By my reckoning it is just over 4° C this morning, and may soon reach 5° C - a bit more than forecast. The barometer in my thermometer is predicting that today will feature rain, but at the moment the sky is semi clear, and maybe we will get the predicted sunny spells later. The afternoon temperature may reach 8° C, and while still cold, is not bitterly cold. The forecast says the temperature may not fall much, and it may still be 7° C at midnight. Forecasts for mists and fog seem very unreliable for Catford, but mist is forecast from 11pm, and it may continue right through the night, and finally lift at 11am tomorrow morning. Tomorrow may be very dull, but the afternoon temperature may reach 9° C. More mist is forecast for tomorrow night (and Thursday morning).
 
  Yesterday had all the hallmarks of a terrible day, but it seemed like a fairly good day. I actually did very little apart from some washing up in the kitchen, and a bit of cooking. I didn't wash, and I didn't go out for a walk or even shopping. Somehow I didn't seem to get bored.

  One of the things I did just before midday was to send a message to Angela to ask for some up to date information as to how she is doing since her cancer treatment finished. The answer was not good. My brief research said that a side effect of radiotherapy might be loss of saliva production, and that is one thing she is suffering from.  A side effect of that would be no Amylase - an enzyme found in saliva that is used to start converting starch into sugar when it is eaten.

  I suggested that a lack of sugar would make her very weak, and that a lot of undigested starch in her gut could be the cause of her nausea and bouts of vomiting. The flaw in my argument is that she later said she is not eating at all apart from a possible prescribed drink called Fortisips. It does say that every 200ml (approx equal to 200gm) contains 36.8gm of carbohydrates. I suggested that maybe it still might be good to discuss it with an expert (or probably a GP), and see if there is a way around this problem.

  One thing I suggested yesterday was that she should keep up her typist skills, and also the skills she had as a medical secretary by writing some sort of mix between a diary, a journal, or even a book, starting from when the first discovered the cancer, and keep going until she is feeling cured. I added the bit about using her skills as a now retired medical secretary because I thought that if she could start thinking of herself as a patient instead of a victim, it might be a good thing - hopefully more objective about the situation, and also knowing that there can be set backs, but they can be overcome.

  Angela did agree that it sounded like a good idea. I may well be too optimistic, but her very simple reply did seem to contain a hint that she would be doing it. I have no idea if she has started yet, but I will check in a few more days time. That idea was probably the best thing I did all day, and I was sort of pleased to gave come up with the idea. My own positive feeling lasted until late afternoon, but then I slowly got very mildly depressed when I realised I hadn't really done anything else for the whole day.

  I think it was about 1pm when I made some lunch. It was two small wholemeal rolls filled with sliced beef, horseradish sauce, and mixed green leaves - the same recipe I have been using for the last week or two, and it doesn't feel like I am getting bored with it. Later in the afternoon I had two small packets of crisps, some rice crackers and cheese, and a little bit later a small amount of ice cream. The latter was, of course, very nice, but somehow I limited myself to less than a quarter of a litre.

  My dinner was beef stew with a lot of small, but not finger, chillies, and some sliced leek. It looked quite big, and instead of eating it direct from the casserole dish, I ladled maybe a little more than half of it into a soup bowl. I think some guilt after the ice cream had come into play here. I think I will bulk up the rest of that stew with some cauliflower when I eat it tonight.

  There were a few things on TV last night to amuse me - some Star Treks, and the last thing was an edition of Have I Got News For You. The latter finished at 9pm....or was it 10pm. All I know is that I read in bed for a while, and then probably fell asleep quite quickly before 11pm. It was another night when I seemed to pee less at some times, but after sometimes lasting for three hours between pees, I did a few big ones. I only remember the setting for just one dream, and it was no more than the setting. I was in some sort of college, but I can't seem to remember anything more about that one single dream.

  This morning I seemed to feel OK getting up modestly early again (or 90 minutes later than I used to when still going to work). It was one of the times when I seemed to have slept soundly for longer than is now normal, and when I went to the toilet it seemed like a very big pee. I also managed, albeit with little effort, to produce one tiny poo. It was hardly worth the effort (but I have done a little bit more since then).

  When I weighed myself I found I had put on weight again, but this time it was only a single 100gm. Even a semi decent poo should have weighed that much, but it was not to be first thing this morning. I am sure I have eaten enough stuff with enough fibre to produce something far more substantial before too long !

  I didn't seem to have any decent clues, right or wrong, about what my blood glucose might be this morning. In fact it was quite good - two readings coloured coded light green on my spreadsheet. The Contour meter was the odd one out with a slightly higher reading of 8.2mmol/l. That is still pretty good. The GlucoRX meter read a very good 7.7mmol/l, and the Sinocare meter read a slightly higher, but still very good, 7.9mmol/l.

  The first time I checked my blood pressure this morning it was higher than I liked, although 125/52 is still very much in the "normal" region. The problem was that I could feel the need to go to the toilet coming on. It was very mild, but had a significant effect. After having a second, and much bigger poo, I did some deep breathing, and got myself very relaxed. My second attempt at taking my blood pressure gave a remarkably small figure of 90/40. I do wonder if that might be a bit too low.

  Now we come to the problem of what to do today. I am not even sure I want to have the shower, and to wash my hair as I promised myself. I don't seem to fancy a walk - mainly on account of the weather. We have had some sunny spells, and could have another, but it seems the clouds are getting thicker, and some are looking a bit dark. The forecast still denies any chance of rain today, but the barometer function in my thermometer still says rain is expected.

  I have thought of a possible compromise. Instead of going out for a walk I am getting foolish ideas about doing some tidying in up in the garden, although it would probably be sensible not to get too carried away. I think I am just about over the pulled muscles and stuff I have been suffering from since manhandling big buckets of water while hand washing stuff, and not just pouring the detergent, rinse waters, and fabric conditioner down the bath plug hole. carrying those big heavy bucks to tip then down the toilet is only a pace and a half, but it most certainly left a legacy for a few days. I could probably do worse in the garden, and so I will give it a long hard think before even opening the back door !

   1530 words today