Sponsored by
Nigel Scott: Exceedingly wise words from Mr K
ONE-NIL to the fat-faced bloke at the top of the column.
Not that you'd have necessarily recognised me over these past few months when my weight plummeted and those ruddy features turned an ashen grey.
But as my good friend and spiritual healer at St James's Hospital, Ruth Kaye, remarked on Monday: "You look like your picture at the top of your page again now."
And, to be fair, I do.
All this is a preamble to what gives me great pleasure to report was a fantastic piece of news on Friday last when I went, accompanied by the fragrant Mrs S, to Jimmy's to hear the results of my scan.
In truth, any news would have been welcome because dwelling on what might be said is probably worse than hearing the words themselves.
This was something I discussed last week with my "cancer buddy" Mick from down the road after I finally managed to pop in to one of his regular Wednesday coffee mornings/afternoons when he and a few chums gather to generally put the world to rights.
Mick, incidentally, was due to hear the results of his own scan this week and I sincerely hope it has gone well for him.
Anyway back to Jimmy's.
One thing I have come to learn over these past few months of treatment is that while the treatment itself runs pretty much to clockwork timing, getting to see a consultant is very much more of a hit and miss affair.
You can generally add an hour or more to whatever time you are given on your little appointment card – of course, sod's law dictates that if you actually did this, he or she would be in time and you'd miss your slot.
So, anyway, there we were, sitting in the waiting room on an admittedly comfy sofa, reading hospital magazines and trying as hard as we could to pretend that we weren't being kept waiting for the most important piece of news possible.
When the oncologist – the third we had seen since my relationship with Jimmy's began – finally turned up his casual and perky manner suggested immediately that it was going to be good news – in keeping with how I felt about myself – but until the words came I couldn't be 100 per cent sure (he could have just been an eccentric).
The news was good. The chemo regime has shrunk down significantly the cancerous tumours within my body.
I'll never be entirely free of them but now it is they who are losing size and strength – not me.
Because of this most favourable of situations, and because my tolerance to the chemo has been so high (incidentally I take no great credit for this, it's all down to my body which can' speak for itself so I am its mouthpiece) I am now undergoing another three treatments before, hopefully, I can have a long break.
I can start to think positively about Christmas now and about getting a proper holiday away which Mrs S and the kids probably deserve more than me.
The only disappointment I had at the weekend was I wasn't really able to celebrate my good news – I had planned champagne but it never materialised – as for some reason I felt really, really, tired and spent Saturday and Sunday afternoons kipping on the bed.
It turned out that my full blood count had taken a dip but, fortunately, it was back up again on Monday and I was able to begin my seventh dose of chemo.
I suppose life for us cancer sufferers can be best summed up by a couple of lines from Rudyard Kipling's classic poem If (with apologies to the female of the species for Kipling's rather gender-specific conclusion).
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, and treat those two impostors just the same...you'll be a man, my son.
Funny who I bumped into...
THE Saturday morning regime at Normanton Towers usually involves a trip up town to do a little light shopping.
While I would never pretend that I spend all my hard-earned brass on my doorstep I do think it is important that at least some it goes towards supporting the local community.
Mrs S and I make a regular trip to the local fruit and veg shop, Cable's, where a full basket of mostly locally grown produce seldom seems to cost more than a tenner – and you can taste the difference from the shrink-wrapped supermarket rubbish.
Just round the corner is another shop which, I am convinced, sells the world's finest breadcakes alongside packs of bacon and other meaty treats.
At the other end of town, however, lies the latest of our regular Saturday morning haunts, Normanton Baptist Church, which runs a thriving weekly coffee morning.
But there's more than just coffee on offer. As you make your way inside, the good ladies of the church's weekly baking efforts are laid out in all their glory and, for a few pence into the church coffers, who can resist a coffee bun or a slice of ginger cake?
One regular visitor on Saturday mornings is one of Normanton's most recognisable figures. Ron Ayres – former Baptist Minister of Normanton – is a man for whom the word gentle was created, and the term fits him like a velvet glove.
I first met him in the early 1980s when I was a cub reporter on the Wakefield Express. Years later, he christened our two girls.
Such is the calmness and gentility of his voice that our youngest, Eleanor, nodded off in his arms, prompting him to remark: "I wish they were all like her."
He has retired now from full-time involvement with the church but he is a seemingly ever-present figure at the Saturday morning coffee sessions.
We also bump into him frequently at Freeston Business and Enterprise College where he is chairman of the Governing body and where his speeches to parent gatherings are the stuff of legend.
The inspiration for this little tale, I have to say, is the fact that I almost bumped into him again, literally, on Tuesday when he seemed to my judgment a little careless in pulling out in front of my car in his own. I'm not sure he realised I was there.
I'm so glad, though, I didn't hit him. I would have hated to have damaged one of Normanton's finest institutions.
Falcons off to a flyer
MY girls' sporting fortunes seem to be heading in different directions at the moment.
Emily's new footy side Sheffield Wednesday are desperate for a win, having notched only five points and one win from seven outings this term.
Added to that Emily has picked up a persistent knee problem which has limited her time and effectiveness on the pitch.
For Eleanor however, the new netball season started in excellent fashion on Sunday morning when the mighty Normanton Falcons saw off their Wakefield rivals by a wide margin which reflected their overall superiority.
I can't give you an accurate result, sadly, because I was too busy chatting with the other parents to keep tabs but watching the game only reinforced my appreciation of netball.
Netball has to work hard to build its profile against other sports which are rightly or wrongly perceived as more glamorous. I often think those who dismiss it do so from a position of ignorance.
Heavy use of the whistle aside, the more netball I watch the more I enjoy it. There is something quite exhilarating about watching Normanton turn defence into goal-scoring attack in just four or five passes coupled with superb movement across the length of the court.
At the moment it's definitely Normanton Falcons 1, Sheffield Wednesday 0.
Added insult
CHILDREN who are not very popular at school have worse health as adults than those who are likeable, research out this week has suggested.
Swedish researchers writing in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health analysed data from a project on more than 14,000 people, spanning almost 30 years.
I'm not sure what this means for me, personally, because I'd hate to think that the reason I've been suffering from bowel cancer is because nobody liked me when I was a fresh-faced little waster.
To me that sounds like adding insult to injury.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Leeds United: Whites ponder next move in hunt for new manager LATEST
- Web poll: Who is to blame for Leeds United’s league position? VOTE HERE
- Leeds United: Time for Ken Bates and Co to listen up
- Leeds man remanded on sister murder charge UPDATED
- Leeds United: Aston Villa boss drops hint on Fabian Delph
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Leeds
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 0 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 4 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North west
