My appetite is pretty much back to where it needs to be. My weight is back up to 172 lbs, just three pounds short of what it was when Mo and I got married, though still 25 lbs shy of what it was before all this began. I ate some of Mo’s lunch this morning; half a tuna salad sandwich and some chips, and I still had room for half of a toasted cheese sandwich later. The food here really is not that good, but I am at least eating again. One of the things that seems to be happening to me, as an invalid, is that I crave the types of food that I ate as a child. Thus, for breakfast, oatmeal (or porridge as we would call it in England), and for supper I like to eat what we used to call “Tea.” This consists of buttered bread and jam, and perhaps some cheese and cake, washed down with one or two cups of tea (with milk). Now the problem here is that mainstream America has no idea of jam – in the US it comes in two varieties: Strawberry, and Grape Jelly. Of course you can get apricot, plum, blackberry, and all the other varieties of jam in the supermarket, but not at the hospital. For breakfast, most US hotels have discovered marmalade – but not this hospital.

Walked around the ward on three separate occasions today. On one occasion I was disconnected from my IV pole so could take the elevator down to the 5^th floor. There’s an out-of-the-way area there where I can practice my dimly remembered Tai Chi. Feels good to stretch. I wish I’d kept up with the Tai Chi – it’s probably something I’m going to want to do when the chemo is over and I’m convalescing. On the other two occasions I was hooked up to my buddy the IV pole so could not do much more than loops around the corridors. There are only so many loops you can do! Even a little exercise does me good though.

Boredom is always lying in wait for me, just a few minutes away, waiting to drag me down into self pity. So far I’ve managed to keep it at bay, but for how much longer? Seeing Mo every day cheers me up, but even there we need to focus our attention so that we’re not just chit-chatting. Today we picked a taxi-service to pick up Martin (my brother) from the airport when he arrives from Spain next week. I’m looking forward to his visit tremendously. Later, I watched Cinderella Man on my laptop, with the sound piped in through my headphones. Not my typical pick of a movie – boxing is not really my thing – but I liked Russell Crowe’s part. Will probably read a couple of chapters of POB’s “Treason’s Harbour” tonight; this is another of my favorites since part of it is set in Malta, where I spent a very pleasant month on leave back in the mid seventies, when I was working for SSL (Seismograph Service Limited) looking for oil off the coast of Libya.

Did not sleep at all well last night, despite taking a sleeping pill. I did, however, have a delicious nap after watching Cinderella Man. I took a stroll around the ward, downed a can of Pepsi, and fell fast asleep. Woke up about 45 minutes later to discover that my supper had been delivered without my knowing it. One of the problems with sleeping for extended periods is that it jeopardizes my need for taking frequent potty breaks, as a result of the liquids being pumped directly into me. Will skip the sleeping pill tonight.

Thanks to my family and friends for visiting this blog. Reading your guestbook entries helps my with the will to see this thing through, and I look forward to reading your new entries every day. Please also leave me links in the guestbook for things that you’ve found while trawling the net that you think I might be interested in, or that illuminate entries in the journal. Remember, however, that I’m on dial-up, so no big files!