Where to start?

Well, I'm back in Swansea for the Easter hols and therefore staying in the house of someone who knows the password for their wi-fi! Hence this post... Journey home was a bit of a nightmare though (lots of traffic and roadworks). Still I was home before midnight which means that DD owes me £50. Ha!

Still not back in the flat yet. Progress is being made every day but it seems really slow. I'm sure it'll all be worth it in the end. And of course it would all be a million times worse if it wasn't for the fact that the fabulous DD has agreed to put up with me all this time. She's a real saint and I love her dearly.

Birmingham was good. The Magic Flute was fabulous (even though it was sung in English - which as you all know I'm not a fan of). Falstaff less so in my book although Bryn Terfel was superb. Not enough tunes for my liking. Birmingham was, on the whole, Birmingham i.e. a really ugly city - my mother hated it. Bought a shirt in Selfridges though.

Did the help line on Wednesday which was brilliant - had one call that lasted over an hour from a distressed lesbian. She was less distressed by the end of the call which is, of course, what its all about and why I do the job.

Saw Sean on Thursday. He was really happy with the way everything was looking. Also saw Frances (which was good as hadn't seen her for ages). She's going to ask around about research into gene therapy/stem cell research on growing new saliva glands. You never know... And of course no trip to Christies would be complete without seeing the lovely lovely Debbie who was as lovely lovely as ever. Except she told me I still can't sunbathe. Boo.

Had a chest x-ray (an annual precautionary event). They'll phone me if anything shows up. Also discovered that I've lost the ability to snore (yet another bonus from the cancer). Apparently I no longer have enough soft palate nor enough of the base of my tongue to enable snoring. Honestly you learn something new at Christies every week. Also had a bit more explained about my cancer (Anthony Minghella apparently ad the same operation as me - and I had it 3 times - so even more relief that I didn't die on the operating table). Apparently I had a large tumour in one gland which on the scale of a small tumour in one gland to multiple tumours in multiple glands on both sides of the neck is not too bad from a prognosis point of view.

As for people I know with cancer there is good news and less good news. Jane, my cousin, has 2 slipped discs and not bone cancer. Which is a relief. Bill however, has had some contra-indications on his blood tests but its too early yet to know what this means. I'm sure you will all join with me in sending him love and best wishes.

Next week is busy with meetings and the theatre (I think) on Friday. Jonah & Otto at the Royal Exchange. No idea what its about but going with a bunch of people from work so it should be fun.

That's all. J x

P.S. Mother's fingers (which my regular readers will recall I slammed in a car door) continue to pain her (allegedly) and result in me having to do lots of jobs around the house. They're not too painful to unwrap a bar of chocolate though...