Our Story

This is a very overdue blog update from me. I have left the updates to John and must say
that I’ve been pretty impressed with him for keeping everyone up-to-date, which
I hadn’t expected.

I’m not going to apologise for saying that we have had a
bugger of a year – almost off the bugger scale.
October last year we were given John’s cancer diagnosis, followed by the
devastating news in November that the cancer is advanced and
life-limiting. Chemotherapy followed from
January to May which became debilitating as the sessions progressed, and then
the months of rebuilding strength and stamina levels which we perhaps weren’t
prepared for. John’s return to work was
more taxing and challenging than we had anticipated. John’s mum had heart surgery in April, which
went well, but she was taken ill and died suddenly in July from liver
cancer. We then cleared the family home in Canterbury
and it is now on the market. John’s
issues at work became more difficult, and as he said in his recent blog, he has
now left and is contemplating what he’d like to do to amuse himself in the
future.

John continues to have 3-monthly oncologist monitoring
appointments. He has had a few aches,
pains and general niggles recently, and we had convinced ourselves that we
would be faced with bad news at today’s appointment. This is very out of character for us as we
are usually positive and optimistic. The
relief we felt when we were told that his PSA level had actually fallen marginally
was difficult to describe. We had
probably put too much pressure on ourselves as we have a holiday booked and had
convinced ourselves that we’d need to cancel if the PSA level had shot up and
urgent treatment was required (stupid, in hindsight).

We have always been happy and content to spend time at home
when not at work, but with the events of the last year we have felt the need to
get away for (even if we say it ourselves) a well-deserved holiday. So tomorrow
we are off to the Maldives where we last visited 27 years ago for our
honeymoon. We intend to do very little
other than chill-out, read, swim, eat, and possibly partake in the odd
cocktail. Right – packing awaits!!

Honeymooners 27 years ago……

Time for a Change

After eleven rewarding years at Framlingham College it is
time for a change. As of today, I have left my job as catering manager at Fram
and am now looking to do something different with my time. I have a few things
in mind, but I will be asking for suggestions at the end of this blog, so get
your thinking caps on.

Before I go over a few memories about my time at the
College, I will just let you know that I am feeling well at the moment. I had
another hormone implant recently, which I have every three months. Apart from
the sharp sting from the enormous needle in my stomach, which the nurse
described as ‘brutal’, this part of treatment is now routine. I have my next
appointment with the consultant next week and although I do get a little tense
about the blood test results, I am hoping that there will be no bad news. However,
if the cancer has started to spread again, I expect I will be put on another
hormone treatment – Abiraterone, which is supposed to be quite effective.

Back to my time at Framlingham. I was sent to the College in
August 2006 on a three month contract with Compass to run the catering
department after the departure of the previous manager. I was actually
reluctant to go, as this was not in my career plan at the time. There were many
challenges to face in attempting to modernise the food offer at the school, but
these were helped by the catering team who were (mostly) keen to try new ways
of doing things. I am leaving the department with an enthusiastic and energetic
team made up from a healthy mix of ‘old timers’ and new recruits. It has been
one of my biggest pleasures to see so many of the staff develop and we have
managed to promote many of the team to more responsible roles over the years.

The College at night.

I would like to say thank you to my whole team for the
support they have given me since my cancer diagnosis and, in fact, since I have
been in the role as manager. I could not have achieved any of the changes
without everyone’s full commitment. So, thank you!

I know this sounds like an Oscar’s speech, but there a few
people that I am going to mention specifically. Firstly, Lorraine. We have
worked together closely for the last eleven years, sharing an office and a
common goal to keep improving what our department offered. I am going to miss
working with her. I hope she achieves all her dreams and ambitions. Knowing her, I know that she
will!

Next is a mention for our head chef, Tash. I have so enjoyed
working with her. Watching her develop as a chef from when she joined as a young
chef de partie to the confident and innovative head chef that she has become.
The College is very lucky to have her.

I won’t run through everyone in this blog as the department
has over 40 team members, but I will also mention Janice who has worked as a
catering assistant at the College for 40 years, since she left school. I think
that is an amazing achievement. Well done.

Just one more, and that is Diana. When she puts her mind to
it, Diana is an unstoppable force! When she heard that Dan and Ellie were
shaving their heads to raise funds for the hospital, not only did she give a
generous donation of her own, but she went around the town’s businesses
‘asking’ for their support and donations as well. When Diana asks you for
something, it is not easy to say no! So, thank you Di, you raised a huge amount
for the hospital. I know they were very grateful.

I hope the rest of the team will forgive me for not
mentioning everyone, but I would also like to say a special thank you to the
team at Brandeston, including Kim, Christine and Janet. Sorry I did not get to
see you as much as I would have liked.

Now, if anyone is still reading, I need some suggestions as
to what to do with my time. Bim is managing to keep me busy with a long list of
jobs to be done. But I don’t think this will keep me satisfied for long and
there is only so much wood that can be cut and stacked.

We are hoping to have a few days away in the sun somewhere
soon, to recover from what has been a pretty difficult year. This could involve
a few cocktails and some rather good food if all goes according to plan. I will
let you know.

This looks nice!

So, new career. What do you think?