Kobione

Congrats Rye, lovely image.

Just a fun one for the 'T' theme - yes, they are pink and grey but there are TOO MANY on the bird table!:

Thank you for the nice thoughts. David now has more detected cancer spots in his lungs and now also in the liver. treatment plan will be changed to more aggressive, but not until after another MRI next week. We are still in the middle of the moving issue, but it looks like our son has come up with a rental suggestion that might fit the bill for the next 6 months or so. David is now so weak he is almost immobile and sort of sleeps about 20 hours day, meanwhile I am still on my crutches and trying to do everything, so I'm pretty exhausted. Have a safe and comfortable flight over here Denis, and yes, please ring, when suitable for you. Off to Bendigo again today for some more pain medication for David, will update as and when I can.

Will not be around much - things are going downhill over here, sorry.

Well done Denis, right place, right time, camera within reach - result a fantastic capture. Well deserved POTW, and nice choice Rye.

Bit of a token effort, sorry - sea shells, but not on the sea shore, in my collection:

Congratulations to the winners, some lovely images for this month again!

Polly I have a specialist surgical appointment early December, so won't know more about any waiting time until then. I am managing, but do get a bit tired, and frustrated with so many things I'd like to do but can't. If things keep going ahead with our house contract it should finalise about the same time - I think second week in December, so only about 6 weeks to get things done. I am trying to pack at least one box per day, or empty one cupboard, or take stuff I no longer need to a charity shop, just to make it easier to manage whatever is left. It was David's last radiotherapy session today, so next appointment is 13 Nov. with his specialist oncologist, who will have the future plan sorted, so we will know more then. He is in a lot of pain, and very weak, but hopes that, as he has been told to slowly come off one of the meds he was on, he will feel better. Don't know as yet, but at least it's not a Bendigo trip every day for a while. We have now also found that there is an Oncology centre based in Warragul, (there didn't used to be), so even appointment time will only be maybe 15/20 minute trips, not an hour each way as it is now - still better than 3 hours each way to Melbourne though!. I was supposed to go to our son's for this Thursday to have a Grandparent's Day with our Grandson Troy, but that can't happen now, shame, but looking after David has to come first.

Thank you Polly - Superwoman - I don't think so, you got it pretty right - Mrs Exhausted fits me better just now!! Off to Bendigo again today for what may be, we don't know as yet, David's last radiotherapy session for now. It is hitting him so hard - worse than last time and he is now so weak that I have to organise a wheel chair to get him from the car park and into the hospital. Won't know more until later today, or may be a few days until another MRI is scheduled.

Thank you to everybody on here for giving me another great week of images to browse through, and, as usual some very nice results presented. Fuji is keeping us interested with his new lens, and the 'twiddling' he does to the pictures too, and Clicker gave us a lovely 'painting' of a very nice bird - interesting to see the original shot it came from too. Also in the Monochrome section Panasonic Mike gave us a different and lovely Foxglove, and john2 gave us one of the best candids we've had in a while, with his Taking a Break, and he also gave us some very nice Gannet shots too. Denis also pipped it with his Red Kite shot - I appreciate how hard they are to get. But I've gone with one from Ryewolf's fantastic set in Just The Average Weekend...… very understated title Rye. Great thread with so much detailing all the shots, great costumes, great facial expressions - so many smiling faces, and perfect for the mono presentation. I've picked one from the set that I really liked - the fantastic building in the background, the crowd smiling, chatting and obviously enjoying what is happening, and the hare on the bike being the centre of attention. I even like the patterned foreground too, everything in this shot appeals to me. So…. well done Ryewolf, fantastic set of an interesting event, I liked all of the set, but this one made me smile. The original thread can be seen HERE so please take a good look at the whole set.

Spotted a nice flower bud in the shade house this morning, and it has given me two 'R's' - it's red, and it has raindrops on it too:

Well done Korky, very nicely twiddled! Nice choice Cheryl.

Thank you for the nice thoughts. David is still in hospital, but things are a bit better. Looks like he will not require spinal surgery, they are going to use radiotherapy to target whatever it is. He has been in a ward bed for the last two nights, which was a lot quieter, so he slept better, and late yesterday he was told that he could be released from full time bed rest. Another little positive step - visiting again today and, because the weekend is now over, maybe we will know more ab out what is ahead.

Just to update you all - David had some back pain which was identified as a torn muscle, (and is healing), but over the last couple of weeks the pain has changed and moved slightly , so he discussed it with the Oncologist on his last visit. It resulted in quite a scary day on Friday. At David's last onco visit the cancer indicators has risen somewhat, so the Oncologist scheduled a CT scan for last Friday. Went in to Bendigo and had a nice morning, meeting up with our daughter and one G'Daughter, nice lunch, when I got my letter Q photo and then off for the CT. All done, and headed home. Got home and twenty minutes later David got a phone call from a Radiologist - 'We have found something of concern on the CT scan. Can you get yourself straight to the Emergency Department asap, will send an ambulance if you need.' Thank goodness I had only had two mouthfuls of my sherry & tonic, so off we went again 5 minutes later. Got to ED, which was chockablock, waited 90 minutes for triage assessment, then admitted straight away. They wanted him to lie as flat as possible, which is difficult because he has no esophageal sphincter, and we were told that there had been more cancer spots detected in the lungs - still only small ones, but also some unusual activity in the spinal area, which had resulted in spinal cord compression, which was causing the now intense pain. They told us an MRI was the only way they could tell more but then couldn't be done at that time, so he had to stay in the ED cubicle under constant monitoring, as there were no ward beds available. We were told that he would probably have to be transferred to Melbourne to s specialist centre and potentially have surgery on his spine, and metal plates inserted to keep the vertebrae apart, as they were collapsing, but couldn't be confirmed until he had an MRI. I left about 11.00pm and got home just after midnight, gave Kelly & Brodie a very quick and late tea and that was it. Visited again yesterday. Oncologist and Neurologist had conducted a neurological examination of every muscle in his body, from his toe tips to the top of his head. No significant deterioration in sensation, movement or general strength, so that was positive, but they really pushed to get him an MRI done, which they did early afternoon. Results immediately sent to the major cancer centre in Melbourne for assessment, and we were not 'officially' informed of results, but we did overhear a conversation. Although the spinal compression is causing the pain, there was very little damage to the spinal column, and they mentioned that the CT scan, although not specifically for this purpose, was perfectly timed and had detected the problem very, very early, so surgery may not be needed. Guessing that he will, be taken off chemo this week, given a short break, and then put on radiotherapy to target the new spots, and if his reaction is as good as last time, things might stabilize for a bit longer. Will know more after todays visit, thank you all for allowing me to 'let this out', sorry it's a bit long!!

My lunch yesterday - Quiche Lorraine: