It's been a mad few weeks, with VOOM, rads and now the IW festival to contend with!
Stupidity got the better of me, and I decided to enter the VOOM Business Competition just before radiotherapy started, it turned a normal mad week into an extremely crazyily busy mad as a hatter kind of week! However, the plan is to design class programmes for oncology (and other populations!) to provide a safe effective and comfortable environment where exercise can be started or maintained throughout treatment. We suddenly ended up on every press available on the island, and I found myself receiving several facebook messages and emails regarding the idea, and how Id touched on people's hearts etc. It's been overwhelming the support we received. Along came the pitch on Wednesday, my supposed first day of rads which I put off for the sake of the pitch!! An incredible experience pitching in front of the business entrepreneurs, and mingling amongst other business owners also pitching. And being called an inspiration by Peter Kelly himself has to be my highlight! A week went by of waiting to hear the results, and sadly we didn't make it any further, however from over 3000 entries to make the top 80.... Im pretty dam chuffed with that!! And by no means does this mean the plan gets forgotten about.... Still going to do it whether Sir Rich wants to help me out or not!! I just may get rads out the way first!!! Finally radiotherapy started the thursday after the pitch and so far has been fairly easy! Apart from the extra 4 hours of travelling each day, extra fatigue, migraine style headaches, and sunburn.... It's actually so much easier than chemo (something that everyone keeps telling you throughout!). You get to know your rads team really well seeing them everyday, and although they look really young (think im getting old!) theyre all super friendly and caring. The radiation machine is different to what I expected, although im not completely sure what that was anymore! It reminds me of a big eye robot kind of thing from a sci fi movie, which with chemo brain playing havoc recently, can't remember at all what it's called!! So two hours getting there, and so far Ive checked in and not even got bum to waiting area chair before ive been called through to my machine. Takes about 10 minutes to align me on the machine, with my marker tatoos having laser lines going through them to make sure the radiation is hitting the exact same areas each time, for then 5 minutes of treatment, followed by another two hours travel home! Long ass way for 5 minutes!! However the team at Soton General are just as lovely as the St Mary's team. A sunny weekend I got out and enjoyed finally. Although depressing moments of the week came when the summer wardrobe made an appearance, and no shorts still fit me. Ive got two and a half stone to lose again..... And I can't do physical activity yet!! Going to be a long summer I feel!!! Also having a conversation with someone about relationships, and he kindly told me ''I need hair to fall in love'', that's when rock bottom hit for this week and got me thinking.... Surely people see past hair?? It's just what's on your head no?? Surely its what's on the inside not just the outside?! Surely it shouldn't matter?!? Gobsmacked to say the least, I didn't realise there was such an issue with having a shiner, obviously hair and looks mean more to people than a big heart and honesty! One of the main side effects of rads is fatigue. The hardest part to explain to someone.... Im not sleepy tired (yes Id happily go back to bed right this moment in time!) but it's not sleepiness, my entire body aches, it feel like I have zero energy what so ever. Completely fatigued.... Already.... Only another three weeks to go!! Come on body, me and you have been through so much already.... Just a little further to go!! Tuesday I had another ECG at St Mary's, only a couple of weeks since my last one I thought this to be a bit strange. Yesterday I was due my Herceptin appointment up on Chemo Suite. However I got sent back to Oncology to see Doc Marshall to get results of ECG before I'm allowed any more Herceptin. My heart hasn't come back to normal levels that theyd expect following each round of Herceptin, so they've stopped the Herceptin, the drug to help prevent reoccurrence, for the time being hopefully giving my heart a chance to recover. If it doesn't then it'll be more drugs that I'll end up taking! It's kind of now set my head a wash with worry that the drugs meant to help prevent it from coming back have been stopped.... And it's going to come back!! But..... We shall see what happens over the next few months! I came into this whole illness, a fit healthy individual.... Ive now got a dodgy heart, a scarred body and a ton load of drugs everyday.... It all seems a bit backwards!! So a weekend of rads, iw festival and the 10k Race For Life down in Bournemouth on Sunday (yes im a tad of a loon!). Im currently on 5/19 rads, today will be my 6th.... But the bigger battle for the next few days of treatment, will be with the festival reprobates on the ferry..... So if you don't hear from me again, ive gotten my self locked up for pushing a festivaller overboard!! I don't think tents, wellies and I are going to get on this weekend! ️Xxx
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February 2017
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