Little Blue Stars

"What a desolate place would be a world without a flower! It would be a face without a smile, a feast without a welcome. Are not flowers the stars of the earth, and are not our stars the flowers of the heavens."


A. J. Balfour, Politician & Philosopher (1848 - 1930)



Some more flowers from Dad's garden - this time pretty blue star-shaped Campanulas, which are still in perfect bloom and looked lovely in the sunshine today.

Dad's stay in hospital is now entering a sixth night. He continues to be in pretty good shape and spirits considering all he has been through in recent weeks, and his breathing remains much improved. Mum and I arrived on the ward at 2 o'clock today to visit, and found him with a second tube attached to a gauge on the wall and going into the bottle of fluid that has been drained. It seems there is some air stuck in-between the two linings of his left lung, which is preventing the remainder of the fluid from draining off - a bit like an air-lock I think. So the doctors are trying to expel this air so that the last bit of fluid can be removed and the space between the linings sealed to stop any further fluid building up. At the moment, we never know what scenario awaits us each time we arrive at the hospital. Having discovered yesterday that there is no actual tumour (or "lumps and bumps" as the oncologist put it), even though they found cancer cells in the fluid, it seems the doctors don't yet know exactly what the cancer is, and therefore they are so far unable to give an informed prognosis or likely progression of the disease. We are just taking each day as it comes. The uncertainty is hard to bear.

Thank you so much to everyone who has continued posting comments even though I haven't been replying recently for lack of time and energy. It's very much appreciated. I hope to get back to some sort of normality once Dad is out of hospital and settled in at home.