Mick's Motoring Wales Wander

[MattBLancs]

I'll get back to you tonight (will have a dig into eating options and try and get something picked)

Still good for that Sunday

[Stickyfinger]

If I was, I'll have been a Springer Spaniel.... Those and I have a lot in common. Both mental, full of energy but not the brightest... That's me in a nutshell

Yep.....

[CitroJim]

If I was, I'll have been a Springer Spaniel.... Those and I have a lot in common. Both mental, full of energy but not the brightest... That's me in a nutshell

Yep.....

Definitely me in my happy place, either as a dog or a human

[mickthemaverick]

STOP PRESS - TOUR IN JEOPARDY- STOP PRESS

Unfortunately Jim has advised me this morning that he has picked up a nasty flu type bug which may or may not be COVID. As such he feels it the sensible thing to do is to withdraw from the tour as a precaution, allowing me a little time to cancel the arrangements without significant cost to us. I have asked my September Stroll mate Bob if he would like to fill in but as yet I have had no reply, I suspect he is at an archery competition !!

Ironically a few minutes ago I had a call from The High Tor hotel in Matlock, our intended Sunday night stop, to ask me to cancel the booking as the hotel had a maintenance issue and would be closed on Sunday. The wind is not blowing in a good direction!! If Bob can make the trip, then it will now have a significantly different route on Sunday bringing us from Colwyn Bay back down south to be home for Sunday night. This inevitably means postponing the proposed Sunday meets for another time I'm afraid. Sorry Paul and Matt. However if Bob can make it then the Coleford dinner will be fine and I will confirm one way or the other after I get his response.

[CitroJim]

To say I'm absolutely gutted is an understatement I was so, so looking forward as Mick will attest from our last meetup on Tuesday. Everything came crashing down around me on Thursday and I remain very unwell. Saturday I had to miss parkrun and that says it all

The risk now is that my underlying health condition is very likely (may have already) to substantially flare-up and result in a protracted period of something similar to long-Covid. Last time I was laid low for three weeks and the last place I need to be whilst this goes on is away from home and my support network.

Fact is that on far too many occasions since diagnosis this has happened, leading me to have to cancel at short notice and often at big cost, financial and otherwise. I honestly thought, after two very successful and hugely enjoyable trips out with Mick, it was all history. Seems not

No more. I think it's best for all I don't stray any further than I can run from Paggers in future

[myglaren]

That's crap Jim. Hoping for a quick recovery.

[mickthemaverick]

I have now heard from Bob and unfortunately he is already committed over the weekend so I have taken the step of cancelling all the accommodation bookings and associated table bookings. Thus I am sorry to say our meeting in Coleford will have to wait for another day as I will now be staying in Hertfordshire until the Hamburg Hop in July. Really sorry everyone, but I am sure you understand that taking on 4 days touring alone would not be great fun so I'll wait for another opportunity to get up to that part of the world.

[CitroJim]

That's crap Jim. Hoping for a quick recovery.

Thanks Steve...

Thus I am sorry to say our meeting in Coleford will have to wait for another day as I will now be staying in Hertfordshire until the Hamburg Hop in July. Really sorry everyone, but I am sure you understand that taking on 4 days touring alone would not be great fun so I'll wait for another opportunity to get up to that part of the world.

Mick, I'm so sorry to hear this and feeling very bad for you... Fingers crossed it can all work later in the year...

[mickthemaverick]

FAO Gibbo, Forrester, Paul-R and MattB. Please confirm that you have seen my last post cancelling the Wales Wander as I'd hate any of you to be going ahead with the ideas.
Cheers
Mick

[MattBLancs]

FAO Gibbo, Forrester, Paul-R and MattB. Please confirm that you have seen my last post cancelling the Wales Wander as I'd hate any of you to be going ahead with the ideas.
Cheers
Mick

Sorry for radio silence, busy busy here!

No problem at all, get well soon Jim!
Think it's the right decision, I'd call it postponed rather than cancelled and see what the future holds

I'll likely go to the car show and possibly the vehicle museum as planned - call it a scouting mission!


Hope for a speedy recovery and back adventuring soon.

Attached picture of a daft berk on my own little adventure (train to Glasgow at moment)

[Paul-R]

FAO Gibbo, Forrester, Paul-R and MattB. Please confirm that you have seen my last post cancelling the Wales Wander as I'd hate any of you to be going ahead with the ideas.
Cheers
Mick

Yes I have seen it and taken it on board. Very sorry that it's not going ahead.

Jim, I can fully understand your caution. Mick (and a few others) know some of my medical story. I was diagnosed with Lymphoma in 2019. I had 6 rounds of R-CHOP Chemo which seemed to sort it out until about a year and a half later when I had a feeling something wasn't right. A CT scan showed that it was back and I started salvage therapy (a horrible term) with R-GDP Chemo. I had three rounds of that and was then transferred over to to Liverpool where I had BEAM Chemotherapy and an autologous stem cell transplant. Sounds rough and believe me it was. Since then I seem to be cancer free.

However...

Going back, the time I first presented myself to hospital I wasn't admitted for cancer but for low platelets. Actually, zero platelets when normal range is 150 - 400! Low platelets shows itself as spontaneous bleeding and bruising which is what caused me to go to the doctors' in the first place. Platelets are part of the blood clotting system and low platelets are known as ITP (immune thrombocytopaenia). I actually started treatment for the low platelets first as a biopsy sample had to be sent off to see what, if any, cancer we were dealing with.

And it's ITP that's the problem now. The stem cell transplant reset my immune system to an immature state and I have to wait for it to build it up. I'm also retaking all my childhood vaccinations again. The reset of the immune system also seemed to cure ITP. Until last year when the signs came back while we were on holiday in France over the summer holiday. Tests showed near zero levels and basically since then I've been in and out of hospital and have been trying several different drugs. The seem to work for a while and then the figures plunge. The doctors are happy if the platelets are above 50 and my reading today was 22. Which was better than last Thursday's 18!

My immune system is compromised and so I have to be careful who I associate with. My lymphocytes and neutrophils are way below normal levels. The overall white blood cell (WBC) count is 1.0 and normal range is 4.0 - 11.0!

I once asked how much the drug I was on at that time (eltrombopag) would be if it was prescribed privately. I was told about £3000 for a month's supply plus prescribing and dispensing charges. I costs a lot to keep me alive! My current drug is called avatrombopag, which sounds like a 1970's Swedish film actress to me. That would cost about £1500 for a month. That was before my dosage was doubled so we're back to £3000 again.

All this constant testing and uncertainty means that I can't make plans. This is complicated by my wife's condition. We haven't been back to France since August last year and frankly, I'm not sure we'll ever get back there again.

[Gibbo2286]

Yes saw that Mick, better luck next time.

[MattBLancs]

Thanks for sharing your story Paul-R,

Wishing everyone good health, take care

[Forrester123]

Sorry to hear Jim is ill, get well soon.
Pity the tour is cancelled but the only sensible decision.

[CitroJim]

Jim, I can fully understand your caution. Mick (and a few others) know some of my medical story.

Gosh Paul, I'm speechless and have the highest admiration for you in what you have faced and continue to. May all continue good and indeed improve... All my best wishes are with you and your wife.

My underlying condition is absolutely trivial in comparison. An absolute nothing but without careful management it can be. It's been life-changing, paradoxically in a good way in some areas, and require constant vigilance.

12 or so years ago I was formally diagnosed with ME/CFS - a condition similar to long Covid - after failing to recover from a seemingly fairly trivial viral infection. The first few years were shocking, I was left almost invalided, house-bound and cognitively deficient from some brain damage. I had to abandon driving and playing cars in general. The before Jim and the current Jim are very different and some say for the better - whatever has been damaged in my brain has changed my personality as well as ruining my memory.

I was taught, by a great but hard to access NHS service, how to manage the condition and that involved getting fit, eating well and avoiding all stress. Hence the love of home cooking, running and cycling and avoiding stress wherever possible. Retirement on medical grounds relieved a huge level of stress. There is currently no cure for ME.

I live life on a knife-edge. A trivial illness can tip me over into relapse, as can a bit too much stress or just some random thing; sometimes I have no real idea why I've flipped over. The latest 'flu-like I'm currently wrestling with has done just that and I have fallen off the edge big-time. All I can do is rest-up, look after myself and await its passing. At the time of writing I'm still very much in the waiting phase.

When I'm good, which happily, is most of the time these days through experience, reading and taking heed of warning signs and taking all due care, I make the absolute most of every day, hence some of the adventures I post on here from time to time.

My cognitive abilities and mental health remain poor but physically I'm fitter now than I have ever been so there is an upside to it all and I retain a very positive outlook on life. I'm really quite happy in my own way.

And thanks all for your best wishes

I hope this makes sense. It's taken me a while to write this.

I remain devastated it's caused the wander to be postponed; I'm looking forward to when it can take place sometime in the future.