About… 2006 (Newsletter)

2006 has been a mixed and eventful year in the Boraston household!

The year kicked off with Peter being admitted to Guy’s for another Stem cell transplant, however, unlike the previous two, this was from a matched donor, and was considered the best chance of beating the lymphoma that has bothered him for the last seven years. All went well, and he was discharged after a month. PET scans showed that there was still some residual disease, but in April a phenomenon known as Graft Vs Host Disease kicked in. This is where the incoming immune system becomes active in attacking the host cells, and, more importantly, the rogue Lymphoma cells. This continued for about 3 months, at the end of which there was no obvious disease, and only a query about some activity in a tonsil which was thought to be normal metabolic activity. Sadly it wasn’t, and the disease returned, leading to some more immediate treatment (radiotherapy on his neck) and the introduction of some donor lymphocytes to trigger the GvHd. As this is written, we are waiting for that to kick in. Meanwhile his blog, started last January, continues to run at www.boraston.net/blog. Other good news during the year was that he had a contract extension at work for another 2 years until September 2008, working at Portsmouth – the family have just about got over the shock of having him at home full time!

Felicity stopped work at Fareham College and now helps run a local coffee shop and bistro, 3 days a week. This is a stop-gap while she gets a new venture off the ground, Wedding and Event Planning and Management. She has her first commission next year, organising a Wedding Fair for our Church, with the theme “Putting the Church back into Weddings” She has continued with the magistracy, sitting on both adult and youth benches, and despairs at the state of our Criminal Justice System, and the circumstances of some of the people (particularly in youth) that appear before her. She had some bad news earlier in the year, when her father was diagnosed with a serious illness, and sadly he died in September.

Vicki announced in July that she and Tom are expecting a baby next February. They live about 3 miles away, with Max, their black Labrador puppy, so I expect we will be seeing a lot of the baby! She graduates this July, so she will have a busy time juggling baby and university coursework for 6 months.

Katie enjoyed her gap year at home although not without its ups and downs! She had an enjoyable (and profitable!) month gaining work experience with Logica-CMG, living and working in London, and continued working at a local hotel for the rest of the year. She started her course in Marketing and Event management at Bournemouth University in October. Although she found the first month a bit difficult, adjusting to her new
surroundings, she has now settled in to student life with great gusto and is already making plans for accommodation and sharing next year!

Rachel is coming to the end of her time at Kings in Winchester, having gained two GCSE in the summer (year 10), and is now studying the subjects (English and RE) to AS level this year, along with the rest of her GCSEs. She was a member of the school’s Business Enterprise team, and they won the local heats, losing only when they came to the county final. She is looking forward to starting at Peter Simmonds’ 6th form college next September.

So a mixed year, but we go forwards to 2007 with the motto “Onwards and Upwards” and wish you a very Happy Christmas and a successful New Year!

With love and best wishes from Peter, Felicity, Vicki & Tom (and bump), Katie and Rachael