February half term

20th February 2006

The children have been off school all last week and, despite persistent quizzing from our eldest son, we managed to keep activity plans fairly hazy in detail. In theory this should be the week when the drugs would really 'hit me'. (Conscious of this, I have been scrutinising my pillow every morning. Have I started to moult? So far everything has remained in place but I know it's early days.) I tossed my locks to one side and focused on the entertainment programme for the week ahead. By the time the second cycle of chemo drugs go in, I shall be as bald as a coot.

Friends came to the rescue. Two of these have recently swapped a London address with their three children for a home in the Oxfordshire countryside and we were invited to join them for a day and visit a wildlife park in the area. I thought the journey would be too long – in the end it was fine. After a short tour of the new abode, we set off from Bob and Jessica's house – Jessica was at work that day so we missed her – but Bob coped brilliantly and offered to bundle two of his three children plus the four of us into his Land Rover and take us to the park. Just as well, as we would have never found it by ourselves. The children had a wonderful time at the wildlife park: they saw rhinos, lions, zebras, llamas, all sort of monkeys and a rather jolly collection of penguins to name some of the animals we saw. We agreed to meet up again and left in the afternoon. I made a mental note to pick a day when Jessica would be around as she is great fun too.

On Thursday my ex-flatmate and friend Ros, who also swapped an address in London for one in the countryside, took a detour from a visit to central London to see us. It was nice to see a familiar face and the children looked forward to seeing Ros who also has two boys. Her husband Graham took their children to one of the museums in town while we lunched and caught up with each other's news. We usually go to visit Ros, Graham and their boys in the new year but postponed those plans till a little later as this year as I was recovering from surgery and also had the prospect of the chemotherapy ahead.

Then, towards the end of the week, a friend from my university days, Katherine, braved the M25 and drove all the way from West Sussex with lunch and her two children to join me and my boys for a visit to a local bowling alley. The afternoon got off to a great start when we arrived to discover all the bowling alleys were fully booked. However luckily for me I had chosen a leisure complex which featured a climbing-frame area and football coaching. This saved the day. Katherine's children were great with Benjamin and I was spared the angst of trying to keep track of him. We returned to our house for late lunch/early supper. Katherine made a very tasty soup and brought enough for another meal. I have since put the soup in a container and it is now perfectly preserved in our freezer as a wholesome standby for one of the days I am bound to get when cooking will not be an option.

Apart from being a good cook, Katherine is also a very good skier and was the captain of the ladies' ski team at Manchester University when I was there. We have been on a number of ski trips together. One of the most memorable for me was a trip to the Alps that took in a visit to Zermatt and Chamonix.

Chamonix (http://www.chamonix.com/) has a wonderful atmosphere nestling, as it does, within sights of the highest mountain in Europe: Mont Blanc. It is also one of Europe's most established ski venues and was the venue for the first Winter Olympics in 1924. (http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=2&OLGY=1924) .

One of the things Katherine and I set out to do during our visit to Chamonix was ski the world famous Vallé Blanche. This is a spectacular off-piste 17 kilometre run with a vertical descent of 2800 metres and to reach it skiers and mountaineers alike have to take the Aiguille du Midi cable car to an altitude of 3842 metres. Once out of the cable car they must negotiate a rather narrow section of a mountain ridge with a 'whoa!-I-daren't-look' sheer drop which leads to the top of the valley from which skier or climber can begin their descent. Naturally, we went with a guide and took a picnic in our rucksacks. We were rewarded with stunning views during our descent and have the satisfaction of knowing that we have one more mountain peak 'ticked off on the list'. Zermatt proved to be stunning in its own way with the picture-postcard setting beneath the Matterhorn, but somehow it was our time in Chamonix that left an impression: one that will probably lure me back there one day.

Meanwhile, back in suburbia, I went to see my G.P who was pleasantly surprised to see me in such good shape and with a full head of hair. She advised me not to be disappointed with what will happen next and said that my recovery from each set of injections would get progressively more difficult. It is her job to tell me these sorts of things, however I was pleased that she took an interest in the diet I have put myself on; apparently three other women were diagnosed with breast cancer at our surgery around the same time as me and, judging from what was said to me, I seem to be the front-runner in terms of general fitness and health. This last week has gone remarkably well. I am having some of the side effects: a metallic taste in my mouth, mouth-ulcers, nausea, tiredness, but nothing that has so far proved unbearable. I hope it will get no worse, but I feel ready for whatever happens next.