[Chirley]

Thank you very much for your replies. I have asked my family to buy me a supply of frozen and canned vegetables. I figure with that as well as pasta and meat I will still eat well but safely. I quite enjoy canned fruit and bananas anyway.

I took a long walk yesterday with one of my dogs (the other one is too old) and unfortunately she was attacked by a bull mastiff and suffered a nasty injury to her mouth. I took her to the vet and she had to have surgery, she stayed in hospital overnight but can come home today. My elderly father is picking her up for me. She is a chihuahua cross named Gidget and I have been very worried about her. Even my cat (Betty) seemed to miss her last night.

I don't have insurance for my pets so I should ask the owner of the mastiff to pay some of the vet bill but even if I have to pay the lot myself it doesn't matter as long as she's okay. I figure if you can't afford to look after your pets properly, you shouldn't have them.

I have made a decision to trust that my haematologist knows what he is doing and that if he doesn't think my neutropenia is an issue, then I have to trust his judgment. This is a leap of faith on my part and I don't readily trust other people. I have now literally and metaphorically put my life in his hands and it feels good to allow myself to to stop trying to control everything in my life. It's rather liberating.

We are having a beautiful sunny warm autumn Easter Friday and I'm going to sit in the sun and read my book.

Best wishes to all of you.