More family news..

Katie does the British 10k London run; gets a first

Oh sorry. Those are two separate headlines. First, Katie heard this week that she has indeed done sufficient to pass her degree - with first class honours. Both her parents are emphasising their own contribution to her remarkable intellect and workrate, charm and interpersonal skills. Katie has always and played hard but, as has been evident since her first major public exams at 16, worked hard too. Well done Katie - a great achievement! (If any readers hear of any Physiotherapy jobs going please let us know!)

As for the 10k run today around London, er, everyone's a winner but someone else might have come first? A few months ago, Katie and her friend from the Uni football team Bren (actually Rachel Brennan) agreed to do something energetic for the end of term and decided on using the British 10k in London. I can report that they did it today and looked pretty good doing it, too. I was delighted that they decided to not simply challenge themsleves in this way but also to raise money for the Royal Marsden. They did this in gratitude for the magnificent treatment I have received and have already managed to raise over £1,000 (believe it - this figure has been validated by the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission). And that's before you go over there and donate! It's easy to so at their justgiving page which, inexplicably, is called "beerbellies hit london" and hit the sponsor us now button. If you're a UK taxpayer, you can augment your donation by 28% painlessly by admitting to being a UK taxpayer. If you're a foreigner - it accepts your money equally gratefully, you just need a card! Great effort, girls.

Luke and his lungs...

.. are now fixed! After the trauma of the right lung operation, and the twice as long as expected stay in hospital, Luke got home to recover just three days before his left lung started to collapse. A couple of pointless days in our local hospital preceded a transfer back to the Heart Hospital in Central London (another ride in an ambulance - Yea!) for more or less the same op on his left lung. Much pain, anxiety and, eventually, relief ensued. I'll spare you the details in case you're eating. He is recovering fast now, and going to be building up his fitness to be ready for his Paramedic course at Uni in Liverpool in September.

Hope you don't mind, but we've decided to cut down on medical traumas for a while; we feel we've been overdoing it.

Keep well yourselves,

Paul