It's been a while..

It's been a while since I last posted, so I thought I'd better put fingers to keyboard.
Most of my time has been spent in the workshop and around the house and section.

I've had a huge amount of work come through the workshop in the last month. Everything from a Porsche 911 Carrera (964) for a Bilstein shock absorber upgrade to a Nissan "People Mover" Van for a suspension handling package, the latter I had to spec up myself as no one listed springs or shocks for it. There's also been the usual mix of Mustangs, Camaros and Corollas for wheel Alignments and tweaks.

Around the house.. Sarah and I have almost finished the courtyard. It's been a huge job, taking up the last four weekends and we still have about two days worth of paving to complete.
The Spa pool is now in place and running. Last night after spending all day laying pavers we got into the pool and soaked away the body aches while the wind and rain pelted down outside. The covered courtyard provides complete protection from the elements. Very cool!  :o)

I've done nothing on the Evo race car. I just can't seem to find the time with the current work load and jobs around the section. Having said that, I'm having a mental health day today because I over did things yesterday and am paying dearly for it. Last night I suffered a severe back-ache and today I am feeling quite "off" as well. One good thing is that the cold that I developed nearly four weeks ago seems to be waning and I'm coughing a lot less. (As is Sarah who caught it a week earlier than I did).
I've managed to re-crack the rib I injured in last year's Targa crash too... a side effect of the prednisone making my bones brittle combined with a couple of fairly decent coughs from this cold. It hurts a bit but not so much as it did last time.

I still have no idea whether I have relapsed or not. I finally got to read the report from the last CT scan and it does indeed look on paper like I have. However I'm still in better shape now than I was a year ago so it's anyone's guess. I have another CT scheduled for late this month and then two weeks after that I have the follow up with DR D'Souza to discuss the results. I live in hope that the nodes they are concerned about have either shrunk, disappeared or remained indolent.

I did have a night sweat last night, but I think that was because I took two paracetamol tablets for the back-ache. Paracetamol causes you to sweat which is how it breaks a fever if you have one.
I used to think that the pulsing lower back ache which can get up to about a "7" on the pain threshold was one of my "B' symptoms that indicated I had active Lymphoma. However I have had the pain when there was no decernable lymphoma on CT nearly a year ago. So perhaps it's not.
The mild skin itch I've also suffered from seems to come and go, so who knows.. I'll be glad to get the next CT over and done with so I will know either way.

I had a lung function test last week along with an appointment with the respiratory doctor. My lungs are now in the best shape they have been in since 2008 and that's with this darn cold which leaves me coughing and breathless. I put the improvement down to the little bit of exercise I have managed to get in. I can walk at a brisk pace to the top of the regional walking track above our land in 36 minutes. It's a steep up-hill grunt the whole way. It's amazing just how good I feel afterwards though. Exercise really does affect your whole sense of well-being.

I start weening off the prednisone next month. One milligram a month. It will take a year and a half to get back to zero and start feeling normal again, and that's assuming I haven't relapsed. It get's too scary and complicated to comprehend if I have, so I won't even go there!

Till next time....   Ron