It was another Gala night tonight so everyone was in sequined posh frocks and DJ’s in the silver service restaurant but Andrea and I ended up in very undignified hysterical laughter.
What Andrea actually said:“There’s lots of sparkly numbers around”.
What I heard, “I just farted as there’s no one around!”
We actually got some sun today so we spent some time in the hot tub at the back of the ship. To get there we wore our complimentary Cunard logo bathrobes.
Afternoon tea came around and I offered to get tea and scones for Andrea and I but got into the buffet area before it had reopened. I then found myself getting disapproving looks from staff and fellow passengers as I stood in the queue looking like I had just gotten out of the bath.
It was a bit awkward but I decided that my pride and self respect was less important than a scone with jam and clotted cream. Get stuffed snobs!
I booked with Cunard to see the world and what did I see, I saw the Sea! (Day 5 at sea, one day out from Bermuda)
Andrea’s Classic of the day:
We were at dinner but had no booze so I asked one of the floor managers “please can you send over the Sommelier” (wine waiter)?
Andrea looked at me appalled, she thought that I had said to him “please send over the Somalian”.
I have to give credit where due, the oldies on this ship know how to party. They dance the night away and then at 11:00 they get supper in the buffet restaurant. Andrea and I must have used up our supply of party animal with all of our house parties back in the 1990’s because we struggle to make it past 10pm.
There are clearly a lot of wealthy types on board (not including us) and more than a couple of Sugar Daddies. Still, good for them I suppose!
Andrea and I think alike, we were watching the ships morning show on TV and the interviewer was talking to a doctor who uses none invasive treatments which he claims make you look younger. These treatments last three years apparently.
The interviewer responded “wow, some of our guests….”
(In my mind) “won’t last three years!” Then I heard Andrea laugh from the bathroom. She had thought the same thing!
We tried Salsa dancing today but sadly couldn’t get the hang of it (not helped by a moving dance floor as the ship gently rocked so the floor isn’t where you left it) We managed to waltz reasonably well.
Another Gala night tonight so posh frocks and Bond suits again tonight.
Hope the somalian put the rest of our wine somewhere safe!
I booked with Cunard to see the world and what did I see, I saw the Sea! (Day 5 at sea, one day out from Bermuda)
Cunards Queen Victoria
Andrea’s Classic of the day:
We were at dinner but had no booze so I asked one of the floor managers “please can you send over the Sommelier” (wine waiter)?
Andrea looked at me appalled, she thought that I had said to him “please send over the Somalian”.
I have to give credit where due, the oldies on this ship know how to party. They dance the night away and then at 11:00 they get supper in the buffet restaurant. Andrea and I must have used up our supply of party animal with all of our house parties back in the 1990’s because we struggle to make it past 10pm.
There are clearly a lot of wealthy types on board (not including us) and more than a couple of Sugar Daddies. Still, good for them I suppose!
Andrea and I think alike, we were watching the ships morning show on TV and the interviewer was talking to a doctor who uses none invasive treatments which he claims make you look younger. These treatments last three years apparently.
The interviewer responded “wow, some of our guests….”
(In my mind) “won’t last three years!” Then I heard Andrea laugh from the bathroom. She had thought the same thing!
We tried Salsa dancing today but sadly couldn’t get the hang of it (not helped by a moving dance floor as the ship gently rocked so the floor isn’t where you left it) We managed to waltz reasonably well.
Another Gala night tonight so posh frocks and Bond suits again tonight.
Hope the somalian put the rest of our wine somewhere safe!
After spending most of 2022 either in surgery or recovering from surgery we decided that we would treat ourselves to a cruise to New Zealand rather than fly next time and here we are on our way. The last time we cruised I kept a cruise diary and was asked by friends to do it again on this cruise. I decided to share it on my main blog as well. I hope you enjoy it:
Pt1.
And we’re off, on the coach and heading to London. “Take The National Express, it’ll make you smile etc.” just running through the lyrics in my mind and we have the feeble old dear (not Andrea lol) and a screaming child. With thousands of miles to travel our first hold up was roadworks in sight of the bus station. Such a typically British problem.
A stop over tonight in a hotel near Victoria Coach station and then a morning coach to the ship. We are sailing on Cunard’s Queen Victoria and you can track our progress (if you want) on the cruise mapper app. So it’s an early dinner probably at Maccy D’s and early to bed. No
Well the POSH, POSH travelling life, the travelling life for me. Our POSH cruise started with a performance in the main dance hall by the Empire Brass Marching Band. They were great to be fair but many of the oldies were clearly aroused by their renditions of Rule Britannia, Land of Hope & Glory and other hits from the album “Now thats what I call Jingoistic”.
It struck me while listening that due to the Royal Navy’s troubles recruiting there are probably more fat old fogeys like me at sea these days than actual RN sailors thanks to cruises. Our fellow passengers have so far proven to be very friendly and congenial. The restaurant is a sea of grey haired folks tucking into mountains of grub.
I was being a good boy this morning as after a 3k run around the top deck I loaded up my breakfast bowl with fruit and a black coffee. However there was a bowl of crispy streaky bacon to die for on the hot food stand so I had fruit with a crispy bacon dressing!
To cement our reputation as old gits, after breakfast we listened to an interesting talk by a retired policeman ( which fed our insatiable interest in murder most foul, usually satisfied by Netflix) then joined in for ballroom dancing lessons followed by lunch and a nice chat with a chap in the jewellery shop who tried to sell Andrea a $13k bracelet. Fat chance! The food continues to be excellent, I’m especially enjoying the Jelly and Icecream!
Anyway I must finish this post as my trouser foghorn keeps sounding so I suspect that I may need a ship.
So here I am, heading towards my the first anniversary of my Craniotomy, a time for celebration I guess; but I find myself feeling very reflective and also feeling a bit of a fraud. I continue to read the battles of fellow Brain Tumour Warriors on Facebook and feel guilty that I feel so well at the moment.
I am of course immensely grateful that I have fully recovered from my operation to debulk Gary my Glioma, I definitely feel a bit of an imposter when telling my story because thankfully (for now at least) it has run out of steam.
A good friend of mine, on a recent evening out for dinner, asked how I was and it took him back when I announced that my Tumour is incurable and in that moment my feeling of being an imposter disappeared. I reminded myself that I am not cured, I am temporarily fixed so that I can continue my life but I have guilt when reading about those who have passed and those now living with disability because of their tumour, surgery or both.
So I now need to go back to the teachings of the stoics and find the gratitude for my good fortune and not feel that it came at someone else’s expense.
As we come up to my Craniversary on December 20th, I need to remember what my wife and I have been through. We lost Mum in Law suddenly to Diverticulitis just over two weeks following my operation.
Andrea had to park me to the side slightly whilst dealing with her grief and the practical issues that have to be sorted after a death in the family.
In addition just as funeral preparations began I had to go back into hospital due to an infection in my operation scar. This turned out to be quite good timing as I was cared for, fed and pampered by the amazing team on Ward 21 at Leeds General Infirmary, so I was suddenly not my wife’s immediate concern.
I am running 5k three times a week now and whilst I can’t beat my PB of 33 mins, I am getting slightly faster and can constantly get a 34 minute 5K. Brain fog has completely gone and I am able to do little bits of Copywriting again and other freelance projects.
I recently did some telemarketing into the Netherlands but I suffered a short burst of anxiety and mild panic attacks, so had to stop the calling. Thankfully they have passed now but I guess that they were part of my recovery.
I should get my driving licence back in the next few weeks and I think having that independence back will complete my personality refurbishment. I will try and stop this odd feeling of not really being a Tumour sufferer and carry on trying to offer my support wherever I can to other Tumour Warriors as they start their battle.
Stu x
The Brain Tumour charity has been a great help to me since my diagnosis. They have a podcast which is always of interest to people with tumours and their families and also have the ‘Brian App’ ( yep that is spelt correctly, it is ‘Brian’) which offers advice and the ability to track your symptoms, appointments and treatments.
My Brainstem Playlist.
Since my diagnosis I have found myself looking at life differently including reflecting on my past life. Music has always been important to me so I decided to put together a playlist that includes songs that I love, songs that remind me of places and times in my life, and tracks that I have discovered more recently that help me to keep positive. I hope it’s something that you might enjoy too and always play in ‘Shuffle’ mode.
On the lead up to our recent house move I started to have migraine headaches which I attributed to the stress of the house move.
After arriving in Bury St Edmunds my headaches stopped, yay, it was the stress. About a week later though they were back with a vengeance and I was in permanent discomfort day and night with what felt like the beginning of a migraine attack.
At this point I started to consider the possibility that I had another aggressive tumour developing rapidly. Either that or my Glioma had mutated and made a spectacular and deadly comeback.
I decided to ask the Brain Tumour community on Facebook and a lady told me that she had the same issue and she thought it was from eating too much dairy milk chocolate (something I am guilty of).
So I cut out the chocolate and the headaches disappeared. I was elated. Obviously I was happy that it is not tumour related but it also forces me to be less greedy when it comes to eating chocolate which should also help my waistline.
So if you are getting migraine like headaches and are a chocoholic, don’t panic and step away from that bar of choccy. You may be pleasantly surprised!
After some thought I have decided to merge my ‘Brain Tuner’ podcast with ‘Gary, Marty and Me’. The Brain Tuner started out as a spotify only podcast and was to include music (hence the ‘Tuner’ element of the title) but feedback was that the music was distracting and listeners just wanted to hear my thoughts on my brain tumour experience so I kept the name but dropped the music which then released it to all of the other podcast platforms.
I host with Spotify which is easy to do in most respects however Spotify (formerly Anchor) does not make it easy to host multiple podcasts so I am going to merge the existing episodes on The Brain Tuner into Garry, Marty and Me.
The brain Tuner is unscripted thoughts, just me and the microphone, whereas GMM is based on this blog so is more structured however I feel that the unscripted episodes will fit in to expand the story being told by GMM and will make production and managing my Podcasts much easier and quicker.
If you are a subscriber to The Brain Tuner, then thanks for your your support and I hope to see you over at Gary, Marty and Me.
www.stuarthannah.com 