I've been in my current job eleven years today. I realised this this morning. I have a thing for dates sticking in my mind. It's been an interesting thought, and so much has changed along the way, but I am still very lucky in that I have amazing, friendly, supportive colleagues where I work and I am grateful on a daily basis for that. I also have ex-colleagues with whom I keep in touch and they have become good friends too - can't have enough of those at the moment.
Getting through the morning proved a bit of a challenge, knowing we had the appointment at the Chemo Unit at 2.30. Thankfully the golf started early, so C had something to focus on and take his mind off worrying - although he had had a bit of a down spell first thing (I think a pattern's emerging here; mornings are when he feels at his most vulnerable and emotionally fragile). We also spent a bit of time getting the veg and stuff ready for dinner - as I hadn't done a roast yesterday I was planning to get it ready for them today as Rom was in and Daniel was coming over. It's also a good opportunity to get more decent food into C, which I know is going to get more difficult over the next few months. As both of us were doing veg, it meant that one of us had to use the new peeler I bought at Ikea a while ago - now I am left handed, and cope admirably with the peeler we already have; unfortunately for me it's a dual handed peeler so it's fine for C to use as well, which meant that it was a race to the utensil drawer to see who 'drew the short straw' for the new one - it was me. There then ensued a quarter of an hour of trying to manoeuvre this peeler around some spuds - not a very satisfying activity for me as it ended up with me 'flaking' bits of peel off instead of doing it in a nice spiral as I usually do...mental note for next time: either get to the drawer first or get someone else to do the peeling!!
It was not easy leaving the house to go to the hospital, purely because the Ryder Cup was getting so nail-bitingly tense that we both wanted to watch it! We knew we'd miss the end of it so even having it on the car radio on the way was frustrating. We'd decided to get there early as the parking is a nightmare, especially in the afternoons as visiting time starts at 2.30 and our appointment was at, yep you guessed it, 2.30. We were very jammy however as someone was reversing out of a parking space just as I turned into the car park, so into the space I sailed and felt very smug watching other cars arriving and driving round the car park getting more frustrated. We managed to drag ourselves away from the golf on the radio, and went to get a cup of tea in the restaurant - I made the mistake of deciding to have a sandwich, as I hadn't had any lunch. The packet said it was egg and cress, it looked like egg and cress, but sadly that is where its relationship to egg and cress ceased - it tasted of nothing; I would have enjoyed eating the packet more. I have to admire the talent that sandwich maker has of creating the illusion of an egg and cress sandwich and managing to remove any semblance of flavour. Thank goodness the tea was okay!
We went off on time to find the Chemo Unit, which I am now going to affectionately call the Purple Palace - it's a lovely place, all clean and bright and airy, with comfy chairs (C promptly plonked himself in a mauve Laz-e-boy and started adjusting the seat position) a television discreetly in the background and windows all around. It almost felt like going into someone's new-build lounge, if you half closed one eye and ignored the electric IV pumps. Lovely place - it felt very calming and relaxed, which is how you want to feel, bearing in mind what you're there for. We were given a cup of tea and offered a nice posh biscuit, then met with one of the nurses there, who explained about the drug treatment and went through possible side effects etc, something they have to do so you're aware, although it's unlikely C will get all of them, and hopefully won't get any! She took all his information again (I swear we've done this three times already, but hey) and then gave us the drugs - he has the biotherapy drug, aka The Weapon, some anti-sickness medication and also some special mouth wash as mouth ulcers are a common side effect and this can help alleviate them. She also recommended that we monitor C's blood pressure daily so we went off and bought a machine to do that. We've also got what I call the 'Get Into A&E Free' card, which means that if C has any side effects of symptoms at night or over the weekend he can be seen as a priority case in A&E. Amazing how many doors this cancer can open....
Romilly was home when we got back, so we went through the whole thing with her so she knows what each drug is for and what we need to be aware of. We also tested out the blood pressure machine, which is a weird experience; that cuff gets really tight on your arm!!! We now have everything for C's treatment in a special box, including the diary we need to keep, and start tomorrow.
I was putting the finishing touches to the roast dinner when our lovely friend Deb appeared at the back door. She kept saying 'special delivery', which was nice as she is special (but it was a bit unusual for her to call herself that)...and when I turned around she was carrying a box of stuff. She said that she'd been asked to bring it in by my line manager at work - it was a box full of goodies for all of us, which my fantastically kind colleagues at work had put together; I burst into tears!!! I couldn't quite comprehend that they were so worried and concerned about me and my family that they'd do that, it was so touching and so amazingly generous that I went to bits (how wet, and there was me thinking I was holding it together - I collapse at the sight of such a lovely gift!). There was wine, chocolate, biscuits, popcorn, posh crisps and some DVDs - so so generous of them all and I can't thank them enough for such a wonderful surprise.
And so I had to leave all this activity (leaving Romilly to serve up and hope the dinner was okay and they didn't eat all the goodies from the box before I got back!) and go off to my choir sectional. Sopranos' turn tonight - the screechy lot - in Cowes. It's a really good boost for me to go to choir, even more so now. I also have wonderful friends in the choir, and when we all get together and sing it lifts the spirits like nothing else can. We worked hard on some difficult bits of the songs we're doing for Christmas and made some good progress; we are thrown a bit when we don't have the tune (which sopranos tend to have being the upper range of the choir) so it's extra frustrating!! We are so spoilt usually with lovely easy bits to sing! The two hours went by so fast; can't wait 'til Thursday now.
Home again and C was out for the count - he's been through the mill today emotionally, thinking about tomorrow when he starts taking the tablets. Bring it on....
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