Sunday 25 January 2015

Sorry!!!

For all, or should I say any, of my faithful followers who have been checking back to try to find out what is going on; I am really sorry for not updating for so long. I always hate it when I am crazy to know what is happening with other people and they don't update, and hey, here I am doing the same thing.
So; I didn't do any CEA tests after the one in Palawan. Scared to, really, and I just wanted to forget about cancer and do something else, which is also why I didn't write anything. It's been almost nine months of ignoring cancer, and it was great, except for the nagging feeling at three in the morning that I really should be checking...
We arrived back in 'reality' a few weeks ago, and the first thing I did was to make an appointment with the doctor. Reality means Israel, modern medicine, lots of people who ask you what is going on, so basically no choice but to go and get tested. My CEA came back as 1.78, which, while not as low as I would really like ( I'd like 0) is reasonable. It is lower than the result nine months ago, but higher than those in the same lab a year ago. Let's say I can live with it. ( Black humour...) Then I went for a CT of chest, stomach and pelvis, so all of me more or less, and that was clear, which, frankly, amazed me. Now I am waiting for my check up with the surgeon who did my operations, which is on Wednesday.
The real reason we came to Israel is to be here for the birth of my first grandchild. It seems so strange to be a granny, but that is what I now am! The baby is lovely, and my daughter is fine, although the birth was extremely long and she had pre-eclampsia. It is so good to see everyone here, and my parents will be here soon too, so I'm hoping to get a few good 'four generation' photos.
We have big plans for the next year or so; I feel as though I have been given a chance to have one last big adventure, so we will be going back to Chasamba on the 27th of February, and after stocking up as much as possible we will set sail for Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, stopping at several tiny atolls on the way; Helen Reef and Ninigo atoll, two of the most beautiful places on earth. See those and die! ( Too much black humour?) After that we will decide whether to carry on south down to Australia or go north east up to Micronesia. So, there will be a few months that this blog won't be updated, but hey, you're used to that, I guess. (Sorry again...)
Actually I am having a hard time getting used to the idea that I'm not going to die just yet. I was pretty sure I was riddled with cancer and just about to start feeling it; having a clean scan really threw me. I suppose that's just my way of dealing with all this. If you resign yourself to the fact that you are going to die, you can concentrate on living meanwhile. We have done so much these ast few months- Chasamba was in a terrible shape when we got back to her, and after overhauling the engine we sailed  to Carmen on Cebu island and got her hauled out of the water. Non too soon, she had lots of rust and several places where the whole thickness of her bottom was rust, so that any little bang would have sunk us. Chasamba has cancer too! But we cut it out, welded her back together and scrubbed her, painted her and did lots of work which hopefully will keep her afloat for a few more years.