Today is a very auspicious day for me - I had my last round of chemotherapy. It is very early days yet but I actually feel OK. I feel a bit flushed but not sick and I enjoyed dinner this evening with all of my taste buds in tact. What more can I ask for?
As usual, the nurses in the Bundaberg Hospital oncology day ward were nothing but wonderful and presented me with a stunning purple orchid before I left to mark the occasion. I'll miss the girls up there - I see them every week and have spent hours with them during my treatment days. They have become a bit of a security blanket for me. I know that makes me sound a bit needy but during this time they have been the people with all the answers and I've grown to depend on them so much.
On a more positive note (there is always a silver lining), I have had the PICC line removed from my arm so I can now shower without a plastic bag on my arm and that I can assure you has been a long time coming. Hopefully, I will be able to sleep on my side tonight and not flat on my back which has been a necessity in recent months. It's amazing how we take these small things for granted.
I just realised that I will now be able to go swimming and for those of you have read my earlier blogs, I can get back into my new sexy swimming cossies that I bought to celebrate my sea change to Bundaberg. Life is getting back on track!!!! The boogie-boarding may have to wait until the warmer months but I think I can manage the local heated swimming pool.
Before I do this I may have to invest in a bathing cap because I don't want to be scaring small children with my bald head - actually it has a bit of a fluffy thing happening and looks scarily like a baby orangutan. For the first time in my life the only body hair problems I've got before donning my bathers is the hair on my head. Makes a change from shaving, waxing, depilitory creams and bleaching doesn't it? In hindsight, I will never complain again about hair removal treatments but will gladly embrace them and enjoy the feeling of having body hair ripped from my skin with hot wax because I now know the alternative is far worse.
The chemotherapy is the first 'therapy' in the line-up with my next challenge being radiotherapy which starts in mid September and goes for six weeks. In the words of Scarlett O'Hara in 'Gone With The Wind' though, "I shall think about that tomorrow."
For now, I am going to enjoy my time not having to go for Chemotherapy and think about my new townhouse which, if all goes to plan, settles in early September. The move into my own apartment is a big milestone in my journey towards independence and I am getting very excited about this. It is scary to be doing this on my own without Alan but I know I can do it, I just have to stay strong and focused and learn to ask for help from family and friends. What I've discovered since moving back to Bundaberg is that my family want, and are happy, to help me so sometimes I have to be a little less independent and accept their assistance.
Iit will be wonderful getting all my own possesions arounds me again and eating what and when I like and watching anything I like on TV, having the dog inside with me, grocery shopping, sleeping in. On the downside though I will have to do my own washing and ironing. I guess not every cloud has a silver lining after all! (Thanks Mum)
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