Last week I said goodbye to my daughter Julie and her boyfriend Josh. Except he is no longer her boyfriend - he's her fiancé! YES! She left Oslo with a diamond ring on her finger and a happy smile on her face. Although they were both sad to leave it was time to head back to Australia and start the wedding planning. We are all so incredibly happy for them, and we know that she's being well looked after in Melbourne by Josh and his lovely family. But I do miss her a lot and can't wait for their return in July for summer holidays. Poor Josh couldn't believe the short dark days in Norway - without snow this Christmas (which at least makes the surroundings look a bit brighter) - and was overcome by this as well as the jet lag and slept for hours during the daytime. I told him it'll be the other way around in July - no darkness at all and total insomnia!
Today was our first visit to the doctor in four weeks. Four weeks of no chemo, no radiotherapy and a minimum of medication for my husband. We had thought this would be a good time, with recovery, regaining of appetite and stamina, less fatigue and nausea. But no. On the contrary he has seemed to get almost worse during this four week break - which in some ways we were prepared for, as we knew the treatments would continue to work - but we have all been surprised at how slowly (or not at all) his general condition has improved. Today we received some answers.
The extensive treatments he underwent those six weeks in November and December were so strenuous that his body has had some real trouble tolerating them. Blood tests even show that his liver has suffered. So the doctor's decision was to make his immediate recovery the main priority, and to achieve this there's no more treatment for the time being. So no new chemo period! Which all means we will definitely see an improvement in his health condition very shortly. When he has recovered sufficiently he will also be able to take part in the hospital's research programme on the new medicine, which will probably be launched during the first half of 2014.
Our spirits were lifted today, and I could see the optimism in my husband's eyes. It's very exhausting to be constantly exhausted. Here's hoping for a positive change in the near future!
Snow, low temperatures and thus real winter (as some may call it) finally arrived in Oslo, and I'm shivering all the time. I caused a huge uproar among my (Norwegian) Facebook friends when I posted a status that proclaimed my love for the mild green winter which we were "blessed" with up until the 10th January. Being a Norwegian you're practically obliged to love snow and skiing, but I'm now old enough and self confident enough to confess that I simply can't stand either. I'm afraid that for me winter is just something to be tolerated when you've been born in this outpost next to the North Pole.
Blowdrying my hair one morning this week I was suddenly turned into a true Goldilocks, as the sun came through the snow-filled clouds and filtered through my filthy bedroom windows - oh, how I long for spring!…...
…… not to mention summer!
Well, well…. Even I can see the beauty of snowy fields in the "Blue hour" - as in this photo taken a year ago on an evening walk:
Or the weird aesthetic in the hazardous way we drive on our snow packed roads. Hazardous because in any other country you'd leave your car at home on a day like this. But we Norwegians have a blind trust in our winter tyres and our superior experience in driving on snow and ice (even if snow-and-ice practice was only ONE of our many driving lessons, or in fact NONE, if you're as old as I am)!
I found some photos the other day on my husband's camera, from New Year's Eve - here he's photographing the "older" girls in the family - his sister Eva and Julie trying to pose nicely and my other two daughters Johanne and Sophie trying to distract me. Which, of course, they fail to do…..
My husband is surrounded by girls. Though a bit exasperated at times, he knows that his girls love him endlessly.
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