Walla Crag and Great Wood

Something very rare happened today - we had a walk in the heart of tourist land!

We needed to be in Keswick this morning and as it was looking like an OK sort of day weatherwise. So armed with some info from a neighbour of a cheeky little parking spot that no-one seems to use we set off up Walla Crag

Across to Skiddaw

And Blencathra away on the right

Looking across Keswick, Bass lake in the distance

Sychronised action

Happy Puppy. It was her birthday yesterday - 6 years old. She still behave like a puppy.

Up on Walla Crag

Heading down to Cat Gill where Jeff discovered that his insides are still very sore and jarring himself down steep rocky paths was somewhat uncomfortable. 

Breeze on the other hand was quite happy to go up and down countless times

We're on to better ground now so Jeff is more comfortable. Breeze stops for a quick pose

A fly past of an Airbus A400M Atlas - the last time we had a fly past by one of these was on Shetland last May!

A gentle ramble back towards our parking spot

Mucky Pup

Derwent Water

Quick dip to wash the worst off

A lovely 3.25 Miles and although we saw more people than we would normally, they were all very sociable and mainly going in the other direction to us which is always a bonus!
Thanks for the tip Sarah, next time you want to park there you might find a Toyota in the way!!

Making Progress

It has ben a while since I updated this blog. Mostly that is because there has been no real fell walking. However the whole purpose of this blog is for us to keep a record of things that we want to be able to look back on. So instead of making multiple entries describing how we haven't really been up to much, there now follows a bit of a round up of the last couple of months or so!

6th February 2018 we had an appointment to see Sareth Avula - our Consultant.
Anyone who has lived through cancer will know that these are very scary days. So whilst waking up to a covering of snow wouldn't normally bother is, it did add to the stress a little! However, we took the long way round and arrived at the Hospital in good time. Mr Avula was really pleased - in fact surprised at how well Jeff is doing. He warned us that the effects of the complications and the infections are likely to last quite some time yet but expects that by the end of April, things should be getting back on track. After blood tests etc we walked out of there feeling very relieved. He doesn't want to see us again until August, so that was reassuring.

We have been trying to get Jeff out for a bit of a walk as often as possible, however this winter has not been the most helpful! Feeling the cold more than ever and having very little strength doesn't exactly encourage him out! We set a target a while ago, that once we made it up to Lingy Hut, then he will be ready to tackle small fell walks. This was taken on 19th February, about a mile from the car - the turning point on this occasion. We are a long way from Lingy but also a little bit further than the last time!

23rd Feb and we decided to go up Helton Fell. We call this the Cheats Fell because you can basically drive onto it and then have a fairly level walk

On this occasion Jeff achieved his longest walk Post illness - albeit pretty flat! We paid a visit to our friend Annie whose Ashes we helped to scatter in October 2015

26th Feb. Another day, another walk. A lovely - if cold - day for a change. This is on another of our frequent short walk routes, along Bullfell Beck

Dreaming of the Fells? Or perhaps just smelling a rabbit? Breeze is looking across Bannerdale on our way back down to the car.

The End of Feb and Early March saw quite a lot of snow.

In fact so much snow that we didn't leave the village for 5 days - apart from on foot

Road walking isn't really our thing - but when the roads are blocked......

Then the road is as good as anywhere

At this point someone had admitted defeat and turned round!

 So, we are now into March. Just before Jeff went into hospital we had held a party (a couple of days before in fact). It had been planned since before his cancer diagnosis and we decided to go ahead rather than sit at home worrying. On that night, we declared that we would have a re run when Jeff was through his op - little did we know at that point just how poorly he was going to be.
So fast forward a few months and 10th March seemed like a good date. Jeff is able to cope with an evening of excitement and it is my 50th birthday. So with 25 - 30 of our friends we celebrated both and at the same time said a very big THANK YOU to our wonderful friends for all of their support.
People never fail to surprise me. At the worst time of our lives we have witnessed immense thoughtfulness from so many people, some of whom we wouldn't have considered to be close friends until now. At the same time others, who you thought you would always be able to count on have turned their backs and been vindictive. I hope they can sleep at night.

On 13th March we headed out for a haircut and decided to have a walk on our way back. Parking at Grainsgill Bridge as we so frequently do, we set out towards Lingy - just to see how far we could get.

Whoooop Whooooop. We didn't think we were going to get this far!! Such an amazing achievement. These two mean the world to me and to see Jeff getting his strength back enough to make it up here is amazing. 15 weeks ago, getting out of hospital was looking unlikely. I have always loved this funny little hut, now it will always have a special place in my memory.

We ended up doing a circuit over Coombe Heights. A rare selfie as we get back down to the Cumbria way - 2 very happy people - one of whom is quite tired!!

 Further progress on Fell walks goes back on hold for a while as we head down to Northamptonshire for a meeting with Social services (about Dad) on 15th March

Breeze and Grandma catch up on some sleep

 And from there head on to Lincolnshire for Jeff to catch up with his boys who (other than a visit from them when he was in hospital) he hasn't managed to see since before diagnosis.

16th March. Breeze found a new friend - Chase - while we were staying with our dear friends Simon and Sally

Poor Simon and Sal had to put up with us for an extra day as we couldn't get back into Cumbria on the Sunday as planned. Chase didn't seem to mind as it meant he came for a walk with Simon, Sal, Myself and Breeze in the snow.

 So we made it back to Cumbria and then a few days later we were off back down to Northamptonshire. This time for Dad's 80th Birthday. A lovely Lunch at the Dunn Cow at Dunchurch, followed by a trip round the World Rugby Union Rugby Hall of Fame - in Rugby of all places! Uncle Bri and Aunty Jan came too and we all had a really lovely day.

The following day we headed back home, with Mum who is staying here for a week - hopefully to rest a little.So in the interests of resting, we have not done much worth recording while she has been here - although Easter Sunday, 1st April, we took a trip down to Gelnridding where we gave Breeze a quick run

Before moving on to Patterdale to have a look around the Patterdale Mountain Rescue Base. A really interesting tour. I can't recommend it highly enough and I sincerely hope they raised a lot of money for their efforts.

From Living The Dream to Living The Nightmare

Thursday 12th October 2017 is a date that will always be etched in our minds. The day our world stopped turning.
Jeff had been called in for tests following routine bowel screening but as he had no symptoms, was feeling really well, fit, not losing any weight etc. All the signs were that he was in the 90% who get called in on a false positive. How wrong you can be.
We were told that day that he had a tumour in his Sigmoid Colon and that it was almost certainly cancer. They had taken biopsies to check. He would be operated on within 62 days to remove part of the bowel including the tumour and would have a CT scan in the meantime to determine the extent of the cancer. We put those 62 days to the best use we could, walked as much as we could to get as fit as possible for his op; went racing at every opportunity and tried to fill our time with anything other than worry (easy to say). The CT scan took place and showed that the tumour was confined within the bowel - biopsy had confirmed that it was cancer.
November 21st was admission day and the op was performed the following day. 5 hours in theatre and another 5 in recovery. I can honestly say they were the longest 10 hours of my life. The op went well but unfortunately the recovery didn't. By day 3 (when in theory they would have been starting to think about discharging him the next day) he had been unable to eat or drink and things didn't seem to be doing what they should. He was horrendously bloated and extremely uncomfortable. This theme continued with him getting weaker and worse each day, and then on the Monday night (day 5) he started to run a fever.
Intravenous antibiotics started immediately and he was whisked off for an emergency CT scan that morning. We had been warned that there were quite a few possible complications with the surgery, most of them had something like less than 5% probability. The CT scan showed that he had a few:
Paralytic Illeus   (nothing was passing from his stomach through into his bowel, which was why he                                    was so bloated and why he couldn't eat or drink anything).
Pneumonia         (because his stomach was so distended, his lungs had not had room to function                                        properly).
Anastomatic Leak  (the join in his bowel had not quite sealed and was leaking gas into his abdomen                                      - this was the most scary as it potentially meant the op would need repeating)
Infection in the Join (for obvious reasons the bowel is an area that is prone to infection and the leak                                         had probably led to this)

So immediately a nasogastric tube was inserted and the contents of his stomach were drained - this drain then had to stay in place and it was nil by mouth (although he hadn't really taken anything for days as he had felt so crap and bloated) for the next 5 days. This allowed the bowel to rest and along with IV antibiotics was the best hope of the leak healing without further surgery. To watch the man you love being so poorly when he had walked into hospital as fit as a flea to all intents and purpose was so very hard, but it was nothing to what he was going though.

After 5 days of nil by mouth and IV meds, his bloods were showing signs that things were improving so he was allowed to start sipping at liquids and swallowing tiny amounts of soft food - it's the first time I've bought baby food in my life. The euphoria when the first few sips and swallows didn't reappear via the drainage tube was immense.His gut had started to work. He was finally making progress. The following day the tube was removed and he came off the drip that had been keeping him alive for the last 12 days. He could now eat proper (soft) food, albeit tiny amounts.

Monday 4th December, he was finally allowed home. He was weak, sore, tired, bloated and over a stone and a half lighter than he was when he went in, but he was home. The first couple of weeks at home were very difficult but we were both just so pleased that he was on the mend and at home. Christmas didn't happen in our lives but by New Year, Jeff was strong enough for us to join our friends for a couple of hours at the start of the evening.

Since then it has been a question of gradual recovery. As his appetite has increased, so has his weight and gently walking a little further each day has helped regain some strength too.

Through all of this Jeff has remained cheerful - even though there were dark moments when getting out of hospital at all was beginning to look doubtful - and has never complained.As I type this, 9 weeks and a day after the op, I am so proud of him for his positive attitude, his strength and determination and the fact that today for the first time it felt like we might, one day, get back to what we consider normality.Just a mile up and a mile back, but what an astounding achievement.

Our world is turning again. Slower than before for now but it's definitely turning. We feel so lucky. Lucky that we have NHS screening; Lucky that we had the most amazing Consultant. 14 days in hospital and he was there for every single one of them. Saturdays, Sundays; often he would visit Jeff 3 times a day. Always first thing in the morning (before 8am many times) and still be there at 7 in the evening. Sareth Avula, our Knight in shining Armour.
So if you've made it all the way through this post, well done and I hope if nothing else you will take one lesson from our experience. National Screening saves lives. Never; Ever throw your Poo sticks on the fire.