Cancer Leg goes on tour!

Hey, cancer fans. I've not written anything for a while because a) there's nothing to say and b) I've been on a brilliant holiday to Rome and Pompeii, courtesy of my lovely husband who organised it as an anniversary/birthday/Christmas present.

Unlike my best half, I absolutely love travelling. I would honestly go anywhere in the world. Even a crappy place broadens the mind and offers new knowledge. I particularly love experiencing different cultures so you can imagine my delight at the huge disparity between ancient and modern day Rome (modern Rome being largely rude and self-absorbed)! Ancient Rome is absolutely fascinating to me. I didn't do history beyond the third year of Secondary School, largely due to a monotonous and begrudging teacher called Mr Hurst whose aim seemed to be making history as boring and academic as possible. It's only as an adult that I have become interested in it, and even then it's only living history - that is to say, history about how people lived and behaved. 

We saw our fair share of marble busts in Italy (the statue type, not the girly type) and it held very little interest for me. You see one, you've seen them all. What really got my imagination firing was our visit to Pompeii and other places of historic importance. To sit alone in a 2000-year old, desolate and well-preserved amphitheatre, looking at the spot where gladiators used to slay each other...it was both eerie and peculiarly peaceful. Sitting in silence on the same slabs of concrete that the masses shared, it was hard to imagine the roar of the crowd and the bloodied, bloodthirsty atmosphere. I'd like to imagine, pacifist that I am, that had I lived back then, my compassion would have been as it is now and I would have refrained from joining the crowds at the amphitheatre. It's easy to make the assumption that they were a dim people who didn't know better, but the evidence is quite to the contrary. Some of their inventions and systems were on a par with those we use today. So why would people get their kicks from watching others be forced to kill or be killed? Horrifyingly I suspect that if gladiatorial fights existed today, the crowds would flock to them just as they do to public executions in the Middle East. The way humans behave to other living creatures - it makes me feel I was born too soon. Although who's to say things will be better 2000 years from now?

Anyway, I would highly recommend a visit to both Pompeii and the Colossium (although I would skip both audio tours as they are very much lacking on information). The Colossium was also really fascinating but a lot more crowded and in a far worse state of repair:

Colossium:

Pompeii Amphitheatre:

My deliciously thin Marinara pizza; many were eaten, diet is now underway:

You'll notice you can't see me properly in the photos because I still haven't told anyone about Cancer Leg, as it's now affectionately known. I'm back on Tuesday for the dressing clinic and I have managed to get my results appointment moved to Tuesday too. Should it prove positive for spread of cancer cells and requiring further treatment, I may have to tell those close to me but for now I will remain anonymous. It makes me seem slightly more interesting than I actually am (although, I am aware, somewhat more pretentious too!). 

On the subject of Cancer Leg, we did a hell of a lot of walking in those six days and my marvellous husband insisted on cleaning the wound and changing my dressings every other night. The good news is that I have no limp at all now, but the bad news is it doesn't seem to be healing where the stitches burst. You can still see through to the muscle (I want to touch it but have refrained so far - not many people can say they've touched their own muscle!), and each bandage change would reveal strings of yellow fat adhered to the dressing. Here are the photos of how it's healing:

Calf:

Thigh: