General status update
Hair: Panic-stricken
about FEC 2 and trying to retract itself into its follicles, but I think that
only works with testicles
Nausea demon: Seems
to be arranging some kind of New Year’s Eve party with the
Chemo Muse,
who is busy trying on, and then discarding on the floor, numerous party
outfits. If she doesn’t put them all back on the hangers, then there is going to be trouble.
Sleep, lack of: Currently
acute - I went to bed at 3.50 am this morning, and was up at 8.
Anxiety level (1-10): Rocketing, but I’ll tell you why
tomorrow.
State of mind: See
Anxiety, above.
New Year’s Eve at the oncology clinic turns out to be
much like any other day: although there is still some festive tinsel around, the
holiday lull seems to be over and the room is, as usual, full of bald men, and women
wearing headscarves, or knitted woolly hats – no wigs in evidence.
When I am called in to see Stan, he greets me cordially,
comments on how well I am looking, and asks how things have been since he came
to my rescue during the Great Nausea Meds
Crisis on day 7 of my first chemo cycle, 2 weeks ago.
‘PerfectlyfineMyonlymajorsideeffectssofararethenauseaandsleeplessnessandthewhole
hyperactivitythingdoyourememberyoutoldmeI’dbesurprisedbyjusthowmuchIcoulddo
whileIwashavingchemo,well,youwereabsolutelyrightandI’vebeenworkingamazinglyhard
onawritingprojectI’vewrittenmorethan20thousandwordsnowandI’vealsoraisedabout450
quidforTheHavensofarbygettingpeopletosponsormychemoandIhopetoraisealotmorebytheend..’
I am forced to pause for breath, but before I can
continue gabbling Stan lifts his hand and says ‘Hang on a minute. Did you just say
you were getting people to sponsor
your chemo?’
‘Yes!’ I beam at him, ‘I think it may quite possibly
be the world’s first ever sponsored course of chemo.’
‘I think you are very
probably right there’ says Stan, slowly.
Then he smiles at me ‘Caroline, I’m proud of you for
making something positive out of this – I know how terrified you were of having
chemo’.
I manage not to burst into tears, but it’s a close-run
thing.
Stan, of course, has absolutely
no idea that he has been co-starring in this blog for the last 3 weeks (along
with Hank the Hungarian Visla – it’s a close call as to which of them has the
most fans), nor that several women have already indicated to me that when they
get cancer, they definitely want Stan to be their
oncologist. I decided not to mention any of that – we wouldn’t want him getting
big-headed, or anything.
Today’s YouTube clip is a special New Year’s Song by
the wonderful Northumbrian folk singers the Unthanks; it accompanies pictures of a traditional north of England New Year’s Eve
ceremony, the Allendale Tar Barrel Procession, another fiery event of (possibly
spurious) Viking origin.
Happy New Year!
