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Last Blog

Well my dear friends this is my 75th and last blog now that we have reached 5000 visitors.

In my mind I am now cured and the blog has therefore run its course.

I can’t believe it is just 4 short months since I started out on this incredible journey.

Well what have I learnt?

• I now have an excellent knowledge of the gastro system which I must admit was a bit sketchy beforehand. I think bowel knowledge however is on a need to know basis.

• Cancer is such a spine chilling diagnosis and it seems all encompassing. It can however be taken on and beaten but you need luck, skilled care and tenacity. My secretary’s uncle was diagnosed with bowel cancer shortly before me and has just died of it, at the age of 55, in the same time it has taken me to get cured. Sobering.

• Humour is a blessing. Countless times throughout my life it has been inferred that it is a weakness and that I use humour to hide my feelings. I now realise that this is not true as it has been a valuable and treasured asset that has enabled me to face mans worst fear, ones own mortality, and deal with the consequence regardless of the outcome. It is an immensely powerful gift.

• Nothing can prepare you for the agony of telling your children that you have cancer or the pride in seeing their strength in dealing with it.

• The unconditional support and love of a wife is a powerful weapon in defeating the worst of foes.

• Farting is one of life’s treasures which you don’t miss until you can’t. Welcome back old friend.

• The greatest wealth you can have is a loving family and a bevy of good friends.

Thank you one and all for your love and support and I look forward to continuing my long and loving friendship with you all in the future.

The blog will remain open in the hope that fellow sufferers will stumble upon it and gain some support from it. I will also set up a message board post should you wish to continue posting or even chat amongst yourselves (I am sure Francis and Skip would love to hear from their new pen friends). Please drop into the site from time to time and leave a message and I will update it with the 3 monthly test results.

God bless you all,

Love, Jon xxx

Progress

What a great time to be convalescing, what with the 5th Test and the World Athletic Championships! What a treat today with 15 wickets and bowling Australia out in less than a day. Great medicine.

The dressing change today went OK and the infection seems to be settling down on its own which is good. We will see what tomorrow brings but hopefully it will continue to recede and the hole can then begin to heal itself.

We went on from the hospital to do a bit of shopping and it was great to be out and about with the wind in my hair ....... and elsewhere.

A good weekend ahead with visitors planned for both days. Marilyn is out in London tonight with friends for a meal and theatre. It is great she can now put her shoulders down. She has coped magnificently and has been of enormous support. I am a lucky man. On my admission form I had to put down the relationship of my next of kin. I put down wife/lover/friend.

I'm home again

I am home after 6 days and jolly pleased to be here. I will be just in time for 5 days of exhilarating cricket watching Freddie win the Ashes!

After a couple of false starts everything is working fine down below. It is far from perfect but then neither was a cancerous bowel and I much prefer the latter.

My first decision is that after today I no longer wish to discuss my bowels and my bowel habits. After 3 months of intense scrutiny I can now be consign the topic to its rightful place which is the toilet!

Unfortunately I now have a nasty infection in the wound which has taken the edge off things. This is one of the common risks of bowel surgery. I had to have the staples removed yesterday, 4 days early, and have it opened up so that the swelling can be drained. This unfortunately is done by squeezing, which is a tad painful. I have to go back to out patients on a daily basis for the next couple of weeks for it to be repetitively drained and dressed. The positive thing is that it is now the focus of attention and I can forget about everything else which is past history.

I will stick with the blog until it is sorted but this too is coming to a natural end. It has been of enormous therapeutic value to me and quite humbling that you are all still tuning in.

It is now 4am and I am up as it is time for my pain relief. I had better sign off until my humour bypass returns.

At least I know I am not alone in these small wee hours. Somewhere out there sits a sad and lonely woman hunched over her screen, scouring the net, like a search light in the blitz, hunting for a glimpses of naked men. Goodnight Frances. x

Bombs Away!!

Sorry, fell asleep last night so no posting. Good news today – bombs away and everything appears to be normal. Eating soft foods again. Infection is still there but consultant thinks it is where the muscle was sewn up again – will just take time. Nothing to worry about as his temperature is normal and blood tests are fine. This is the only thing stopping him coming home now so it should be very soon. He’s ready to come home and is getting a bit cranky! I decided to walk to the hospital and back this evening as the weather was so nice – about 5 miles – good exercise but I’m exhausted now! Jen is coming down tomorrow and possibly Oli, Jon will love seeing them again. Hopefully the next bulletin he will be able to make himself.

Love
Marilyn

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

What a lovely day it was today, warm and sunny. Not an ideal day to spend your birthday alone in a hospital but Jon being Jon has just got on with it. The nurses gave him a card and then I went in with a big pile of cards and presents. Thanks so much for all the cards, messages, texts, etc – he really appreciated them, even though the funny ones hurt his side when he laughed! Yesterday he was a bit jaundiced but that has sorted itself out now. The wound has a red area around it which is sore but the blood tests show it is not an infection and is probably caused by the trauma going on underneath. They are keeping their eye on it. Having progressed to solid food he has been put back on liquids because nothing is going through. Bit of a setback but par for the course apparently. Tuesday has been mentioned for him to come home if everything has sorted itself out. Oli was here for a while and visited Jon but he has gone back to London now so I am home alone and am about to put my feet up with a cup of tea!

Love
Marilyn

Back on track!

Much better today, nausea gone, farting and back on sloppy foods – who could ask for more! He is officially the last patient in the hospital now but he has his two favourite nurses on duty this afternoon so he is more than happy making them giggle. Dressing is off his wound, which is about 3 inches long (Jon would be furious with me for not using centimetres!!), little bit red and angry so they are keeping their eye on that – staples which will be removed in 10 days. He is resting well, watching TV and reading the papers. Physio have got him on breathing exercises already and he is walking up and down the corridor all the time. Me, I’m going to curl up and watch a film tonight and go to bed early! Goodnight!

Marilyn

Not such a good 24 hours.....

Poor Jon had a bad night with nausea and most of today. This is similar to last time when the bowel went on strike – doesn’t like being messed about with. I went in briefly 3 times today and he was doing his best to be cheerful. On the upside he has been up a couple of times and is walking up and down the corridor with his drip and his bum showing out of the back of his theatre gown. Sweet! The last patient is being discharged tomorrow morning and he will be in there all on his own this weekend. I bet they make a fuss of him on his birthday. Once again thanks for all your blog postings – I printed them off and took them in to read to him and he loved them!

Love you all
Marilyn

Goodbye Bag

Well the op is over and Mr Donaldson is very pleased with how it went. Jon is quite chirpy and chatty and enjoying the rest and the attention – all the nurses remembered him and were pleased to see him. One even asked where his poobah hat was! Lots of snoozing today and drinking water. If he keeps it down he will go on to food tomorrow and hope for the best. They will also get him up walking around. Thank you for all your phone calls and texts – we will be posting every night while he is in hospital. If things go well he could be home in 3-4 days, possibly for his birthday on Sunday. Oli and Jen are here tonight with me – Oli still working hard on his computer writing for work and Jen exhausted after cleaning out her old flat ready for the itinerary check on Saturday. It’s lovely having them here….

Love to everyone
Marilyn

Zulu

I went back to hospital today for my pre-admission checks ready for surgery at 8am next Thursday. I had blood, ECG, urine, MRSA, swine flue, dropsy, scurvy and erection tests although the last test was optional for private patients only.

I had to fill in endless forms again and one question was “preferred language” so I put down “Zulu”. She asked me why I wanted Zulu so I said I had always found it a relaxing, lyrical language. It will be interesting to see if they get me a Zulu nurse!

I am surprisingly more nervous about this operation than I was about the first one which was much more major. This one is only about 45mins. I guess I know what is coming.

We will keep you posted,

Love Jon ; xx

Last Night

Marilyn and I went out for an Italian meal last night and then onto the cinema to see Australia. The film was almost 3 hours long and something I ate slowly caused the bag to fully inflate. I just made it back to the car but couldn’t drive as I couldn’t sit upright. So there I was with the seat half reclined and my trousers completely undone when, you guessed it, we were stopped by the police. A motorbike policeman came to my window and said we had been followed by an unmarked car who thought Marilyn was drunk. He took one long very suspicious look at me lying there, trousers gaping with this very swollen appendage! We explained the problem and that Marilyn had to drive my car in high heels. He was most sympathetic and said we better be on our way before it explodes. We are now claiming the most original excuse to avoid a breathalyser.

Come the reversal in 11 days time I think I will keep one of the leftover bags in the car, fully inflated, ready to stick on in case we are stopped again.

After the success on the “last poo” photo I was thinking about a “first poo” photo but have decided to savour the moment and keep this private with just the immediate family in attendance.

Much love,
Jon ; x

Back from holidays

Back from holidays. We had a relaxing break with lots of walking and naps but it is always lovely to be home.

I have a busy couple of weeks coming up as I try and clear my desk ready for my reversal operation in a little over 2 weeks. It seems like I have only just got back to full speed!

I go into hospital for a pre-assessment on 7 August and then I am admitted on the 12th ready for the op on the 13th. I am a little more apprehensive this time as I know what is involved. It will be a smaller operation this time and I should only be in for a week depending on the plumbing getting going again. I can’t be discharged until I discharge.

I am still making excellent progress hence the early reversal. I guess not being a victim has paid dividends.

I then start serious hockey training trying to get the body back into shape for our Canadian visit to see Francis and Skip in October as she likes naked men. I hope to start playing hockey again upon my return.

Much love to you all,

Jon ; x

Reversal

My consultant phoned and the results of the x-ray showed the bowel joint has healed perfectly and he wants to carry out the reversal in 4 weeks! Marilyn and I discussed it and decided to go for it now rather than later and I am booked in for the operation on 13 August. I should be in hospital for a week.

I have been warned that the bowel will never return to what it was but hey, it is a small price to pay on the scale of things. I am particularly looking forward to it as it will draw a line under the whole thing and I can then get on with making my full recovery.

We are off on holiday tomorrow for 8 days and then I will only have to wait for a couple of weeks before a photo of the first poo!

I hope to have more news on my return

Love Jon ; x

Blood Test Result

I received my 3 month cancer test results today and it was completely normal, which is more than can be said about me. Phew! So far so good.
Jon x

Still waiting

My consultant has been on holiday all week so I am still waiting for news of the blood test and confirmation of the X-ray. All right for some!
Some people always seem to be on holiday.

Marilyn and I are off to Suffolk for a week next Friday. I am surprisingly ready for a break as I have found it quite tiring working full time. I did manage 9 holes of golf on Wednesday though and this time played each hole. One consolation of working is I don't have to watch the cricket!

Jon ; x

X-Ray

I have just come back from an x-ray with the excellent news that the re-joined colon has healed perfectly and does not leak. I had an enema with dye in it which showed all was well. It was a bit of a shock to the system having activity in the bum again!

I will hear formally from my consultant later this week about the reversal but it should be all systems go in about 4 months time. Yippee!!

Jon ;

Miss Beale

Jennifer gives me a quick refresher lesson.

Consultant

Last night I walked 9 holes of golf with my good friends Chris, Malcolm and Peter and actually played the ninth hole. It was a beautiful summers evening and I even enjoyed the 19th hole. It was a real thrill to be back on the course with them.

I went to see the consultant today and he was very pleased with my progress. I had a blood test to look for cancer proteins and on Monday I am having an x-ray on my bum to see if has healed. If this is OK we can plan the reversal. He likes to reverse the ileostomy after 4 months but we have our niece Karen’s wedding in New York at the beginning of October which we would like to go to so I may well delay it a couple of months. The operation is not as major as the first one and a week in hospital is normal. I will however need another 6 weeks off work to recover. Bring it on!

Love Jon ; x

Greek Tragedy

I have just got in from a 5 mile bike ride along the Basingstoke canal. Bloody gorgeous!
It is such a fabulous evening and it was so peaceful. My legs are working well but my bum is distinctly lacking padding. I was almost tempted to sit on you know what.

I did my first full day in the office today and it went really well. I managed to get a lot done and the concentration has returned.

It will be 8 weeks on Wednesday and time is flying by now. I see my consultant on Thursday and on Saturday we are off to London to see another play which this time is a Greek tragedy. I guess my absence of a bum would be described by the Greeks as a tragedy. Filthy buggers.

I will update you all after my consultants meeting.

Much love,

Jon ; x

All's well that ends well

My first big outing last night. Marilyn and I went up to London and had a lovely walk along the Thames in glorious sunshine. We then had dinner at the National prior to seeing “All’s well that ends well” which is apt. It was a fantastic production which I enjoyed and a fairly straight forward story line made it easy to follow. I thought the conclusion was a bit unsatisfactory as he tied up all the loose ends in about 2 minutes. I suspect his tea was ready. I am generally not a huge fan of Shakespeare as it needs to be done well in my opinion and unless you are familiar with the play you do not have time to appreciate the intricacies of the language and the plot. It was bloody long and I wasn’t up to sitting down for 3 hours and had trouble getting going when we left. We got home about midnight and I was very tired so we won’t repeat that just yet. None the less it was great to be out and about and being normal.

I have been working in the mornings this week which has gone well and I am enjoying being back and using my brain again. My staff have all buggered of on holiday so I will have to do a fairly full week next week otherwise no one will be in. I will still come home for a lunch time nap though.

Progress is still good and I am looking forward to my consultants meeting next Thursday.

Love, Jon ; x

Bag Review

Now that things have settled down I have been able to try different types of bags. Here are a few of my reviews to date.

String Bag 0/10
The name says it all. Useless
Golf Bag 1/10
Cumbersome but a handy compartment for the balls
Gladstone Bag 3/10
Very comfy but I am left with this inexplicable hatred for Disraeli
Hoover Bag 8/10
One of my favourites, particularly at the dinner table.
Sleeping Bag 6/10
Excellent capacity but causes drowsiness.
Hand Bag 2/10
Convenient but leaks through the fingers

Love, Jon ; x

Twitter

I have just joined twitter and posted my first tweet!
I am looking for followers and people to follow so please look me up.
www.twitter.com/jonbeale

This and that

I am now back at work in the mornings after a leisurely post rush hour start and then home again in time for lunch and an afternoon nap. I could get very used to this. I have also started driving again locally and it is great to be independent. I even managed a site meeting on Tuesday.

What a great time to have off with all the sport that’s on at the moment. There is the 20/20 cricket (yes, Australia were in it in case you blinked), tennis, rugby and now the US Open golf followed by Wimbledon and then the Ashes.

I can’t believe it is now 6 weeks since the operation. On one hand it seems ages ago as I am quite used to life with the bag, but on the other hand I am aware just how recent it all was and I mustn’t rush the recovery. I am still making very good progress and I am looking forward to seeing my consultant in 2 weeks to plan the way ahead. With each passing week and I can see a big improvement on the previous week. Life is good.

Love, Jon ; xx

Another Photo

This is another family photo where I must agree with brother Bob that there is a family likeness. Thanks for the photo Bob, I know Jennifer will be particularly delighted and perversely, I have never fancied Marilyn more.

Jon ;

Perfect Day

A lovely family day today. Jen came down for the weekend and Oli came home for the day. We all walked to our local gastro pub for a Sunday lunch which was my first outing to a restaurant since the op. Oli and Jen ordered a bottle of champagne as a surprise and we all toasted good health followed by a Sunday roast. We walked home again in beautiful sunshine and sat in the garden chatting and reminiscing. A perfect afternoon.

Jon; xx




Click on photo to enlarge.

Braces

Today I discovered braces (although I prefer the word suspenders). I love them. I have been struggling with belts that have been really uncomfortable and Marilyn pointed out that the booklet I had been given on my ileostomy suggested braces. What a comfortable revelation.

Britain still treats braces as underwear and considers they should not be seen. They were popular for a 100 years before the first world war until uniforms, which used belts, changed the fashion. After the war waistcoat,s which hid the braces, also went out of fashion and braces went with them.

I could be converted and would love a matching braces, cardigan and slippers set.
They are also very handy for catapulting my used bags into next doors garden. His tomatoes are coming on a treat.

Jon;

Boring

It's official…..I am now at the boring stage!

I was warned that progress would be very slow for about 6 weeks followed by a rapid improvement. It is now 3 weeks since I joined the escape committee and tunnelled out the ward. I am getting a bit fed up with not feeling a 100% and pooing out of my stomach. Just to jolly me along I also have a urinary infection which is also par for the course.

On the plus side I can see a significant improvement when I look back to day 1.
I am managing to walk 2 miles a day now and even manage a couple of hours office work a day which is my limit. I am eating well and can touch my toes although I was disappointed with the achievement. The toes are not a particularly attractive or sensitive part of the anatomy so I wish I hadn’t bothered really.

Growing up in Australia and New Zealand we never wore shoes as boys and were always bare footed. As a consequence we had soles as leathery as Sir Chris Hoy’s scrotum. When I first came to England at the tender age of 18 I lived with my uncle and aunt in the tiny village of Jacobswell. To my amusement I was stopped by the local bobby on his bike and grilled about being a suspected vagrant. The reason, as it turned out, was because I was bare footed. I thought this was the most ridiculous thing ever. Fast forward about 30 years and I was as equally horrified as that poor bobby by Oli. We picked him up bare footed at Heathrow on his return from Thailand on the first of 3 separate gap years. He still had half of Koh Samui between his toes. He said someone had stolen his trainers 3 months previous and he didn’t have any money to replace them!

I see my consultant in about 3 weeks by which time I should be back to my old self. I can do 3 weeks standing on my head. On second thoughts, this is probably not a good idea with the bag.

Love, Jon; xx

My Dad

My lovely father, Big Bob, died a year ago today aged 91. He was a remarkable man in many ways most notable of which was a keen sense of humour. All of us 4 boys inherited it and it is a wonderful gift to pass on to your children. Just as well he passed something on as he achieved his life’s goal which was to die owing your children money!

He was the eldest of 4 children and was brought up in a modest police house in Westminster. His father was a PC in Vine Street police station and excelled himself with 20 years service without promotion. Dad was an exceptional student and won a scholarship to Westminster School where he excelled in both the arts and science.

University was not an option financially so he successfully studied for his BSc and PhD in Bio Chemistry part time. By the time he had completed his PhD he had 4 small boys to support.

During the war he was sentenced to 2 years in prison for refusing to be conscripted into the armed force and he served 8 months before an appeal saw him released.

We emigrated to New Zealand in 1953, Australia in 1956, New Zealand again in 1957 and back to Australia in 1959 where we all (except me) stayed becoming naturalised Australians. He never lost his love of Westminster and we placed half his ashes in the Thames opposite Big Ben.

He was always singing and remembered the words of every song and poem he heard. He was fluent in French and Latin and was one of the few people who could still speak old English.

At his 80th birthday party I confessed that when I used to get cross with him as a child I would wee on his tooth brush in retribution. He thought we might be onto something as he still had all his own teeth.

He loved my mother deeply and they were married just short of 70 years. She died 2 weeks after him which says it all. I am certain they are both up there pulling strings for me. I love and miss them both.

Jon; x

Video response from my bothers Bob and Mark.

My brothers are never ones to turn down a challenge!
This is best in full screen if you can manage it(middle button, bottom right on clip screen. Press Esc, top left keyboard, when finished). Bob is in the true Aussie porn star style by leaving his socks on.
Well I did promise you full frontal nudity at 3,000 visits!
Great video boys.
Jon xx

3,000 Visitors! A million thankyous.

Much love to each and everyone of you, Jon and Marilyn xx

Total Visits split by countries.

Total Visits split by countries.
Go Canada!!!

A few of my favourite things

Favourite Supermarket:
Waitrose, because of their 10p bag for life campaign.

Favourite actor:
Timothy Bottoms

Favourite number:
Number 2

Favourite Book:
“Gone with the wind”

Favourite Food:
Bubble and squeak

Favourite General:
Colon Powell

Favourite Bridge Bid:
No trumps

Favourite songs:
“Poop Jon B” Beach Boys
“Baggy Trousers” Madness
“Papas got a brand new bag” James Brown

London Olympic Blog

I have have another blog site which I have been running for some time now purely for my own amusement as Oli seems to be my only loyal fan.

Please have a look at it if you are bored, suicidal, drunk or constipated. Don't believe a word of it as it is just my weird sense of humour. Please don't feel obliged to flog through it all or leave a post.

The site is londonolympicblog.com

Jon;

More good news!

I met my oncologist earlier this evening and it is good news.

She explained that my tumour had not broken through the bowel wall and had not reached the surrounding blood vessels or lymphatic system. It had however got into the bowel muscle. It was classed as a low grade class 2 tumour which is good. There is an 80% chance that I am completely cured and a 20% chance the cancer will return. If it returns it is likely to affect the liver or lungs. Chemotherapy will only increase the odds to about 82% and whilst it is my decision, she felt because I was low grade it would not make any real difference. I haven’t made my mind up but there seems little sense in putting myself through 6 months of chemo, which would have to start in 4 weeks time, just to chase an extra 2% chance.

I will be screened every 3 months for 2 years with scans, blood tests and chest x rays which should pick up any cancer should it return. It can then be treated by surgery and/or chemo. If after 2 years, I am still in the clear, then my chances are very very good and after 3 years I am virtually in the clear. I would then be screened only every 5 years. The message was that if it was coming back then this will happen early not late and the longer I am in the clear the better it will be. Regular screening will allow it to be nipped in the bud.

The oncologist left us with the impression however that due to the low grade nature I fell within the 80% fully cured band.

We are all confident that I am cured and are happy that we will have the comfort of regular screening.

I can now get on with recovering from the operation, without having to worry about chemo, and hopefully prepare for the ileostomy reversal in a couple of months time.

I can’t believe it is only 4 weeks today since the operation and 6 weeks since diagnosis! So much has happened to get to where we are today. It has been made bearable by the love and support of my family and all of you you lovely bunch of bloggers.

Love, Jon; x

Oncologist

You are a smutty lot! Blog visit numbers soared yesterday, presumably just because my arse was on show. I know what you all like. You are not into life/death struggles, divine intervention, surgical miracles or emotional turmoil. No, what you really like are poo jokes and naked bums! Roll on 3000 visits and perhaps another naked treat?

The oncologist phoned yesterday and I have an appointment with her tomorrow (Wednesday) evening. Finally I can get information on the type of cancer I had, how advanced it was and a prognosis for the future. I am a little nervous as on one hand my surgeon is saying I am cured and on the other he has arranged for me to see an oncologist and is hinting at chemo. I will update you tomorrow after the meeting.

Love, Jon; xx

Ramblings

I hope you enjoyed the video. Within 5 mins of being on youtube it had 40 hits! Thank God I didn't turn around.

I have had a really good weekend and I am making steady progress.

I am now getting a regular stream of visitors to the Lodge who are most welcome.

Jen called in today with Matt on their way back from a weeks holiday in Wales. As usual it was great to see them both. Jen just exudes confidence and joie de vivre. I am constantly proud to be her Dad.

When I was four we emigrated from central London to Rotorua in New Zealand where we lived for about 4 years. It was a tiny country town built in an extinct volcano crater. We therefore had an abundance of geysers, boiling mud and a permanent smell of rotten egg gas. The town was on the edge of a large lake with living Maori villages, built in traditional ways, around the shore. At the other end of town was Whakarewarewa another Maori village set amongst a very active thermal area. We lived half way between the lake and Whaka and it was a huge adventure playground for us boys. I particularly loved the boiling mud pools which gurgled and burped mud with a strong sulphur smell.

I wonder why I am now suddenly reminded of those days!

Much love to you all and a warm welcome to our new bloggers the Boyds.
love,
Jon; xx

Rhododendrons Video

This is a movie of our beautiful rhododendrums.



It was lovely to feel the grass beneath my feet and the wind gently blowing the bag.

Jon; xx

My Turn

My turn! Thought I would like to join in the banter. On the subject of belly buttons, mine is an inny, less inny lately since I have lost some weight (one side effect of the recent turmoils that I am happy to live with!). I will be pleased that Jon has now got an inny, when the wound finally heals and flattens as his outy caused him so much nausea and embarrassment! It was a part of his anatomy that could never be mentioned, let along touched – even by accident.

Was delighted to read that the Staceys had been back to the Farringford on the Isle of Wight – would like to see the old place again myself, promise to be a better sport this time!

On the matter of the naming of the bag – loved all the suggestions – particularly fond of Winnie!

Jon is doing fine, it is going to be a long haul but he is achieving more each day and getting less tired. Great to have people popping in and to read your continuing support on the blog, - it still means an awful lot to him (and all of us!).


Love Marilyn

My Navel

As long as I can remember my navel has been an outie. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not something I was particularly proud of but it was mine. I never had to clean it which was a plus but on the down side I couldn’t abide it being touched. The merest contact made me feel sick which is a weakness my brothers soon discovered and exploited. Even my beloved children would take great delight in teasing me and giving it a sly poke. Imagine my horror then upon waking from surgery and seeing that the surgeon had cut straight through the middle of it and it was full of staples! There was no sign of my outie, just this huge metallic chasm.

My dread of the navel staples coming out far outweighed the nausea of imaging the actual moment of incision. A week later the dreaded removal moment arrived. The nurse started with the first staple at the top and worked down to the navel whereupon I bottled it and made her stop. A different nurse took over the next day and did a terrific job at lighting speed and they were out before I knew it. A close inspection followed and I now have an inny!!!!

There was no mention of that in my consent form which disclaimed every other potential pitfall known to mankind. I will be frank, I want my outie back. I miss it. I swear I saw a hint of fluff in it yesterday! What’s that all about!

They say all surgery carries risks but was this too higher price to pay?

A good day today and I even managed to do a bit of office work.

Love, Jon; xx

PS Thanks Webby, you are a star.

Flat Day

Another flat day today I'm afraid, so nothing to report as I have spent most of the day in bed. It is just tiredness and I don't feel ill. I was warned that I would have good days and bad days and I am happy to take them in my stride. Tomorrow will be a good day as Oli is coming home tonight and will go back in the morning. Jen is on holiday in Wales with Matt for a week and she is having a wonderful time staying in a remote coastal farmhouse.

Here are some stats from the blog. Click on image to enlarge.



Much love to you all,

Jon; xxx

Idle Jottings

My batteries ran low yesterday and I spent most of the day in bed snoozing. Marilyn’s niece Karen and her fiancé Simon called in before lunch and it was lovely to see them. They are getting married in New York in September and we are all looking forward to it immensely. Marilyn and I will then go on to see our very good friends Francis and Skip in Canada and will have a short holiday with them.

I have been back to the hospital today for routine blood tests and to have my drain wound dressed as it is not healing properly. It was lovely to see all the nurses again and they made a fuss of me.

I am slowly getting to grips with life with a bag and I am learning by trial and error. For example, changing it whilst swimming is not a popular move.

So it was Chris and Jane Stone who were number 2000 and not Joanna. That makes more sense. I know for a fact Jane has a naked photo of me on her fridge which she semi worships so it only seems fair that Chris should have his own picture of Marilyn. I don’t know what he did with the one I sold him last year!

I am trying to come up different ways for recycling the bags. So far I have come up with:
Green land mines
Caravans for dung beetles
Foot warmers
Extreme whoopee cushions

I am now well enough for visitors and would love to see you all if you are passing (Canada, Australia, Singapore and Japan are excused). Could you please ring Marilyn first as she is keen that visits are staggered.

Much love,
Jon xx

Statistics

13 days from first diagnosis, to removal of tumour by surgery and hence being cured.

17 days in hospital

42 staples

16 stitches

18 stomach injections (not pleasant)

45 blood samples

6,000 calories in 16 days

10 kg lost

2,000 blog visitor 2,000 was Joanna my secretary. I don’t know why she wanted to see Marilyn naked, probably fancied a change.

25 Technicolor yawns.

2 erections during bed baths. The first one was 3 days after the op and the pretty young nurse discretely left the room suggesting a mint tea which she brought in and left me alone to compose my self. She came back 5 mins later and said “Well, how did that go down?”

5 maximum pain score reached out of 10 during my whole stay (apart from chundering).

100 days to earliest next poo.

120 days to start of hockey season!

Home Sweet Home

Well here I am. What the **** happened there?!!

Suddenly I am home, 10kg (1 stone) lighter and pretty bewildered. I am still making good progress. I can get up for a couple of hours at a time before conking out for a 2 hour power nap. Fortunately I absolutely love power naps. I never recovered from having to abandon afternoon siestas upon our return from the Middle East 30 years ago.

I now need about 2 weeks bed rest whilst slowly increasing my eating and then hopefully another 4 weeks to get fit again and resume my life.

I see the Oncologist in 2 weeks where I get the complete low down on the cancer as to be truthful I am still not completely clear as to the situation. I am sure the consultant lingers outside your bedroom door waiting for signs of you just waking up, then bursts in and delivers his chat, exiting before you can think of a coherent question.

From what I understand, he said that consultants differ 50/50 in their opinion as to the outcome for the stage my tumour was at. Half will say I am fully cured and the other half think there is an outside chance a few rogue cells may remain and chemo will zap these. I will wait for the oncologist meeting to get a full understanding. As a result, for some really weird reason we have not broken out the champagne and can’t seem to get our heads around the fact I am cured. I think it is because it has been such a huge emotional whirlwind for the four of us and we hadn’t fully got to grips with the fact I had cancer let alone being cured of it.

In any event future action it is now back in my control and there is no rush. I think I will get better first, get the bag reversed in about 3-4 months and then give it some serious thought around Christmas.

Many thanks for all your wonderful cards and presents. Several of you sent me heavy machinery which I thought was a bit insensitive as you know I mustn’t operate this for 6 weeks.

Much love to you all,

Jon xxx

I'm Home !!!!!!!!

My dear, dear family and friends.
Just a quick post to let you all know I am home safe and sound in care of my family.
I have made remarkable progress in the last couple of days. The Sister said yesterday how totally amazed they all were at my positive attitude and my will to get better. I explained to her about my blog and the fantastic support network of our e community and how it was so easy to be positive with all the love and prayers coming my way. Thank you all so very very much. I am forever in your debt.
much love to you all and keep watching for further updates.
All my love,
Jon xxxxxx

Marilyn. A woman of her word.

Wonderful news!

Dear, dear friends and family - we have just heard and wanted to let you know the prognosis for Jon is good - a theoretical cure - debatable whether he will need a mop up dose of chemo in a few months' time but he doesn't have to worry about that now and can take professional advice from everyone involved when he is over his op. He will be home before weekend if everything goes to plan.

Thanks you so, so much for all your support - I will blog again tonight.

Much love

Coming home soon

Good evening everyone..

Nothing but positives tonight. Food is going through nicely - Jon just has to replace the liquids in his body at the same rate now he is off all drips again. They have put him on a special hydrating liquid. It has lots of salt in it and he says it's very yukky to drink... Mobility great, even took a stroll round the outdoor courtyard wtih Jen and I this evening, and walked up a flight of stairs. The Consultant had his meeting with the other specialists dealing with his case today and will be able to update us with the prognosis now. Hope to post results on the blog tomorrow.

We are aiming at him coming home on Thursday now if his progress continues at the same rate, so fingers crossed.

Love Oli Jen and Marilyn

Clarification from the Naked Lady

Have just got back from hospital and Jon is very upbeat. Jen and I caught him casually strolling down the corridor with his drips attached and that is the first time he looked like his old self. He then ate a jacket potato with cheese - they are pleased with his progress and have decided to try food again. He had a scan earlier that showed everything was normal in his abdomen. We had a laugh together and he clutched his tum as it hurts to laugh, so we will have to remember that!

Now about last night's blog... I would just like to point out that the naked photo is all Oli's idea and I wasn't consulted! You just may be lucky though... Not saying at this stage but keep those blogs going! I laughed out loud at your 'purvey posts' Phil, and so did Jon (clutching his tum in pain!). And Webby, it will definitely be Munroe, but on a bad day!

So, here's to our boy's continuing recovery and the speedy return of the Beales to the social scene!

Love
Marilyn

Oli Here...

Dad was very chirpy when I saw him today. In fact he was standing up doing his marching excercises when I walked in the room. He's graduated out of his gown, into a matching blue t-shirt / boxer short combo.

He's being fed by a drip again. It's a white substance that looks suspiciously like shampoo and he appears to be being pumped full of it. It's giving him a well earned break from his eating-vomiting cycle thats been getting him down.

The operation required a large incision running centrally down his body from just below the nipples to just above his 'special place'. It had been held together with lots of metal staples. They all came out today, having done a wonderful job of keeping his insides... inside, despite a lot of wretching and heaving. I imagine that was very painful, but he was laughing and joking about the different nurses' removal techniques.

I think it's another day off the food tomorrow. After that he'll try eating again by which time hopefully his digestive system will have ceased its hunger strike. It can't hold out much longer.

Keep posting. Mum has promised to post a photo of herself naked when we reach 2000.

Another step back I'm afraid...

Well poor Jon's intestines are still on strike and they have had to put him back on 3 drips, one food, on sodium solution and one pain killer, as he became very dehydrated. Combine this with feeling sick all the time and I'm sure you can understand how ill he is feeling. This means he wont be making a trip home tomorrow or coming out on Monday. Such a disappointment but appaently this often happens and everything else, mobility and healing, are coming along fine.

Oli is coming back tomorrow and I guess it's the Eurovision Song Contest for me tonight!

Love to you all

Marilyn XX

Busy day for Jon

Well Jon has had a busy day today. He had his final tube taken out, took a shower, walked quite a way, walked up some stairs, ate all his meals and received the thumbs up from the consultant. Unfortunately in the usual two steps forward one step back route, he was unwell all afternoon and very sick again this evening - the intestine is still not fully playing ball. Apparently, this is a common thing and we hope this wont put back his 'release date' back but he has to get through this hurdle before he can go home. Hopefully he will sort it all out over the weekend.

Oli and Jen have gone back to London for 2 nights so I am 'home alone' but I'm fine.. It's actually quite nice to have some space to myself for a short time (and to get back control of the TV remote!)

Another great collection of messages today - thanks so much - even when he is flat he still loves me reading them to him every morning! Not long before he will be thanking you himself.

Enjoy your weekends

Love Marilyn XX

News from Jen

Oli and I had a lovely visit with dad today, he was feeling very positive and has now been detatched from most of his fixtures and fittings. Hopefully he will be allowed home for a couple of hours on Sunday and will be coming home for good early next week. He still needs to build up his strength and become more mobile but this should be easier now he's lost his drains and drips.

Dad was telling Oli and I earlier that he is now no longer thinking of himself as sick but as recovering.

We can't WAIT to have him home and are all so proud of him!
It won't be long now til he's blogging again himself...watch this space.

Another Good Day

We were warned of the up and down nature of recovery and, sure enough, Jon has been in better spirits today. Went for a long walk down the ward corridor with his drips (Jack Nicholson style for those film buffs out there!) in his gown and sat in the chair twice. Tonight he is trying food again and hoping the stomach doesn't reject it with projection again. They are also taking his drain out.

A short comment about Andy Yeo's jokes... Jon was able to finish the punch line on each one, but he says the oldies are the best and loves the fact that you are trying to cheer him up!

It also took this blog for us to realise the we have two sets of Jane and Chrises and two sets of Phil and Sandies as friends.. Don't worrry we can always tell which one it is when we read the comments.

Also, apologies to anyone who waded through Jon's brothers' NAGA report! For those of you who don't know, this is a golfing challenge that the Beale brothers enjoy everytime they meet up and Jon was supposed to be attending this one but had to cancel for obvious reasons.

Much love to you all out there

Marilyn

Oli here...

I've been charged with the task of raising the spirits on the blog. It's hard though as I just got back from seeing Dad and he's really not very well. He's tired and emotional and it's nothing to do with Jordan and Peter Andre's break up.

It's all completely normal and we knew before that this first week was going to be very unpleasant. I guess you can't take bits of the human body out and hope to get away with it.

He loves hearing about the blog. We've noticed you've actually started talking to each other on here now too. That means it's now officially an "E-Forum". A community of people bound together out of respect for one man's bottom.

What a difference a day makes!

I was so pleased to see Jon smiling at me when I entered his room this morning. He had slept quite well, the pain has subsided and it only hurts when he moves now. He has indigestion which they are medicating. They got him up for a walk around the room and sat him in a chair twice today and are pleased with his progress. He is now being fed through a tube into his neck because they don't want to risk him being sick again. I decided to massage his calves and when the nurse saw me she told me off, incase I move a clot! Don't worry, I dobbed him in and said he'd made me do it!

Jen commuted to work for the first time today and dealt with the many emails and cancelled appointments that had accumulated in her absence and Oli is back into the swing of it at work too. I don't know what I would have done without them.....

I can't tell you how much he enjoys me reading your messages to him each morning, We have wonderful family and friends.

Love Marilyn

Marilyn here...

Just a quick bulletin tonight... Jon still poorly. They took him off the epidural and he has been very sick which, I am sure you can imagine, is agaony with such a big wound. This is a normal reaction and they say he is still doing fine medically. He has been moved out of high dependency and back into his room. He's exhausted and fed up and we are all hoping for improvement tomorrow - day 5.

Jen will be commuting to work from here from tomorrow and Oli will be back in the week and do the same. I will still be passing your messages so thanks v much for those. Can't think of anything witty to say tonight so will sign off.

Love to you all....

Day Three

We were warned that day 3 would be difficult for Jon and that proved to be the case. Today he has been flat and emotional and in quite a bit of pain. However, he is philisophical and knows that this is par for the course. Tomorrow he will have the epidural detatched, hopefully without too much pain, but they've got it covered if there is.

Last night Oli went back to London for the weekend, I went out for dinner with Lynn and Gill as it was dear Jane's birthday and we always raise a glass and think of her. I was pleased to still be able to do this and enjoyed the break. Jen went round to her good friend Julia's house for dinner.

Once again, thank you so much for all your blog comments, letters, cards, calls, emails and texts. They are uplifting and help us to cope.

Until tomorrow - Marilyn XX

Update from Jen...I finally get a turn!

I’ve just got back from visiting dad in hospital. His spirits are still high, although he is beginning to feel more uncomfortable as the epidural is wearing off. The nurses are all singing his praises and dad says that their calm and positive vibe is helping him to make good progress. His blood tests have shown that he is healing well and that he has a reduced level of protein markers (the body produces these markers to fight off cancer cells). A reduced level of these markers means a reduced level of cancer so this is very encouraging!

Just in case he’s not getting enough attention already, Dad is keen to share with you a top to toe list of all his fixtures and fittings!

1. Elastic stockings (toe to thigh)
2. Pneumatic leggings
3. Drain into abdomen plus bag
4. Main central wound (stapled)
5. Abdominal catheter into bladder
6. Stoma bag
7. Blood oxygen monitor attached to finger
8. Drip into forearm
9. Drip line stitched into jugular with 3 drips attached.
10. Oxygen tube into nose
11. Epidural into spine
12. Heart monitor (3 wired nodes)

As you can imagine all these wires and tubes are stopping him from sleeping much at the moment. Hopefully they will start to come out one by one from Sunday onwards and then dad can get some well deserved rest.

He is still enjoying hearing your messages every day so do keep them coming!

Visiting

Marilyn here.... From the photo and comments it is easy to forget that Jon has been through a huge ordeal and is still very unwell.

He will be in the high dependency unit for at least another 2-3 days where only family can visit. When he is back in his normal room at the hospital, I will let you know when he is up to visitors by an update on the blog.

Oli, Jen and I have been so pleased to receive your support for us as well. We are coping and definitely benefited from a good night's sleep last night! I am off to the hospital this evening and we will continue to post the blog. Please note Jon doesn't have his mobile at the hospital as there is no reception.

XXX

Dictated to Oli from Jon

My dear friends. Thank you for all your wonderful wishes and prayers. It makes a big difference to me but you're still not getting a mention in my will.

The medical team here are absolutely fantastic and I'm deeply touched by their professionalism and care.

As well as a general anesthetic I also had an epidural and this has blocked out all the pain.

A couple of mentions from your messages:

Good to hear from Phyllis.

I particularly liked my old school friend Jay's comment "Don't worry, only the good die young."

My spirits are high and I'm making slow but good progress. I stood for the first time today. Unfortunately Oli chose that exact moment to walk through the door. (Oli here, I should explain I witnessed his naked behind through his backless gown with white stockings pulled up to his groin. It was like a horror remake of the Mrs Robinson stocking scene in 'The Graduate'.)

Much love to you all.

Jon;

x

I think this says it all really.

Good News!

The consultant called me and said everything went well with no unexpected finds. He had to fit a bag but hopes this can be reversed when the bowel has healed. No blood transfusion needed and Jon is now going up to a high dependency room with a nurse in attendance 24 hours a day for 3 days. We are off to see him now very briefly but I wanted to let all you loyal supporters know the good news. I will post again after we have seen him tomorrow morning. What a relief... hopefully the three of us (and Jon!) will get a good night's sleep!

Hello, Oli here.

Mum, Jen and I have just returned home after sending Dad off to theatre amidst a sea of smiling nurses. He spent last night in hospital getting ready, although I'm sure he asked to be admited early because he's allowed to watch the football there.

He's being a brave boy. All morning different medical professionals have been popping in and out and describing increasingly undignified procedures that will be taking place over the next few days. He still manages to find something funny to say to each them.

I wore my Poobah (special Beale hat, as seen in the blog photo) as a symbol of solidarity. One nurse apologised as she came in, thinking she had interupted some sort of religious ceremony.

All of a sudden it was time for him to head down. This was a moment that I had been dreading and although it was very hard and upsetting, we left feeling totally positive and confident. Jen and I left Mum to see him down to the theatre, that must have been hard for her but she's being strong and brave as she has been all along.

We get a call to find out how it went this afternoon. There are different combinations of factors that make up different variations of good news. I know time is going to drag till then, but I also know it'll all be fine.

Mum will post later.

Hello everyone, Marilyn here.

Sorry this is so late but the consultant didn’t turn up until 3 o’clock. The news is good and the surgery will go ahead tomorrow afternoon. Scans were clear but cannot give 100% thumbs up until they have had a good look around and analysed the parts they remove. That will be 2 weeks’ time but the surgeon will ring me tomorrow after the op and let me know more. We have left him there optimistic and getting on with the laxative pre-op procedure. He has been so touched by all your support and has loved the blog, so keep them coming and we will relay your messages to him. Oli and Jen are still with me and very comforting and supportive, so don’t worry about me – I will ring you when I need to.

A small bit of news

The surgeon's secretary has just rung and they want to admit me earlier at 12 today.
Still no other news apart from the consultants meeting is lunchtime and he wants to come and see me straight afterwards. We are still hopeful for surgery tomorrow but without current news on the spread we are naturally a little anxious as to what he might say.
Vibes received with enormous thanks.
Love to you all,
Jon x

Leo

Thanks Leo. I love you too Capalino.
Jon x

Monday 4 May

A family day today.

Mark phoned first thing and was congratulated for rhyming cyber with Khyber. I also liked his suggestion that I add a semi colon after my name. I will try it. Jon; ...perfect!

Jen is back and the 4 of us went out for a lovely lunch. We were wonderfully surprised by a bottle of Moet organised by Malcolm and Trish. Very enjoyable which we followed with a nice red. An afternoon of snoozing followed!

Oli and I had a huge giggle taking the poo photo. It is great to share a sense of humour. He truly is a lovely son.

This evening we are slopping around all crammed onto one settee. We are just being a family which is perfect as we miss this now that they have their own lives. Marilyn is being fabulous and strong and we all love her to bits.

Thanks again for your good wishes, especially all of you from the colonies.

Jon x

Last Poo?

Sunday 3 May

Another good day.

Our very good friends John and Rita came round for coffee this morning and it was lovely to see them. Quick phone calls to my brothers in Oz but could only get Bob. I always enjoy talking to him and we had a good laugh. Is there no respect for my condition!

Marilyn, Oli and I then went for a lunch time walk in the lovely spring sunshine and got as far as the pub. It would have been rude not to pop in so we had a leisurely drink and then home for lunch.

Marilyn's friend Elaine popped round with a beautiful cake she had made and stayed for a coffee.

We spent the afternoon reading all your wonderful messages. Lovely to hear from my Epping gang. We have all been such good friends since we were 15. Also good to hear from Jessie my favourite niece(don't tell the others).

I had to have a nap this afternoon as I had pain for the first time. I think it is probably the stress of waiting for the prognosis.

Fully recovered and out this evening to the pub with my very good hockey and now golf pals Malcolm, Chris and Peter. Lots of mickey taking and abuse but also real affection and concern. Marilyn and Oli went to the cinema. Jen is coming back home tomorrow to stay and I can't wait to see her.

I am beginning to get a bit nervous now as Tuesdays case meeting approaches.
How ghastly must it be for people like me without the support and love of family and friends. I am very lucky.

Jon x

Saturday 2 May

A good day today.

Our good friends Lynn and Gill called around this morning for coffee. I left the girls to it and went into the office to do my invoices and leave copious notes to my excellent team John, Paull, Steve, Joanna and Linda. I am so lucky to be able to leave the practice in such safe capable hands.

Back home at around 3pm and made further phone calls to good friends breaking the news. Talking about it is fantastically therapeutic and this blog is a great help. The site has had 100 hits today from friends and family! Very heart warming to all of us. Thank you so much.

Some beautiful flowers arrive from Ruth, Claire, Caroline, Robyn and Kelly who are Oli's friends. Such sweet girls who I know were just using him to get to me.

We had a quite night in tonight. Just me, Oli and Marilyn all having a cuddle on the sofa watching a crappy movie. Jen had to go back to London today to get clothes and see her man. She is coming back on Monday. She is gorgeous and has just text me a goodnight kiss.

Phoned our good friends Tim and Frances in Canada to have a chat. Francis is tremendously uplifting and as usual we talked complete nonsense in fits of laughter.

Jon x

Farting

The prospect of perhaps never farting again, post operation, is dawning on me.
I'll be frank, I bloody enjoy farting.
I think it's a bloke thing.

Marilyn will be thrilled. Picture the scene...every day for the last 37 years I have started each day with a fart during mid pee followed by "good morning botty". It drives her crazy.

She is a grand master and has the wonderful ability of "breaking wind" with a complete lack of embarrassment and odour. Perhaps that's the secret. Her range is fantastic and I particularly like the motorbike starting on a cold winters morning and disappearing down a narrow lane backfiring all the way. Don't let on I've told you though.

We all have our own styles. Oli is messy. Sounds a bit like the rapid slapping of a wet halibut. Jennifer is very neat. Brother Leo always follows his with " a bit more choke and that would have started"

My mother never farted in her life and Dad took this as a licence to fart twice each time at slightly different pitches.

So it is looming that my farting days could be over. No more bubbles in the bath, fanning sheets, fearing the follow through or "morning botties". I will miss them terribly but I guess I'm on my own there. Marilyn is reaching for the champagne..

I'll just pray the surgeon doesn't have to take too much out. Wish me luck

Jon x

Thanks for your messages

Thanks for all your wonderful comments. There clearly is a lot of pressure on you all to be witty but it is not necessary. Keep them coming, however but we are equally happy just to have a "hello, how are you, thinking of you"

Just off to buy a hat to go with the bag.

Jon x

Friday 1 May

I spent the afternoon today at the hospital having all my admission checks done. Blood, urine, ECG, chest x ray etc, etc. They concluded I was fit and well in all other departments and I must admit I have never felt better. I had to smile at the rigorous MRSA tests....bloody cheek...we all know the best place to catch it is in hospital. Probably wanted to make sure I had it before they would admit me. A sign of the times was that I was also tested for swine flu. I had to find a truffle hidden in her handbag.
.
To be serious, the hospital has been absolutely fabulous and I am very, very impressed.

I was taken up to see my high dependency room where I will be for 3 days in the permanent company of 24 hr nursing. I hope they don’t take advantage of me as I am bound to look dammed attractive lying there with my Gucci tubes.

The anaesthetic I was given for my colonoscopy was an amnesiac drug. The admission nurse asked me how I coped with it and I replied it must be just like date rape. The poor women collapsed in laughter and kept giggling for the rest of the examination.

Everyone has enormous praise for my surgeon and I know I will be in excellent hands. He is in Ireland playing golf this bank holiday weekend so no more news on tests. I still will not know if it is operable on Wednesday until after the group meeting on Tuesday morning.
I never thought I would ever keenly await surgery.

We are all deeply touched by your kind messages and gain enormous strength from them.
Thank you my dear friends.

I am especially pleased to hear from all you Aussies as you really understand what it is like down under.

Jon x

Small Prize

I can see a theme developing here and it's giving me the shits!
I am however pleased to see that you have all learned from the master.
A small prize for the best pun which will of course be delivered in its own personalised bag.
Jon x

What a week!!!!

Let me tell you about this week which has been like no other I have known.

Thursday 23 April
Having had a fabulous game of golf the day before, in beautiful spring sunshine with my good buddies Peter and Malcolm, I entered the consultant’s office in a buoyant mood. Why not, I felt great!
I had been referred by my GP who I had visited 2 weeks earlier as my stools had got darker and smellier, if that's possible. She carried out blood tests and stool tests which were clear but she thought it a good idea to see a consultant as a precaution. The consultant literally put his finger on the problem straight away and told me I had a tumour which he was sure was cancer. It was surreal and I asked a few trivial questions and left. Arriving home the bombshell hit and I was certain I was finished. What a strange realisation that is. With me, my thoughts were not for me at all, they were for Marilyn, Oli and Jen.

Friday
The consultant's secretary rang and a colonoscopy had been arranged for Tuesday. Thank god for private insurance. We then set off for a weekend walking in the Peak District with our good friends Nic and Lindsay. That night we stayed at a hotel that was having a Fawlty Towers evening with Basil, Sybil and Manuel entertaining us over dinner in a very manic show. My head was still reeling trying to come to terms with it all and there was Basil charging around our table shooting Manuel’s hamster whilst Sybil was blind drunk sprawled all over Lindsay. We hadn’t told Nic and Lindsay as we decided to wait until after the colonoscopy. A mistake.

Saturday
I awoke very distressed and after several abortive attempts to go down for breakfast we realised there was no option but to reveal all as they were all ready suspicious. Their reaction was fabulous and they were very supportive to us both, saying just the right things. We swore them to secrecy.
We then headed off to a beautiful apartment half and hour away in an old converted mill in the beautiful Dales hill side. We had a beautiful day with a gorgeous circular walk along a river bank and back over a high narrow hillside path. A memorable day.

Sunday
Another very wobbly start, a Lindsay fry up breakfast and another lovely walk. At 2pm I had to start a 2 day fast in preparation for the test. Nic and I then drove back home in the afternoon as he had to work and I had to prepare for the colonoscopy. Bless him, a 4 hour journey with me could not have been easy. Marilyn stayed behind for 2 more days with Lindsay which was great as the penny had not really dropped for her and this gave her breathing space. What a blessing she was with such a good friend.

Monday
A day of fasting and purging. Not pleasant.

Tuesday
I had the colonoscopy in a local private hospital under a mild anaesthetic. My consultant came up to the room afterwards and confirmed to me and Marilyn that there was only one tumour about 10cm up and it was definitely cancer. He explained that scans were needed to establish if there was a breakout to other organs or through the bowel wall. These were miraculously arranged for the next day. It was time to tell Oli and Jen. I will leave this to your imagination how unbearably painful this was for us all. Oli and Jen came down to Pembroke Lodge that night and are still with us.

Wednesday
I had a CT scan in the morning to check the organs. In the afternoon I had a MRI scan to check the soft tissue around the bowel. Whilst I was having the second scan my consultant popped into the waiting room and gave Marilyn the brilliant news that the other organs were clear. More tears in a crowded waiting room. Surgery is provisionally booked for Wednesday depending on the second scan. I had to cancel my ticket to Sydney which was booked for the same day but, as Marilyn rightfully said, it is mereley postponed until I am better.

Today
It is my little boy's 30th birthday today and we have had a lovely family roast.
The consultant has rung and said the preliminary results from the second scan were encouraging and surgery is looking promising but it depends on a group consultants meeting on Tuesday morning. I have to start another bloody fast on Monday just in case. I will be in for up to 2 weeks and then a couple of months convalescence. Thank God for great staff who will look after the business in my absence. We were the civil engineers for the new £14m roller coaster, Saw, which has just opened at Thorpe Park. Trust me that ride is a doddle compared to the emotional coaster we have all been on.

We all remain in good spirits with high but realistic optimism. I am naturally nervous but not frightened. The warmth and support of you all is heart warming.

Please post comments in reply and we will keep you regularly informed of progress.
Much love to you all, Jon x