Frozen
After consuming lots of red wine and a lovely homemade pizza on Friday night after our hospital trip, Saturday saw a visit from my brother and niece, Scarlett.
It's the first time I've seen Dan since my re-diagnosis and it was lovely to see him. He's finally had a haircut!! Scarlett cooked dinner for us (lamb kebabs and a tomato dipping sauce), it was yummy...
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| Rolling the kebabs |
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| Yum |
A lot more red wine was consumed. Not great for the hot flushes.
Speaking of which, mum's friend Carolyn bought me a 'cool' pillow which is filled with gel and it's great on my neck at night when I've got a sweat on!!
Guestlist?
Monday saw the monthly trip to the hospital for my jabs. My appointment was at 12.30pm and I was hoping I'd be done by about 1pm (as the jabs only take 10 mins'ish) so I was planning on going back to work afterwards.
Mum and dad came to pick me up from work at 12pm and we arrived up at the Rowan Suite about 12.20pm. I went straight through to the treatment waiting room and told one of the nurses I was there (you sort of have to 'check in' with any of the nurses that are wandering around the oncology treatment ward). She said, 'that's fine Kate, take a seat'.
I'd told mum and dad to bring their lunch (I had mine) in case we had a bit of a wait...it was a good job we did!
It soon ticked around to about 12.45pm and I decided to have my sandwiches (I was really hungry)... by 1.15pm (and after lots of other people going through to treatment) I thought I'd better find out what was going on... I caught one of the nurses while she was back and forth and said, 'ooo, my appointment was due at 12.30pm, just wanted to know if things were running behind today', to which she replied 'yes, there's a bit of wait' and looked a bit impatient, so that was the end of that.
During this time I got chatting to an old man opposite, one of the nurses had been in to take our obs (blood pressure, pulse, temperature and weight) and we were both looking at the weight conversion chart on the wall. He was on his own. He lost his wife three years ago but still sees his two sons and daughter in laws. It was such a shame that he was at the hospital on his own though. He was due to be seen at 12.30pm too. At about 1.45pm, he got called through. I was still waiting.
Finally, about 2.10pm the same nurse I'd checked in with came to see me and said 'sorry about the wait Kate, do you want to come through'. She then told me that they'd missed me off the list!!
Apparently, she ticked off that I'd arrived, then the person who was after me had called to cancel their appointment, so their name was crossed out, then my nurse had gone on her lunch break and the others thought they were working down the list 'after' the person who's name was crossed off and hadn't realised that I hadn't been seen! Jeez.... It's a good job my nurse came back after her lunch break as who knows what might have happened.
Anyway, I was meant to go through to my usual room, but as I walked by there was someone in there (who had looked quite poorly in the waiting room), so we just had to stand in the middle of the chemo room while the nurse printed out my blood forms for my next appointment, which felt a bit awkward.
We then walked off the ward and into one of the consultation rooms, in fact, that one in which Tim and I had met with Dr P last week! Mum came in with me and the nurse looked at my obs and then the second nurse came in to confirm everything. They have to double check the dosages and what I'm being given and I'm asked to confirm my name and date of birth.
She asked me which one I wanted first and I asked for the Zoladex implant. That was fine, but I was convinced she was going in on a side angle - it was all a bit weird. Then the Denosumab. Ouch, that really does sting.
Ooo, forgot to mention, before the second nurse came in, I had to go through a list of questions, one of which was about my throat and I did tell her that this past week I'd had a similar feeling in my throat to that when I'd had the radiotherapy, that is feels like I can't swallow properly, but mainly when I'm drinking hot drinks. Weird! She then said, it might be thrush! Er, what?! How lovely... She said it is a symptom of all the drugs I'm taking....great!! So, after my jabs she managed to speak to Dr P in between his appointments and he prescribed something for the 'thrush' and also my Zoladex for next month (as I won't be seeing him before I have my jabs).
The nurse then said, 'I'm not sure if you're interested or not, but there is a breast cancer care weekend for women under 45 with secondary cancer in May'. Hmmm... She explained that it's up in Manchester and they pay for the hotel and food and everything and there are group sessions and break out sessions you can attend e.g. relationships and communication, wellbeing sessions, intimacy, palliative care, and, the one that really struck me: 'Adjusting/adapting to a life limiting illness'.
Reading that hit me like a ton of bricks to be fair. What a horrible thought, but, in reality, I suppose that's what I need to do! It goes on....'This session aims to provide a safe environment for you to discuss the impact your diagnosis had had on your plans and ambitions for the future and how this has affected you and your relationships.' Sigh.....
I'm not sure if I want to go or not, am keeping an open mind, but I'm verging more on 'no' at the moment.
After all that I finally left the hospital at 2.36pm! Crikey... I was so emotionally drained that I didn't go back to work!
Nearly time for holibobs
For those of you that nagged me, I have bought travel insurance with all the medical cover required - it cost us £66 for the week! Although one quote I had was over £500 which is more than our flights and accommodation cost combined!
But I'm looking forward to Timmy and I spending some time together away from the realities of what we're dealing with and drinking lots of white wine... Expect to see pictures like this:
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| Viva Espana |
Dressing up
Wednesday eve, Susie, Helen, Jen and I all got to model at the Stripes fashion show. We had such a laugh quaffing pink fizz before hand, getting all dressed up and having our make up done. It's always so nerve-wracking when people are staring at you, but after the first two outfits and walk down the catwalk I got into the swing of it. It was lots of fun.
I loved a couple of my outfits (er, and I may have been back into Stripes today to buy them! #heybigspender). The girls that work there are so lovely and always look after us well, and Stripes are huge supporters of Breast Unit Events and undertook a raffle on the eve (which mum helped sell tickets for) to raise money for the Unit.
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| The birds |
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| Rocking the jeans and jacket look |
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| Jumpers a go go |
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| Radana and Demi from Stripes and H |
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| Can I ever be serious? |
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| Yep, loved it, bought it |
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| What a pair of knobs |
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| Yep, bought this too! |
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| Besties in pink |
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| All the 'models' in our first outfit |
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| Back in our normal togs |
Mo Money, Mo Problems....
Thursday morning before work, I went to visit the a financial adviser to talk about pensions. I've got a fair whack in my various pensions and wanted to know if I can draw it out as, sadly, I'm unlikely to reach pension age! (sad face).
I explained the situation and, as always happens when you tell someone you have incurable cancer, their face drops!
Anyway, the answer is basically 'no'. Boo, The earliest I can claim my pension is 55, so that's my new challenge to myself - try and live until 55!!! hahahaha. He also explained some stuff about changes to the pension rules and what Tim, or whoever I nominate in my pensions, can do with them etc... It's always so flippin' complicated. I like to think I'm a fairly intelligent human being, but when it comes to pensions, it's a complicated business!
However, I can take money out of my ISA's whenever I want, and I've got a fair chunk squirreled away in those too.... Don't worry, I'm not gonna go crazy and buy a Porsche (hmmm, or maybe I will, I've always loved the Porsche Boxster - ding dong)
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| What dreams are made of.... |
As mentioned above, I have already started some spending and purchased several items of clothing today - and I don't really 'do' clothes - I've never really understood fashion, and most of my clothes come from H&M, Oasis and Warehouse (although I've always loved a fancy jeans and have numerous pairs...yipppeee), but I fancied treating myself.
So enough inane rambling for now and I'll see you on the other side of our trip to Spain....
Living La Vida Loca baby.... WHOOP. xx
Timmy B you are a LEGEND!!!
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