Other than a sore throat, the side effects have been as described before with my poor memory and attention span being my biggest concern, particularly going forward when I return to work.
Positivity has definitely been my approach since my last chemo, however 'the blues' have crept in on occasions where my emotions again seem exaggerated. I have felt overwhelmed by the little acts of kindness that we take for granted, such as someone opening door for me, but equally I have felt 'devastated' by even the most minor of things, such as queue jumping or bad manners!
Before you all say 'poor Steve' for puting up with this,(lol) please do note,that he has had a tummy bug and has felt a little unwell for a couple of weeks, and he is worst and most irritable 'patient' ever, so we have not been a good combination!
I'm not sure this has anything to do with my symptoms, but there was another event that left me perplexed which I feel compelled to share; I became the frustrated 'victim' of road rage last week, where my only 'crime' was to slow and stop my car to avoid running someone over. The result being; the 'idiot' behind me dangerously overtaking me and stoping and 'fronting' up to me!!
The guy obviously hadn't seem the man that was in the middle of the road, and ignoring my explanation and any attempts to pacify him, he told me that it wasn't his problem and that I shouldn't have stopped my car as he had his 'kid' in the car. When I told him how ridiculous that was, he threatened that 'It was a good job I was a woman!'
Enough said about that, but what I can say, even the tough cookie that I am, the confrontation shook me up and in seeking care and concern from Steve, I became even more perplexed by his response (questioned how I was driving) than the drivers!! I see an Amazon purchase coming up 'men are from Mars and women are from Venus' unless someone out there has a copy I can borrow!
Anyway, all is good, these are just little insights and otherwise I have kept myself busy with appointments, my blog and family and friends time.
I have had two sessions of 'Reiki' at the Dunstone and Bennett Complementary Centre. This is a small charitable organisation offering therapeutic treatments to those undergoing treatment for Cancer at NGH. I have never experienced Reiki before and found it very relaxing. During my second session I felt the effect more. Booby Jo experienced more of a dramatic effect than I did. The effects are reported to be accumulative and I am booked in for 4 sessions, so I will keep you posted.
You may recall in a previous post that I went to a Breast Cancer Ball last October, well; the Dunstone and Bennett Centre was a beneficiary of the funds raised there. Mandy Waite, hosted this event and little did I know at the time, that she was to become a most excellent Booby buddy!
Last week, I went to Colchester to visit my Sister in Law (SIL), Susan and my lovely nieces, Lucy(10),Alannah(8), Gracie(5)and Scarlett(4)(LAGS). They are moving to France shortly and that was the last time I will see them for a while. My visits to 'LAGS' are always a 'love fest', however this was the first time they had met 'Vivian' and seen me without hair, so I wasn't sure how they would be. There was really no need to worry… I was met with even more love and curiosity.
I'm always very conscious of the effect that my hair loss/illness has on others and find myself naturally offering reassurance, and dealing with well meaning 'sympathetic', sometimes shocked looks. This is fine, as quite often when people find that I'm ok with being bald, it makes people more comfortable around me!
I had a compliment from a lovely sales assistant at Laura Ashley they other day about my hair. Of course it was 'Vivian', and instinctively I introduced her as my wig to the sales assistant.She was initially embarrassed, but having assured her that this was the ultimate compliment, we chatted for ages!
'LAGS' however are in a league of their own, they were all comically curious about my bald head and kept asking to see it and touch it. They even insisted that my brother, John see it during a Skype conversation from Tanzania.
Of course, they also tried on Vivian and I felt so much joy in my heart watching them. They made me feel special 'just the way I am' and this unconditional love is my best treatment so far! Well done to my Bro and SIL/BF for raising such lovely children.
I left Colchester, with a spring in my step and 3 portraits drawn by the girls of 'moi' wearing 'Vivian'.
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