You may recall that a while ago Mum had a breast cancer scare as she had found a lump but they did a mamogram and said it was all fine - well the lump got bigger but stopped hurting her and she started to loose weight so she went back.
They did another scan and found several lumps so the did a biopsy - I hadn't realised that this was a bit more invasive than the ones I had done via endoscapy etc... She got the results on Friday - they were positive.
She is going to have an operation to remove the lumps and the lymph glands under her arms and just to be on the safe side they are giving her a bone marrow scan and checking her liver and stuff to check that the cancer is only isolated in the breast and hasn't gone wandering off anywhere else.
At this stage we are hopeful that it is only in the breast and can be delt with via the operation, so avoiding all that unpleasantness of radio- and chemo- therapy.
Mum is a bit shocked as no one else in the family has ever had breast cancer before but as I have repeatedly pointed out to her she was on Hormone Replacement Therapy or HRT for a very long time - as in like coming up to two decades! And one of the side effects can be breast cancer 🙁 As soon as the first lump was found they took her off of the drug and the cancer is in a very early stage so its not all doom and gloom!
Her and Dad are staying with me this week whilst Alaric is in London then she is off for the chop!
Of course she managed to panic me something rotten as she decided she didnt want to tell me over the phone mean while I was trying to get hold of her to find out the results of the biopsy - now the last time someone dissappeared on me like that it was my friend Amber and she had been rushed straight in for intensive chemo as the luekemia had been so bad.
Finially after living in Chelt for over two years we got to go to the Litrature festivial - first year we had no way of getting there and no one to look after jean and I was still shaky on the crutches, last year we just didnt have any spare cash to spend on the ticketsbut this year we got to go!
And yesturday we say Terry Pratchett being interviewed by some woman from a litrature programme on the radio. He was quiet frankly brilliant - I didnt expect that, I thought he would just be an oldish man being interviewed but he was sooooooo funny and he feely does have my dads scense of humour 🙂 He is also quick witted and sounds like Mr Hedgehog when he was telling me bed time stories! (ok well dads good at accents and there used to be a hedgehog and badger and pigeon and fruit bat etc.... who would tell me stories and stuff).
Anyway I was glad to here that he is writing something other than a discworld noval and said himself the same things me and Alaric had said about the novals becoming a bit samey but people wanting the familiarity etc... I think that it must be a great reflief to go and do something different that isnt tied in to all the previous stuff, reduce the pressure of whats expected etc...
What I was sad to hear though is that he had suffered a little stroke - he hadn't even known he said and the only difference he detected was that he can no longer tie a tie and that he has certian adverts stuck in his head - he then proceeded to lighten the mood again by singing some of the jingles! Again he can actually sing which was cool.
Today we are off to see Stephen Hawking and his duaghter which should be fun though Al has already been to various things with Hawking I havent so I'm really excited! Unfortunatly I hadn't noticed that Tom Reynolds was going to be doing a slot and therefore didnt factor him in which is a shame as we'd have quiet liked to have seen him - oh well :/
However me and Al have had everyone we tell about who we are seeing at the festivial laugh at us! I think that there is a certian expectation when you say you are going to the Cheltenham Litrature Festivial that it will be all arty and high brow. This angers me slightly as surely writing is about communication and if artistic - expression - the same people who would not dare be seen listerning to Pratchett as its not proper litrature will praise Shakespeare and the like, forgetting or ignoring the origins and history of the very subject they are being so 'knowledgable' about.
Yesturaday the Rainbow people for the Mill came and said pretty much the same as was said of the Bakery - its naturally damp the amount of moisture goes up everytime it rains so the buildings at pre-flood levels.
Al asked about the 'long-term' solution and it would be taking up the flag stones and putting a layer undernieth but that isn't going to happen so for now its just getting carpets back in and rugs back down.
Unfortunatly the mill is basically sitting on a spring in the front part by the front door and when the water table rises it comes threw the floor! The water table is exceptionally high still and the guy showed us the visible damp patches on the stones - 'you can feel the damp with your fingers!' he told us demonstrating 🙁
The Rainbow people came again on Tuesday and pronounced that we were wetter than the previous week and therefore the property though very damp is naturally that way and they have returned the building to pre-flood levels. This ment they removed all the fans and dehumidifiers and will be signing us off so that the builders can begin their work.
However they did warn us that any floor covering we put down will go moulding in about a year and have suggested various things like ceramic tiles and waterproof layers - flag stones would apparently be the best as they would allow everything to 'breath' properlly. I think that what will probably happen is that a water proof layer will be painted onto the floor again even though that just means all the moisture will just go round it into the wall cuasing problems with plaster - sigh.
We really wish we had some spar cash so that we could sort it all out properlly once and for all but I dont think thats going to happen for a while yet.
We also found a little shrivelled mummyfied mouse corpse that had been dried out by the dehumidifier - in fact it was pretty much under the machine - I really wish I had a working camera as it was a photo oppertunity I'll probably never have again - gross but interesting - sigh I'm not sure that artist and scientist is such a good mix somethimes!
I have just realised that I forgot to actually show people what the picture of the Cricket Gear that I painted during my GCSE's actually looks like!
Here's the salaric post on it!
http://www.salaric.co.uk/2007/08/26/cricket-gear/
Its not a very good photo but it is of the picture in pride of place at the Cranham Cricket Club 🙂
The Family | sarah | 
Mon 8th Oct 2007 9:04 pm | 
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