follow up

Just realised I failed to actually update you on how my follow-up appointment went; with my ominous silence, you'd all have grounds for believing I'd had a horrific relapse. However it was rather uneventful, mainly because I was so hungover I couldn't speak, let alone formulate questions to ask. We established, though, that I have no lumps anywhere and am in remission - YAY - and will need a CT scan in 3 months to confirm this.
Once the hangover had abated I decided to email my consultant with a list of the unasked queries. This is the gist of his reply:
1. I can get a flu jab and Hep B booster
2. Yes I can get my ears pierced...
3. My chances of getting AML (acute myeloid leukaemia, a risk of chemotherapy. I blame the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine for giving heebie jeebies) are thankfully pretty remote - "probably less than 2%".
4. Now that I'm in remission, my chance of relapse will get less and less as time goes on - at present it's about 20% (pause to gulp). This is the one I tell myself not to worry about - there's no point frightening yourself to death about something that may very well never happen. Also, statistics mean nothing to the individual - 20% - one in 5 - 20 in 100 - 2 in 10 - what's it all about??

And on that note I feel we should move swiftly onto FOOD, more specifically THIS:


Which was a fantastically good almond-praline cheesecake - if you couldn't tell by looking at the photo. We have Emily to thank for its (all-too-brief: it was devoured pretty rapidly, mostly by yours truly) presence on this earth. Here she is, eating the main course (hot Indonesian salad):


The most exciting thing about this cheesecake - from a gastronomic and coeliac point of view - was its base. The base came from my frantic Googling upon realising that I had no time/inclination to make gluten-free biscuits (my normal cheesecake base). Buying any was out of the question - I wouldn't feed TruFree or Freefrom digestive biscuits to my worst enemy. So Google found this cheesecake crust recipe which was a) really easy and b) so addictively almondy-buttery-sweet that Emily and I were having to stop ourselves from eating it all before it went in the oven. Sorry no full cheesecake recipe tonight (I can provide one on request but am a busy little bee right now, buzz buzz).

Also, Emily's brownies = out of this world. She puts orange chocolate in them....

I went home this weekend and had a lovely time - and Tim hasn't died of fresher's flu yet, which is reassuring. It says something about how good home is that even after an enforced 6 month stay there (with escapes for, um, chemo) I still want to go back in term time...


I love October. mmmm crispy leaves!!!!

Ta ta for now: I have a massage party to attend. Intrigued? So am I! Au revoir!