BBC link from Kent

I am quickly adding a link before I go to work. This is about John Sachs who I met at the Meso uk patient and carer day last year.
He had his lung removed which is a very drastic operation and its good to see how well he looks in the clip.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_7260000/newsid_7267300?redirect=7267336.stm&news=1&nbwm=1&nbram=1&bbwm=1&bbram=1 >

Action Meso day

Action Meso day was a great success. The meeting was well attended and Jackie Lowe explained about the Roger Lowe campaign and what it stood for. She also introduced the professionals who attended. A specialist nurse, benefits expert, NHS cancer support stand and solicitors. It was good to meet Suzanne, Fluffy the cats mum, who has been a very helpful supplier of information to this site. She gave me 3 beautiful dragonfly window ornaments which I absolutley love, Thanks Suzanne.
The tree planting was charming with Jackie’s son and her sister, Tracey’s daughter planting snowdrops beneath the newly planted tree.

After the event, I scrambled off to Orange were the canteen staff had done a great job of selling cookies, pin ribbons and decorated the area with red and white balloons and serviettes.

Even the biscuits had balloons on them. Kaz Evans, the canteen manager, had been very supportive of the cause. I set up the raffle prizes and sold tickets at £1 per strip and made over £100. The grand total has yet to be finalised.

Good morning sunshine

The sun is shining in the window and is marking a change in my life. I am now, officially, a single parent. My ex moved out last week and this is my first morning (of many I hope) of the rest of my life. My little boy has adjusted well to the change although it is very early to tell yet. He spent the weekend with his daddy and is seeing him again today. His daddy and I have a very amicable arrangement and this helps a lot with what everything else going on in my life. I have still not heard from Dr Calleboute, he is an alternative therapist who focuses on diet as part of the cancer treatment, I will be ringing my oncologist this week to find out what the update is. Dr Calleboute is in Harley Street and has a very good reputation.

I am busy also, oraganising a raffle in my workplace. My colleagues are very supportive, the canteen manager has been very helpful and will be selling cookies in aid of Action Mesothelioma day and Mick Knighton fund. This is to raise money for much needed research into this disease as Mesothelioma is one of the cancers that, at present, has no cure.

Gordon Ramsey

I am waiting on news from my friend that Gordon Ramsey will sign a book for us to raise funds. Hopefully, what will happen is we will find the winner and the book will have a personal signature to the winner from Gordon Ramsey.

If this happens it will be great as I have been thinking of having an auction to raise funds.

first week over

The first week on my new shift is over. It has been really good and the team are great. I am now gearing up for Action mesothelioma day which is on Wednesday. I will be attending the tree planting with many of my friends. I will hopefully be covered in the media and will give Mesothelioma and asbestos awareness the coverage it needs.
There are so many people either affected by this disease or know some one who is.
I have spoken to so many men who have said they had worked with it and that they had rolled the asbestos up and threw it around like snowballs or played football with it. I expect my dad did that, not knowing how dangerous it was. If he had known, I don’t think he would never had taken the job.
Now that the awareness is out in the public domain, it needs to be exposed so everyone who comes across it has the knowledge of how dangerous it is.

Update on Meso day

My new team have been so welcoming, I still miss the old team but I have made so many friends who will become longtime friends that it makes it so much easier to deal with. I hope I stay on this team for a while and get to know them as well as the last one.
Back to the issue in hand.

27th February Action Mesothelioma Day

Saltram House 10:30am
Tree planting in memory of all those families affected by Mesothelioma and those who have lost their lives to it.
There will also be a free walk in clinic in the Fennamore Room which will include a specialist nurse, benefits expert and solicitors.
There will be a short film. (it is the film that the 5 students made in October)
Hopefully all will go well with showing it.
see link below for more information
http://www.prospect.org.uk/healthandsafety/rogerlowecampaign/rogerloweforum/210

Below is all other events happening.

Mick Knighton Fund
Gateshead Civic Center
Regent Street
Gateshead

27th February 2008
10.30am - 4.00pm
Registration and Coffee 10.00am
If you wish to attend the conference please return the attendance form
http://www.mickknightonmesorf.org/actionMeso3.html

June Hancock Fund
The West Room,
Leeds Civic Hall,
Leeds
10.45am - 12.30pm
http://www.junehancockfund.org/news30.htm
Rory O'neill (editor of Hazards magazine)will be attending

HASAG
12.30
Guildhall Square
Portsmouth
Followed by1.00pm
Portsmouth Guildhall
PUBLIC MEETING
http://www.hasag.co.uk/amd.php

Cheshire Asbestos victims support group
12:00pm
Public MeetingLiverpool town hall
http://www.cavsg.co.uk/cavsg_news15.htm

East London Mesothelioma support
10:30am - 1:00pm
Coffee morning
Mayors parlour
Newham Town Hall
12:30pm Balloon release
for more information,
contact Eileen, 07960222997

Western General Hospital Edinburgh
Clydeside Action on Asbestos
Between 5:30pm and 8:30pm
Asbestos related Lung cancer and Mesothelioma Conference
For more information please contact
Diane Borthwick on 0131 537 1767 or Phyllis Craig on 0141 552 8852

British Lung Foundation
http://www.lunguk.org/media-and-campaigning/campaigns/actionmesothelioma.htm

Another restless night

It is 3:34am and once again the insomnia has kicked in. I have so many things going through my head at the moment. My ex moves out on Thursday which means I will become a one parent family and that is something that is going to be difficult although the ex is very supportive with Kieran. I now have to get my house decorated to sell. I am worried that it won’t sell as the buying market is so slow at the moment. I just want to get settled and enjoy what I have left with my children. (I am hoping for many years ahead)
Kieran is my biggest worry as I am always thinking about how he will cope and my older 2 children will struggle with it also but they have got to an age where they are more indepedant than Kieran is. That doesn’t mean it is going to be easy for them as it isn’t. They never mention the subject and I can understand why, I find it hard at times to come to terms with it as I should not even be going through this.

I had a lovely breakfast with my friends yesterday, before I went to work. It was a good start to the day. Still no word from the Dr Callebout camp. I will ring my oncologist next week and find out what is happening.
I will have to try and get some sleep as I have to work tomorrow.

New team

I started my new hours at work today. My new team seem very nice. My old team got me a little gift, a little dragonfly brooch. It is really pretty. I will miss them although we will still be socialising together.

I have got some organising to do with the raffle in work. I am collecting prizes for the raffle and will hopefully get some awareness in work. The canteen will be selling biscuits in aid of Action Mesothelioma day.

All details are listed in other diary entries below.

 Chris Knighton has sent some pins to sell for £1 each.

Anyone wanting pins can contact Chris at CKnighton-mkmrf@btconnect.com

My little boy has settled into his routine again. He is back at school and tomorrow he is a waiter at the little cafe the school are holding. They are making pancakes and selling them to raise funds for the school.

I am sure he will be a wonderful waiter.

He's back today....yahoo!!!

My little boy comes back home today. He has been in London with his daddy and his grand parents for a week and I have missed him so much.
I can’t wait to see him.
I am back to work tomorrow and starting a new shift. the 3 on 3 off shift has changed to 5 x 8 hour days starting at 11:ooam in the morning which will be a lot easier to cope with.
I treated myself to an Apple Mac laptop today. I was going to buy a new one that had an intergrated webcam but it was £20 more to get a Mac so that is what I did.

Can't sleep

It is 2:24am and for some reason I am unable to sleep, so I decided to weigh myself this morning!!
I wieghed myself on 18th January and was 9 st exactly, I had lost 1 stone in 4 months and I think that was to do with the no dairy, no sugar, no alchohol and no yeast diet. I did the diet solid for 8 weeks and my oncologist wasn’t happy that I had lost weight. I now weigh 9 st 6 ¾ lbs which means that it was the diet that made me lose weight and not the illness. That is good news. I am still careful where sugar is concerned and have gone back to my odd glass of beer/wine. I have given up on the yeast diet as I missed bread. I didn’t like the bread without yeast and appreciate that I have the choice as some don’t have that luxury.
I had some good recipe ideas from Alan in Derbyshire and am trying to pursuade him to write his own cook book, I don’t think he will. He has got me eating avocado pears and I bought some for the first time and got myself some lemon juice to sprinkle on them.
(Alan, I have put them under my bananas ! )
He also had me eating peppers and celery which I am not keen on.
I do miss his soups and Heather’s juices though.
I am changing my shifts at work next week. I won’t be doing the 12 hour day anymore it will be 8 hours and I will be moving teams and will have a new manager.
I will miss my team and hope my new team are as wonderful and supportive as they were, Thanks guys.
The next big thing will be decorating and I have many volunteers who have offered to help me, It should be fun!

Action Mesothelioma day Information

Mick Knighton Fund
Gateshead Civic Center
Regent StreetGateshead
27th February 2008
10.30am - 4.00pm
Registration and Coffee 10.00am
If you wish to attend the conference please return the attendance form
http://www.mickknightonmesorf.org/actionMeso3.html

June Hancock Fund
The West Room,
Leeds Civic Hall,
Leeds
10.45am - 12.30pm
http://www.junehancockfund.org/news30.htm
Rory O'neill (editor of Hazards magazine)will be attending

HASAG
12.30
Guildhall Square
Portsmouth
Followed by1.00pm
Portsmouth Guildhall
PUBLIC MEETING
http://www.hasag.co.uk/amd.php

Roger Lowe Asbestos Mesothelioma Campaign
Memorial tree planting
Saltram House
Plymouth
10:30am for 11:00am start
http://www.prospect.org.uk/healthandsafety/rogerlowecampaign/rogerloweforum/210

Cheshire Asbestos victims support group
12:00pm
Public MeetingLiverpool town hal
lhttp://www.cavsg.co.uk/cavsg_news15.htm

East London Mesothelioma support
10:30am - 1:00pm
Coffee morning
Mayors parlour
Newham Town Hall
12:30pm Balloon release
for more information, contact Eileen, 07960222997

Western General Hospital Edinburgh
Clydeside Action on Asbestos
Between 5:30pm and 8:30pm
Asbestos related Lung cancer and Mesothelioma Conference
For more information please contact
Diane Borthwick on 0131 537 1767 or Phyllis Craig on 0141 552 8852

British Lung Foundation
http://www.lunguk.org/media-and-campaigning/campaigns/actionmesothelioma.htm

Rieki Session

I have got another Rieki session this morning and I am taking my friend , Helen with me so she can enjoy it too.
I am catching up on all the housework as well.
I am missing my little boy like crazy, he is back from London on Sunday and it wil be good to see him.

The Reiki session was so relaxing, It was so relaxing that I am sure I fell asleep, like the last time.
I was having some thoughts about the website as well while a lay on the bed listening to the sounds of the river and the birds singing.
I also met the specialist nurse, I haven’t seen her since my diagnosis. She was suprised to see how well I looked and said she would be at the Action Mesothelioma meeting on 27th Feb to answer questions anyone had.
I went for lunch with my friend, Helen, afterwards and spent most of the day with her.
All in all it has been a very good day. I hpe I have many more like that.

Valentines day

I bought a card and chocolates for my children today. I have done this every year for so long now that I can’t remember when I started it. I find it is more poigniant now and make sure that they know how much I love them.

I went into work to ask if they would make biscuits to sell in aid of Acton Mesothelioma day and got a great big yes which was good.

I am also going to hold a raffle which will be within the workplace but I will be selling tickets outside.

All details for Action Mesothelioma day are in the diary entry below.

In Plymouth we are having a memorial Tree palnting which will be in memory of all those lost to this disease.

Mermaid hair...the new anti cancer drug?

It was reported in the newspaper yesterday that a new anti cancer drug has been found in cyanobacteria L. Majuscula, also known as “mermaid’s hair.

I have added the link for more information.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/96938.php

Just a quick reminder for anyone interested, ther will be a memorial tree planting ceremony at Saltram House, Plymouth on 27th February 2008 for action Mesothelioma day. It will be a 10:30 gathering for 11:00am start.
There will aslo be a drop in for anyone wishing to talk to solicitors or the Lowe family who have organised the event (Roger Lowe Asbestos Mesothelioma Campaign)
Other events taking place are listed below.

Mick Knighton Fund
Gateshead Civic Center
Regent Street
Gateshead
27th February 2008
10.30am - 4.00pm
Registration and Coffee 10.00am
If you wish to attend the conference please return the attendance form
http://www.mickknightonmesorf.org/actionMeso3.html

June Hancock Fund
The West Room,
Leeds Civic Hall,
Leeds
10.45am - 12.30pm
http://www.junehancockfund.org/news30.htm
Rory O'neill (editor of Hazards magazine)
will be attending

HASAG
12.30
Guildhall Square
Portsmouth
Followed by
1.00pm
Portsmouth GuildhallP
PUBLIC MEETING
http://www.hasag.co.uk/amd.php

Roger Lowe Asbestos Mesothelioma Campaign
Memorial tree planting service
Saltram House
Plymouth
10:30 for 11:00am start
http://www.prospect.org.uk/healthandsafety/rogerlowecampaign/rogerloweforum/210

Cheshire Asbestos victims support group
12:00pm Public Meeting
Liverpool town hall
http://www.cavsg.co.uk/cavsg_news15.htm

Back home

I travelled back home today and was sorry to Leave Heather and Alan who have been wonderful. I now have new friends and I hope we keep in touch for a long time.
No appointment from Dr Callebout at the moment, it was good to see my daghter and found that my son had gone camping on Dartmoor for the night. It must be freezing!!!
these few days have gone so fast.
Next agenda is Action Mesothelioma day and I hope it gets the coverage and attention it should as so many people put so much energy into awareness.

Action Mesothelioma day Plymouth

Jackie Lowe and the Lowe family will be having a memorial tree planting service to commemorate the workers and their families affected by Mesothelioma.
The service will be at 10:30am for 11:00am start at
Saltram house, Plymouth.
The link below will give more information.

www.prospect.org.uk/healthandsafety/rogerlowecampaign/rogerloweforum

When I have more information I will add it.
Jackie Lowe can be contacted through her Email.

LJacks2020@aol.com

Dancing on ice!

The sun was up again this morning with a chill in the air. We went into Matlock centre and I bought some magnets for my sister, I am sure her fridge will crumble under the weight!!!

We went into the park and part of the lake was frozen. To our amusement, some of the ducks were on the ice and were trying to steady themselves while racing to get pieces of bread, thrown by the children observing them, before their mate got it.

It is so charming here. A beautiful part of Britain. No wonder it is chosen for the back drop of many films.

I will be getting packed to go home this evening and will be sad to leave as it has been all I expected it to be.

I have to say the Heather and Alan have been wonderful hosts and have not dissappointed me in any way, I hope we stay friends for a very long time and that one day I can return their kindness.

Chatsworth countryside

The sun came beaming through the window this morning inviting us out to enjoy it.

What a beautiful day again, we went to Chatsworth and the old flour mill and took a slow, calm walk within the area. There were deer on a hill, resting in the sunshine, birds singing and sheep slowly strolling across the road and not having a care about who they stopped. This is idilic, it is so tranquil and very theraputic.

I bought some apricots and prunes in the local Julian Graves store and as I spent more than £5, recieved a free gift. With a confused look on her face, the woman serving me had a confused look on her face passed me the gift……wait for it……JUGGLING BALLS ! !

We were amused by that.

Action Mesothelioma Day 2008

Below are contacts for Action Mesothelioma day 2008.

Debbie Brewer

Phu_phita@hotmail.com

Kimberley Stubbs

June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund

kimike91@yahoo.co.uk

Rory O'neill, Editor of Hazards Online Magazine, will be attending the Leeds meeting organised by Kimberley.
Congratulatons to Rory and the team who won the Workworld Media Award which is the highest accolade for workplace journalism. (They beat the BBC !)
http://www.hazards.org/index.htm

Chris knighton (who is selling white ribbons £1 each)

Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Research Fund

cknightonmkmrf@btconnect.com

Jackie Lowe

http://www.prospect.org.uk/healthandsafety/rogerlowecampaign/links

LJacks2020@aol.com

Lynne Squibb and Diane McLellan

www.hasag.co.uk/diane@hasag.co.uk

Cheshire and Merseyside

http://www.cavsg.co.uk/cavsg_news15.htm

Arrived saftley

I travelled to Derbyshire today. It has been a beautiful day, the sun shining, the traffic wasn’t bad at all.

I met Heather and Alan at their house, which is amazing!, and the country side is stunning.

They took me to Ogston water park where the twichers hang out!

The picture is a line of ducks swimming across the lake.

My daughter text me later in the evening to tell me that my son’s mobile phone had fallen in the toilet. They found this highly amusing and they will be entertaining themselves with this all week no doubt!!

A busy day chilling!

I had lunch with my daughter this afternoon and spent some quality time with her, something I haven’t done for a few weeks.
We enjoyed our afternoon and later I went to see my sister and ended up spending quality time with her as well.
I has bee a lovely day, The sun has been shining, making everyone feel a bit happier.
I am looking forward to seeing Heather and Alan tomorrow. We will discuss all sorts of things which will be good. It will be so easy to speak to someone who knows what is going on in my head. I think they are looking forward to it as well.
When I come back, I will be adding events for Action Mesothelioma day as a lot will be taking place across the country.
Hopefully our voices will be louder and our feet heavier when we stamp to get ourselves noticed.

Anyone interested in raising awareness and/or funds can contact

Debbie Brewer
Phu_phita@hotmail.com

Kimberley Stubbs
June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund

kimike91@yahoo.co.uk

Rory O'neill, Editor of Hazards Online Magazine, will be attending the Leeds meeting organised by Kimberley.

Congratulatons to Rory and the team who won the Workworld Media Award which is the highest accolade for workplace journalism. (They beat the BBC !)

http://www.hazards.org/index.htm

Chris knighton (who is selling white ribbons £1 each)
Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Research Fund

cknighton-mkmrf@btconnect.com

JackieLowe
http://www.prospect.org.uk/healthandsafety/rogerlowecampaign/links

LJacks2020@aol.com

Lynne Squibb and Diane McLellan
http://www.hasag.co.uk/

diane@hasag.co.uk

Cheshire and Merseyside

http://www.cavsg.co.uk/cavsg_news15.htm

Packed and ready

I took my little boy and my ex to the railway station this morning as they are going to London for a few days.

I will miss my little bean very much but he loves going to his grandparents but most of all he loves the railway station. He will be living it up today as he is going first class with his daddy.

I am nearly ready to go as well. The sun is shining and with some of the house work done, I can start to relax a little and make sure there is nothing I forget.

I am still planning what to do on 27th Feb (action Mesothelioma day) and am looking for a local (or any) Celebrityto support us.

I hope it becomes a very successful day.

Another site from Pat and Tony

Pat and Tony search the web for any information about Meso as do many others that veiw this site.
The link below is a support and information site.

http://www.marf.org/

It also has a tribute wall which is something I want for my site. I spoke to my daughter about it before Christmas and as she is so busy, she has not got around to doing it.
Hope the link is helpful.
Thanks Pat and Tony.

3 days over.

My 3 days have finished and I am off to Derbyshire for a few days.

I met Heather and Alan Foot at the Mesothelioma Patient and Carer day last year and they were very supportive and invited me to visit at any time.

As I have had a rocky few weeks I have decided to take them up on their offer and am looking forward to seeing them.

I will be taking them laptop and will carry on with the blogs.

I will be changing my hours at work…11am till 7pm which will help with the little one.

I hope we have good weather although Heather say t is cold there so bring some winter woolies.

Chris Knighton is selling badges to raise money towards meso research and British Lung Foundation.

She is sending me some to sell.

Anyone interested in raising awareness and/or funds can contact
Kimberley Stubbs
June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund

kimike91@yahoo.co.uk

Chris knighton (who is selling white ribbons £1 each)
Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Research Fund

cknighton-mkmrf@btconnect.com

Jackie Lowe
http://www.prospect.org.uk/healthandsafety/rogerlowecampaign/index

LJacks2020@aol.com

Sullen day

I have had a good day in work with my work mates and finished my 12 hour shift. I am feeling very tired and tearful. I am also felt angry because I have this disease. Everytime I see my children I wonder how long I have with them.
It breaks my heart to have to think about leaving them as I want them to know if it was my decision I would stay. I have to try and do all I can to make my stay as long as possible. Ideally I would like to have another 20 years but that is asking for too much. I have done better than the first oncologist expected as he felt I was finished within 6-9 months and that was back in December 2006.
I am feeling so choked while writing this. Why did I have to get this? What have I ever done that is so bad to deserve this? Nobody in the world should have to go through what myself and many others are going through, and I mean that with any terminal illness.
It is a nightmare, sometimes I can, quite happily, go on for weeks and not think about Theo but other times it hits me in the heart.
I feel so low at the moment and need to get back to my usual positive self.

Cosmos Feedback
I had a letter from Cosmos concerning my Lapland holiday and they have dismissed the complaint for a second time, telling me that I should have taken their offer of a 200 vocher towards their holiday and not taking into consideration my health or why we went there in the first place. I am still pursuing it and will not give up.
I will write another letter and get intouch with the hiararchy that run this sham of a business.

Changes at work

I maybe changing my hours at work. This will be good as I was going to discuss this with my Manager as I will be a single parent soon. My ex is moving out on 21s Feb and I needed to sort out my hours to work around my son.
I am not sure yet what hours are available.
I am organising a raffle at work in ad of Action Mesothelioma day which is on 27th Feb 2008.

HOORAY!!! We are back online!!

The website is back…..HOORAY!!!

Apologies for the loss, it was to do with the server.

All sorted now hopefully. Thank you to all the emails informing me of the loss and what a shame that some thought it was their computer systems.

All seems ok now and we can get back to sire and updates.

Pancake day

I spent the day in Exeter today with my friend Tina. We had a real girly shopping day and did indulge in a shopping spree.

It was a very enjoyable day with thoughts far away from our daily issues.

When I got home I made pancakes, it was great fun, hence the photo!

I have been in touch with Jackie Lowe and she is organising a tree planting to coinside with Action Mesothelioma day on 27th Feb 2008.

We will hopefuly have a lot of coverage with TV and newspaper media involved.

Apologies for the delay with the site as there is a problem at present.

Web site still down

So sorry for any inconvenience. I have been told that :

We’re currently experiencing problems with the server your website is hosted on: web10, IP: 213.230.203.86.For the last four days it has been unstable. We have been unable to resolve the instability and over the last five hours the instability has intensified. The server is only able to stay online for a maximum of four minutes after a reboot before then crashing again.
We have tried to eliminate possible causes, ranging from new drivers in use and disabling other system functions that are not necessary for normal operation.Unfortunately our efforts have not been successful.We’re now putting into place Plan B. This involves moving the HDD’s into another machine and trying to boot on new hardware. We’ll be in a position to try this within the next thirty minutes (the drives are in the process of being moved).If this were to fail and the machine is unable to boot, even on completely new hardware, bar the disks, we will move on to Plan C. This involves restoring accounts on a new machine from the most recent backup.

I apologise unreservedly for the problem with web10 and I hope those clients affected can understand the situation we’re in and that we are trying everything in our power to resolve it. We will keep you updated during the next few hours, and are trying our best to restore normal service as soon as possible.

It’s all gobbledee gook to me but I am not technical. So that is the reason.
Hopefully website will be back on line in the next 24 hours.

200th post and Website problems

There is a problem at the moment with the Server, If you can read the blogs then sorry for the inconvenience and normal service will be resumes ASAP.

Any way, this is the 200th post and no one can see it!!!

So I will celebrate on my own….

Good news for a change

I have heard from my oncologist who has agreed to refer me to Dr Callebout in London.
I will have to wait for an appointment to come through but this is very positive news.

Tribute to Victor Lamb

Tribute to Victor Lamb

I am including Victor Lamb in the blog today. Victor unfortunatley lost his battle with Mesothelioma on 21st January 2008. He fought for Alimta as he was told he could not have it but it unfortunatley came too late. The primary health cares in England do have to look at what they are doing to people who want the drug as it is ther last hope.

My heart goes out to Victor’s family at this very painful time.
I am dedicating todays blog in Victor’s memory.

Thank you

I want to say a big thank you to the five students who came to my house last year to make a short documentary about Mesothelioma and asbestos exposure. I have watched the 10 min DVD they made and it was very moving and poigniant. It put across the message that this cancer should have been prevented and how wrong work places were and still are in some places to expose their work force to this deadly mineral. They are hopefully going to put it into a festival as they have had very good feedback from their tutors.

Good luck guys you deserve it and I would like to thank you also for the beautiful Dragonfly ornament that will hang on a wall. It is lovely and will take pride of place in my new house.

I hope you succeed in your quest to highlight this disease and also to get your work noticed as you have a great future ahead.