Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Ruminations

I've had a few complaints! Seems that I left my readers hanging with the last post as I was ready to go, but still in hospital. Well, as with all great stories - the Da Vinci Code, the Lone Ranger - it's good to end a chapter with a cliff-hanger. All was indeed well. My body had righted itself with the help of a bunch of drugs and fluids, and my boys came to collect me first thing Sunday morning. The weekend was a joy actually; the weather was perfect, the family was together, we had a ball. Funny to see how my thirty-odd year old sons reverted to acting like teenagers while they were here without their own partners to keep them under control.
Ruminations is the title of this post - a series of disconnected jottings. Actually the title is very apt given that for a couple of days while in hospital I was actually being fed through the new tube. So the food was steadily going in without any particular effort on my part and I was making like a cow, digesting and having lots of time to think. Ruminating, geddit?
Given the really exciting stuff that occurred last week, I did leave some stuff out. I was told to expect nausea from the chemo and it did arrive with a vengeance on the Wednesday. I had a few technicolor yawns that day, but it seemed to pass quickly - or at least became overshadowed by bigger events.
It transpires that what I actually had was a vasospasm, some kind of allergic reaction to the 5FU drug. Makes an EKG readout look exactly like a heart attack, or so they said and I believe them.
I have received so many cards, messages of support, emails, comments, everybody's kindness is really heartening. Today I received a package from a work acquaintance in China. She has done lots of research and sent me some Chinese herbal remedies. I'm not sure I should take anything else while on chemo (although the chemo-only record is a bit suspect at the moment), but for recovery after and particularly after the surgery they should be great.
I'm back in to work at long last this week and feeling pretty good. The radiation is starting to make me feel fatigued as promised. I think I should be able to share out working from home and working at work for a few weeks while I'm on treatment and be reasonably productive.
So now I have a short term but very important goal - my younger son's wedding on July 8th. It will be a close run thing as my treatments don't finish until June 28th and I may feel a bit grim at the end of them, but that's what a goal is for, right?

1 Comments:

At 5:28 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello Roger, I don't know your e mail address, so I'm sending this this way. I hope you get it. Wanted to say that we are all thinking of you. I see from this great blog, that you seem in fine spirits!! Seriously, I think you should think about publishing this diary!! It's funny, witty, positive (which is so important) and could be good reading apart from the general public (think of Adrian Mole and Bridget Jones), for other sufferers to help make them see a positive attitude. Well done. Lots of love Nikki, Carlos and family.

 

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