Cuckmere Haven

 

It is very important to have couple time so this weekend we had some. We were in this area last weekend and loved the view and the fact that there are lots of different walks to go on. There was no time last week but we said we would go back one day and do the walk down to the beach and we did. What a lovely piece of England. The chalky cliffs are beautiful and the water runs so fast beneath them.
 

On the nose - and my 500th POST - WOOOHOOO

This is it after the biopsy - sprung upon me without warning today as a patient cancelled. The attractive blue line is the bit that will have to come off if it is skin cancer, so most of the side of my nose. You have no idea how brave I feel sticking a photo of my snoz and my skin on the screen. It feels very up close and personal.
 

Piles

There are two piles of clothes in our bedroom. One for ebay - very small, but hey! One woman's fashion disaster could well work for another person out there.

And one for the charity shop, which is big. A ruthless, speedy toss out from the wardrobe and my drawers. It is true - cleaning out a wardrobe is like losing weight. My load is lighter now.

The latter will be marched off to the shop where I donate tomorrow. There are so many charity shops, but there is one I favour and it all goes to them.

Feeling pleased.



 

What a sunshiney day

We went to EASTBOURNE to meet an old friend of Big J's from his days in Hong Kong. Adam joined us as he was at school with her children. Han and Beth joined us, for the lift only, they made their own fun. Em stayed home and worked on her Picasso homework....

The sea was glistening, yachts were out and these trailers were lying on the beach looking a bit like abandoned space vehicles - to my mind...

 

And the pilons of the groins literally glowed in the sun. What a fabulous green.




A taste of my own medicine?

For a couple of weeks now a little lesion on the side of my nose has been bothering me. It bleeds, dries but does not go away. Happily I work for a consultant plastic surgeon who specialises in skin cancer. He very kindly donned his loupes to have a look yesterday when we were at work. He then put a hand on each of my shoulders, looked me in the eye and said 'let's go into my office, we need to have a chat'.

My heart was in my boots. In his office he drew a diagram of what it is and where it is and that is why we needed the chat. It is not sinister. It is a tiny little wee thing on the surface, it will not turn nasty, but it does extend under the skin and at this stage it looks like part of my nose will have to go and there will be a bit of plastic surgery necessary to maintain its look!

Now, every single day I talk to folk who are having bits taken off. Sometimes they are innocent lesions, sometimes sadly they are terminal, and the bits are coming off or out as part of palliative treatment. I am always positive, kind, reassuring and tell them they are in the best hands.....they are, I truely believe that, but now I think I know just a bit more how some of them might feel. Noses are tricky things, love em or hate, no one wants to loose a bit of one. 

The hardest thing to come to terms with at this point about my own reaction is that I am really scared about the cosmetic effect of having this done. It makes me seem shallow in my own eyes, and maybe I am.  One good thing is that now though, when a patient is telling me how scared they are, I'll get it. And in a few weeks time when mine is done I can reassure them by telling them it will be fine.

PS

I have for decades worn a hat out in the sun, sun block, a rash guard when swimming and do not lie out in the sun for more than a few minutes at a time if I ever do it.  Lovely as a tan might look, do look after your skin folks.



 

Boobie crochet

Well, boob only. This is what I made tonight for a dear young friend who is moving from the plastic surgery industry to new horizons. It is rice filled and is to remind her of the work she did. It could be used as a paper-weight?

The idea had been in my head for some time and when I was dithering about making a spherical shape (stress ball) or flat backed one that could stand up and did some research on good old Google, it revealed a whole WORLD of boob knitting/crochet - for post mastectomy patients, for teaching about lactation and for new borns to sleep with - with their mother's milk expressed onto them to familiarise them with their mother's special smell.

I like my boob. Hope she does too.

 

Slipping into September

It is now nearly Autumn. Japanese granny flew back to Tokyo yesterday with her FIVE jars of home made blackberry jam - all with the seeds squeezed out, and one pot of raspberry jam made with fruit from our canes. This year she did not get to pick sloes, so she preserved some of mine that were in the freezer from last year to take back to make a little gin! School and college loom (in good ways), big changes in the lives of some of us this Autumn. Adam in the recording studio, Big J in his new office and me striving for a sense of managable order in life!!  Hoping for more family time/meals and walks even!!
Back into training on the bike, although the gym workouts have continued and it is about time I charged up the camera battery again. This is a spectacular season for photography.