunset :-) Yesterday was a beautiful day, and please feel free to say 'beautiful' once again in a Welsh accent because it's well... beautiful. First thing, I went for a run, just five miles but Welsh miles seem longer than English miles. That may be due to the home made beer battered fish and chips the night before, but I suspect it's mainly because, and there's a clue in this post's title, it's the ups! Now I'm used to a few steep hills in London; Highgate, Hampstead Heath and Ally Pally, but these a...