WEEK 3 OF TREATMENT

“The Glass is Half Full”

Monday 1^st February

Another weeks gets under way with a cough & a splutter. Early rise today due to soreness in the throat, but I still managed to shovel down 4 pieces of toast, slavered in butter. A morning breakfast meeting with a colleague from work at Carluccio’s made a nice difference to what is becoming a rather samey schedule each week. Scrambled eggs & pancetta, plus 3 cups of cappuccino & two glasses of orange juice, that should solve the slightly “Bunged Up” feeling J I had a bit of time to kill before the appointment at RBH so I had a wander around town. I may have become slightly less judgemental about people, but my temper at bad manners has now become very short fused. I don’t care if it’s Miss Marple or Sid the Skinhead, if I open the door for you then you say “Thank You”, otherwise a loud “You’re welcome asshole” will follow. Whilst I’m on a roll, why do people who are walking two or even three abreast on a pavement or corridor expect the single walker to get out of their way? & why do they get upset when the single walker keeps his line & barges them? (Miss Marple, this applies to you too!) Final rant, the idiots who drive the buggies at RBH! No idea if they’ve been trained, but the same twat has nearly run me over twice in the last 10 days, & he’s not even been carrying a patient!

Prior to my treatment today I had my weekly meeting with Scary Surgeon. She gave me a dressing down that any Headmistress would have been proud of when I was daft enough to let slip that I may possibly have had some chillies in cooking last week, opps. Other than that she’s actually a pretty darn good person to have on your side. She’s confirmed all symptoms are expected, & prescribed a shed load on new drugs to help with pain control, including liquid Morphine J J J She mentioned that I might not need it yet, but if it hits at 3am on a Saturday morning I may struggle to get a prescription filled. (She’s obviously never been down the Oxford Road on a Saturday night). The dietician was also at the meeting, but she was about as much use as a chocolate tea pot & seemed to spend most of the time looking bored. Her advice was nothing I’ve not heard before & nothing I’m not already trying to put into practise. “Make sure you add protein to homemade soup, meat is a good source of protein” – No Shit Sherlock! (I know she's only doing her best, not her fault) Jo the CNS Nurse took me aside & updated me on all the different Meds, when & why I should take them. 

A couple of pints (Pepsi for me!) with a good mate tonight helped to complete a busy & fairly social day. I may be a tad ill, but I’m not bed bound J

One of the social highlights of the year was announced today – Redingensians Rams Ladies Night. Carol & I have been for the last 6 or 7 years I think. It will be a shame to miss it, but Max will be stepping into my shoes, if not my DJ, to escort his mother for the evening. Hopefully he won’t copy his father’s antics last year when I bounced down the stairs head first! I blame the fact that it was the first time I’d been to a dinner at the club since the new building was finished. My beer soaked brain thought we were in the old clubhouse & therefore told my feet to use the old steps! Shame they’d been demolished some six months previously……… 

Tuesday 2^nd

Tuesdays need a new name, I think Fuckitytwatday fits the bill. I’m going to have to suss out prior that the next three Tuesdays will be shoite, & if they’re not then that’s a bonus. It all started so well too. I met up with three guys who have the same Chemo sessions as me whilst we were all buying breakfast this morning. The Chemo Breakfast Club has now been formed. I’m the youngest by about 20 years, but it’s a really pleasant way to start the day. A 15 minute conversation about lack of bowel movement had me in stitches! Here's the original cast of the Breakfast Club at OBR

The day started to unravel when I went down for my 4.10pm Radiotherapy appointment. Again it was only Julia (Ex Ms Sports Direct Bag) & I waiting. Julia was eventually seen at 5.20pm, I got in a 5.45pm. I let rip massively with the Head Honcho. Whilst I can appreciate delays, there is NO EXCUSE for leaving two tired & ill patients in a waiting room for 90 minutes with no feedback or update about what is happening. The excuses weren't great. Whilst my rant may have been a bit OTT I was getting quite emotional prior to getting in. All it would have taken is for one member of staff, preferably a Senior staff member, not a poor student, to stick their head out of the room & explain what the delay was about. Even with the job that I do I try & treat customers with the respect they deserve. Perhaps the Trustees at the Hospital deem the “customers” unworthy of feedback, but they still ask us to fill in pathetic forms asking if we’d recommend the treatment we’re receiving to family & friends. Now I like my friends, & whilst I don’t see eye to eye with all my family I haven’t quite got to the stage of suggesting a quick dose of cancer treatment to brighten up a dull Friday morning. If the idiots in charge of the Hospital could concentrate on their bloody brilliant staff & think less about Corporate bollox then perhaps they wouldn’t have to worry about commissioning pointless, crass & frankly insulting “We Value Your Feedback” forms. I don’t think they will value the feedback I wrote on the form. They may need to get hold of a copy of Rogers Profanisaurus to translate some of my more choice phrases.

The Chemo seemed to go ok today. A slight panic when a lump of pineapple made my throat contract massively on the acid from the fruit, looks like something else is off the menu

A quick look at the Blog stats shows it’s been viewed in Slovakia & Mexico in the last week, no idea who the heck that could be!

My final task before an early night to bed is to build a spreadsheet for all the drugs I’ve got to ensure I’m taking them as & when I’m supposed to – Here’s the list :

Movicol – Three times daily for two weeks.

Dicloflex – Thee times daily for two weeks.

FasTab – Once daily for two weeks.

Fluconazole – Once daily for 10 days.

Dexamethasone – Two daily, morning & afternoon for two days.

Domperidone – One, three times daily as required.

Liquid Paracetamol – Four times daily as required.

Liquid Morphine – Every 4 hours as required.

Wednesday 3^rd

A much better morning today. 8am appointment with the RT folk & I took in a selection of cakes as I was feeling a tad guilty about yesterday’s rant. Home by 9am & googling “homemade soup” recipes. After making a shopping list the light bulb suddenly went on. Whats the point of buying loads of different ingredients when I can’t actually taste anything anyway? So chicken it’ll be then, as the wise Dietician pointed out, that’s got protein in it.  A quick trip to the Village Butchers in Tilehurst & they’ll have a bag of chicken carcasses for me in the morning, all they want in return is a donation to their chosen charity J

I had a fairly long & supportive call with my boss at lunchtime. He advised that if I hadn’t been signed off work by Ms Scary Surgeon that he was going to tell me to get signed off. The support from work has been great. I know they’re a large company & some of it will be ticking boxes, but I believe that they do actually care about the welfare of their employees.

Final bit of good news for the day, Colts trained this evening for the first time since before Christmas! T’was “Bleedy Cold” but the numbers were good & bodes well for their match against Beaconsfield at OBR on Sunday.  

Thursday 4^th – World Cancer Day

An early start this morning, up at 4.30am as sleep didn’t seem to want to play for some reason. Today is World Cancer Day. The date would normally pass me by in a whirlwind of far more important things deal with. Well at the moment this is about the most important task I’ve ever been given & the little bastard, whilst having a good old go at beating my family & me up, it isn’t going to win! An advantage of getting up at the crack of a sparrows fart is that you can give yourself a good talking to & there’s no one around to tell you you’re talking bollox. I’m now looking at each day on its own merits. Some will be good, some will be boring, some will be total & utter crap. But the big picture is that in around 3 months I’ll hopefully be over this & as a family we’ll be able to get back to some sort of normality (However normal we were beforehand!). For the first time since I was diagnosed I actually had a bit of a weep today. Reading the twitter tags #ADaytoUnite got the ducts working overtime – not afraid to say that, & I felt better for it too. Just glad that the only one to witness it was the cat.

A meeting with the Head Radiographer was positive this morning. I’ve somehow or other managed to put on 2kg this week, despite not being able to taste, or from last night, even swallow properly. They’re happy with the way the treatment is going & can increase pain relief if necessary. Now this is a bit of a dilemma for me as I don’t want to become dependent of pain killers, especially not Morphine. At the moment I’m only taking relief when I absolutely need to. In the past I’ve found it fairly easy to get addicted to things. Fags, booze, coffee, crack cocaine, etc. I don’t want to add pain killers to that list.  I’d been suffering slightly from sickness after Chemo, a friend who also happens to be a Sports Therapist (CF Sports Therapy, check it out) suggested using pressure points to relieve the symptoms. Well, I’m a pretty cynical old Hector & thought that’s just Black Magic. You could have knocked me down with a chicken’s tail feather when it only went & worked! Less drugs required!

A quick trip into the butchers this morning to pick up the Chicken carcasses as promised. A massive carrier bag full & £10 into the Sue Ryder collection tin, a win, win position. Whilst cooking up the stock I had a browse on the net. Reading Chronicle had a good write up of the Rams match last Saturday, using my photo’s without crediting me. A polite email exchange with the Sports Editor got that resolved. I’ve no problem with them using the shots, I just like to see my name in print J

A good day today. Lots of positives. Cooking, listening to music & being a lazy sod.

Friday 5^th – Half Way House.

The session of RT today marks my half way point for treatment, only another 3 weeks to go. Whilst it won’t be over once the treatments are finished, it will be the start of the long recovery process. I’ve been reflecting what has changed over the past few weeks, lifestyle, health, mental & physical. It’s actually quite a lot when I’ve broken it down. I no longer smoke, & I never will again. I don’t drink & I don’t miss it any longer. (I’m sure a few pubs are missing my custom). I can’t eat much, but I’m still managing to put on weight by being careful in what I do eat. Small & often. My mind was totally screwed up three weeks ago. There were some very dark thoughts rattling around at 3am. I’m now in a much calmer place, knowing that whilst the physical stuff is horrible, I can & will get through it. Physically I fully expect to continue to go downhill of the next few weeks. There’s a high chance I’ll lose my voice entirely for a short period. A blessing in disguise for the rugby crowd who have to listen to my inane ramblings on the touch line. Sleep will no doubt continue to be a challenge, but as I’m not working & don’t have to travel far I’m sure I can cope with that. I’ve grown to appreciate the friends I’ve got for the massive & unexpected support I’m receiving. I knew my family would be strong, but I didn’t realise how incredibly strong they’d be. Without the backing & support of Carol, Anna & Max I doubt I would have got to the halfway house. For that I’ll be forever grateful.

The week is ending on positive notes. 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep last night, the most I’ve had in one go for about a month. The cocktail of Morphine & Paracetamol seemed to do the trick. The RT session went well. A good chat to one of the Breakfast Club, I didn’t realise he was in his 80’s & this was his second time with cancer! He looks fitter than I do! Then it was my annual contact lens check up. Somehow or other my eye site has improved in the last 12 months! More “Black Magic” I think. In between appointments I had fun and games in the EE shop. My contract isn’t up for ages, but I thought I’d see how far they’d go to keep me as a valued customer, not very far as it happens. So come upgrade time I’ll be off somewhere else.

The forecast for the weekend is looking biblical so I think I’ll spend tomorrow on the sofa watching the 6Ns. More than half an eye will be kept on the Rams twitter feed as they travel down to Kent to take on Old Elthaniams. A win would be one heck of a boost to the season & we owe them one for the playoff defeat two seasons ago.  I love this time of the year. Being English (well I’m actually Yorkshire first & foremost) I’m used to the ABE’s coming out of the closet. Wouldn’t have it any other way though. I’m not too confident that the boys in the Red Rose will take the title this year. The fixtures list is against them & they’ll have to improve dramatically on the RWC performance. But, we get to watch 15 games of rugby, live, without having to pay Murdoch’s $. Max is due to be playing against Beaconsfield at OBR on Sunday, not convinced it’ll go ahead with the pitches likely to be flooded, but fingers crossed. Who’d be a groundsman at the moment? Awful job having to call games off, but someone has to make the decision & invariably it’s the correct call on the day.

Well, that’s about it for this week.

Thanks for reading this far. To be continued………………..

#shouldertoshoulder