Sunday, February 27, 2011

A bientot!

Our French family are safely back in Tours – it’s been a delightful visit. The children: G a 16 year old boy – a keen chess player, hoping to study medicine, D a thirteen year old boy – noted for his one –liners (‘but you are going to be dead’ , when I asked him if he would come alone to visit when he was a big boy)- now a pianist who wants to be a cosmonaut and E, an eight year old little girl with long, soft curling hair and an angelic demeanour – perfectly capable of holding her own if she feels her brothers are invading her space.


I shall miss the sight of Papa and son playing chess, of little E writing a journal of her holiday (and in French too – joke) and the neat row of boots scrubbed by Papa after a visit to The Tropiquaria, the local Zoo with very muddy grounds. We ate out with them twice – lunch at The Blue Ball where D was given permission to play the piano, and dinner at the Bistro where we are now recognised and treated royally.


Eating out with the young can be a trial but the conduct of our French three was exemplary. What helps is the two brothers enjoy each other’s company – unlike two of their uncles- and E enjoys being one of the grown –ups and when she’s had enough just curls up on one of the sofas and has a zizzzz.


G still adores Mr Kipling’s apple pies. They all love salt and vinegar crisps – which they don’t have in France, HP sauce, tomato ketchup and Marmite and I suspect the clothes shops in Minehead and Taunton have had one of their better weeks. I still have the beautiful roses they brought and the champagne was sublime.


I had a phone call from the doctor I saw about my shoulder/neck. The x-ray showed some erosion of the cervical bones and disc but as # 1 son says you’d expect it at my age. I think she said the pain makes the muscle go into spasm – or was it the other way round? She was pleased when I told her the pain had stopped after the massage/manipulation and we agreed I should drop the anti inflammatory tabs etc but keep them to hand. The pain killers I dropped days ago. I asked her if there was anything to worry about and she said only if I get pins and needles or numbness in the arm. I intend to continue with the physio and exercises.

Tomorrow we go to Taunton for MTL’s CCT scan which should show what effect the chemo has had and then a week later we see the oncologist so – everything crossed.

19 comments:

debra said...

All digits crossed that scans and visits go well, Pat.
sending love and light across the Pond.

Pat said...

Many thanks Debra:)

angryparsnip said...

Sounds like you had such a lovely visit.
Glad you know that you might have your neck problems workout for now.

Fingers crossed for the oncologist.

cheers, parsnip

Pat said...

Parsnip: all looking good just now:)

Anonymous said...

Good luck tomorrow. It sounds like your family get-together was the perfect way to lighten the spirits, which can do as much as medical science to increase one's health.

Cheers.

kenju said...

Good news all around, Pat! Seems you have a lovely family (as we do) and I'm glad to know you can drop the pain-killers.

Madame DeFarge said...

Good luck with the scan this week. Glad you're better. And your French family sound truly delightful.

Z said...

Everything crossed, my love, and I'm glad you had a lovely time with the family.

Just turned off South Riding after 40 minutes. Couldn't put up with it any longer - I'm afraid I thought it was complete tosh! Now enjoying silence.

The Unbearable Banishment said...

BEST WISHES for tomorrow. I'll be thinking about you on my way in to the city in the morning.

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

Tell Young E. I'm glad she can hold her own because brothers, when siblings are all young, can be quite...okay, let's not get into adjectivies :-)

I thought Marmite / Vegemite was everywhere!

Pat, I'm sending prayers for both you and YTL.

Pat said...

Randall: distraction is good - for both of us.

Judy: I take enough vitamins - any extra tabs and I rattle:)

Madame D: yes we are very lucky with our large family. Thank you.

Z: thank you for the wishes. Did you watch 'The Promise' at all?

UB: that's sweet of you. Thank you:)

GG: E is a scream - a little angel one moment but any nonsense from the brothers and she's tough as old boots. Her mother says she's had to be, but the boys are also very protective of her.
Presumably not Marmite in France.
Thank you darling for the prayers.

Kim Ayres said...

Good luck with all the medical stuff.

Glad it all went well the French Family :)

Pat said...

Kim::)xox

Granny Annie said...

"but you are going to be dead"...Out of the mouths of babes. LOL

Were you pleased with all the Oscar wins for THE KING'S SPEECH?

Pat said...

Granny Annie: I think the Academy were very generous. I hate to be greedy but would have like Helena Bonham Carter to have got best supporting actress although I didn't see the opposition.

mapstew said...

Sorry I'm late, hope all is well. :¬)

xxx

Pat said...

mapstew: as far as I can tell - I slept in:)

Nea said...

No Marmite where we are either :(
I can order it from a shop in Stockholm along with Salt & Vinegar crisps, chocolate Flakes and Polos, but so far I have managed to survive on whatever I can squeeze into my suitcase on the return journey and the kindness of friends and family.

I really enjoyed the King's Speech, and knowing about your special interest in it made it all the more fascinating.

Pat said...

Nea: I spend my life trying to ignore the crisps always present in the larder(grand-kids!)
It's so pleasing that a film that is more talk talk than kill kill is such a success.