Despite the amount of abuse received by the author it seems that Condi Rice took my advice to heart, and has plans to open debate about the future of Iraqi with Syria and Iran next week, a welcome development. Fortunately no sign of assassins has been seen since my comments on the zeal of the Shia Muslim section of Iran's armed forces, despite Kenny's concerns for my safety.
Keeping on a wittering theme I have just finished Fisk's overview of the incubation of Israel and the creation of the occupied Palestinian territories. It is clear that no side in this tragic unfolding of history covered themselves in glory, and all sides have really major bad (immoral and evil) events firmly and indisputably on their side. What had not been clear to me ahead of reading about the region for the first time in some depth, and even disturbed enough to research alternate sources, is the balance of the injustice and hurt is pretty firmly on the side of the Palestinians, although they have managed to snatch defeat diplomatically from the jaws of victory many times. It is untenable that multiple UN resolutions since 1968, just as strongly worded as that set against Iraqi's invasion of Kuwait, go simply ignored by us, and Arab opinion is right to question the double standard we adopt. It is clear that the resolution of Palestine is key to stability in the region, which the UK have been pushing and the US is beginning to see.
Politics aside things are going pretty well on the medical front, next week is full of lung function testing, kidney testing and heart testing so by the end of the week I will feel a bit like a subject in a laboratory. All of this is to ensure I am strong enough to sustain the BEAM chemo and the following period of no immune system. This even included a detailed dental check up to ensure that my teeth do not abscess or flare up during the treatment, a problem I did have during the AVBD chemo over the summer, which cost me a molar. However things are looking good so far and no more transfusions have been needed to keep me above 50% of the normal red-blooded mans count.
Cooking and domestic chores are trucking along well, today's speciality was a Beef Burgenion which consumed brandy for flambe of the meat and a bottle of red wine, in the sauce not in me, but made a delicious soft dish once it had been slow cooked for about two hours. A bit of a spurt of energy may result in a coat of paint in the spare bedroom ahead of my Mums visit next weekend to check me out ahead of the big events. I shall need to turn my head to a treat ahead of the chemo, unfortunately I go into hospital just ahead of the kids Easter break so a week away is not really on the cards, I am sure we will come up with something!
Speaking of the kids things are going very well for them. Poppy has had a big role in the school play, which we saw tonight, I was careful and snuck into a front row seat so I did not have to mix in the crowd too much - but after months of rehearsal I could not miss the show and it was a really good performance. I also have a recording of her singing on the radio so she is developing a great performance CV even at 11. Holly has discovered horses and has joined the school riding club after quite a wait, she is over the moon with this new hobby and is following in Lees footsteps as Lee was a very good horse person, at University she even evented for their team. I think Holly's blend of affinity for animals and personal courage will really suit this - my only worry is for my wallet!
In a sweet moment this evening I asked Lee if I should take off my hat as we waited for the school play, as it was a bit warm, Holly piped up "Dad Poppy says you should keep your hat on as she does not want people in the school making a big deal of your cancer, and talking about it all the time". Just goes to show that the kids do discuss and debate the issues, half the proceeds of the play were going to the Maggie's center after Lee let them know about our fund raising so the school continue to be very supportive - they also have taken special care to gently support and check in with the kids, without making a big deal of it, once we wrote to them and explained the situation.
Lee has been in the depths of negotiation with her work about setting up her "spin out" company and I have been helping a bit with business plans and spreadsheets when I am feeling well enough. A couple of days near the start of the week I had great intentions, but ended up having "duvet days" rather than achieving much, but towards the end of the week my strength improved and I even had a few work interactions. I think Lee and the other folks who are involved have a really good business idea, with a very solid plan, to be honest better than a lot of the plans I discussed in my normal job, so I hope that things continue and she can get the business off the ground, things are looking good so far.
While giving part time advice to Lee I do feel guilty about not working but yet still getting paid, my colleagues and leadership constantly reassure me that I shouldn't when we talk, and protect me from the day to day stuff that is going on. I spoke today with Andy Warrender who teased me for my plan to stop myself from engaging too soon before my health was really restored, he and others have made it very clear that they want me to take the time I need to get well, and that they have plenty for me to do when I feel up to returning. We even joked about how my need for an afternoon nap would go down in some of our intensive meetings, both of us thinking that might improve the process!
The support I have had from Gore is outstanding, not just officially, which has been great, but also informally with colleagues, even retired colleagues, checking in with me and chatting on email about how I am doing, politics ( I have a US inspired alternate reading list from some friends in the states, given recent witterings, which I am determined to read to ensure balance) and just generally being supportive.
One of the most critical decision I made when I relapsed was to not try to stay connected for the duration of this treatment, and to encourage Gore to backfill my responsibilities. I felt comfortable to do that because of the trust I have for the people in the company, but it was a big step, and a lot of folks had to move fast to cover things. All I can say is thanks to those guys, but it really was necessary to enable me to concentrate on the treatment, specially when the next phase starts. Even now, although I do feel guilty about it, I know it was the right decision.
Some of you might be wondering "why was that even a hard decision?", to understand that is at the core of the very unusual situation of being a leader in our company, we try not to impose leaders and we try to ensure leaders have followers, hence if you are a successful leader then many folks are looking to you for help support and guidance - rather than orders. To let them down, even though they understand and encourage you to do it, is a big deal for me. It is no wonder that W.L.Gore & Associates (UK) Ltd has been awarded the "Best Company to Work for in the UK" award for the fourth year in a row last night in the Sunday Times awards. In danger of being a Gore bore - no doubt Kenny will have fun with that - it is a privilege to work for such a truly people oriented company.
Andy Warrender was motivated partly by my situation to raise money for the Macmillan Cancer foundation by walking to the North Pole, you can follow his story and donate to this charity if you prefer it to Maggies by going to http://www.northpole2007.com/ his decision to walk to the pole was discussed in earlier blogs as a candidate for the most radical reaction to my original diagnosis - though for Andy he heard about my situation and our close colleague Rudi's situation (his wife was diagnosed with a serious cancer but is responding well to treatment) inside days and signed up for the challenge a few days later.
So overall things are going well, my friend Gilles finally got his chemo and blood counts sorted and is off to get his stem cell transplant (from a donor so he goes to Glasgow) in the next week. We have accidently been in beds beside each other twice in the ward, and often met in the outpatients treatment centre over the last weeks. We chatted in the hospital today and we stood, shook hands, sort of formally, as we parted, it felt like two warriors heading into battle wishing each other best of luck.....
So tonight (other than world peace) I wish all the readers the best of luck in the challenges you all face as part of the adventure we all face in life, childern in sequins singing of hope, and holding on to jumping horses necks with a triumphant smile, remind us of the ups amoung the downs of that rollercoaster.
Cheers
Gerry
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2 comments:
Thought I'd strayed onto the Newsnight blog page again. Glad when it got back to Animal Hospital. "Can you tell what it is yet? This little puppy, Mullah, hasn't been very well recently. But, just a few more weeks of care and he'll soon be wagging his little tale again."
All I can say is that Gore must be good to work with. For most of us in local government, the only good thing about being ill would be forgetting about work for 6 months.
Interestingly enough, I did meet a couple of well-meaning, genuine politicians at the weekend. They almost overturned my view that the only good politicians are dead ones.
A statesman thinks of the next generation. A politician thinks only of the next election. There aren't many statesmen about presently.
And, oh how you make me laugh Mullah. A man who's just purchased an Aston Martin is concerned for his bank account because his daughter is showing an interest in matters of an equestrian nature! Face it Mullah, you'll shortly be scouring the pages of Exchange & Mart for Land Rovers and horse boxes.
One of my mottos has always been, 'Never ride anything with a brain.'
Hi Kenny,
I am thinking of making you my honory editor thanks to your witty comments, there must be a rule banning the commentators from being funnier than the blogger!
I am curious who the decent politicians were that you met, after being at the Scottish Parliment for a week Lee said the tories, all three of them, where actually the nicest of the lot.
Fortunatly as Lee has held on to her gas guzzling Jeep we would not need the Land Rover, we only need the trailer, field, tackle, stables, stable hand, new house in the country etc. Thankfully rental, expensive as it is, seems to be sufficient so far.
I should get round to organising a Dumfries dinner party for one of the next few weekends, give you a call later on that front.
Cheers
Gerry
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