A booby is a seabird with blue feet

Lady of the LINAC

2022-05-28T14:25:00Z

For my new workout, I have started using dumbbells. These are extremely heavy: there is an 8 kilo weight attached to each end. And I have been using them every day, for 3 days. This would be really, really impressive - if I were lifting them vertica...(read more)

Radiotherapy - Planning Scan

2022-05-25T14:39:00Z

The planning scan for my radiotherapy treatment is done, thankfully. The session involved me having to clamber onto a metal (and surprisingly narrow) ‘bed’, covered in the customary paper sheet. This bed then has to be specially ca...(read more)

Don't worry, it's only an electron gun!

2022-05-23T08:25:00Z

A radiotherapy machine is properly called a ‘linear accelerator’, but I’m not too keen on that name. For me, those two words immediately bring to mind flat-lining, possibly at high speed. (I must squash that thought.) Almost ...(read more)

Deep breath, deep dive, deep thought

2022-05-21T14:59:00Z

Before radiotherapy, I’m getting some proper breathing practice in. Or more accurately: not-breathing practice. And I’m trying to improve my technique with one ( rather stiff) arm held above my head, as I’ll be expected to do this i...(read more)

Sorry, Snow White ... I may have some bad news for you.

2022-05-17T10:00:00Z

As I have been getting significantly more (and worse) insect bites again lately, I began to wonder what the reasons for this might be. I know chemotherapy can simply make a person’s skin over-sensitive and their immunity lower. And of course go...(read more)

Hair Story

2022-05-15T08:27:00Z

My hair doesn’t promise anything good. It has become too strange. It looks all worn out, like grass in a well-trodden football field. There are random whorls of hairs, of various lengths, pointing in different directions. I have never (yet) see...(read more)

Breathing Lessons

2022-05-14T06:38:00Z

To prepare for radiotherapy, I recently discovered that I’ll need to be able to hold my breath. This is especially important because the laser is going to be focussed on my left side, near my heart. Originally I had been told that 15 seconds wo...(read more)

So long, seventh saroma!

2022-05-05T20:14:00Z

My seventh saroma will hopefully be my very last one. Because I have had more than enough of these, thank you. Otherwise I may soon receive the gift of a steroid injection in my chest cavity. Which doesn’t sound too lovely, to be honest. Even ...(read more)

Breast bombs (or 'saromas')

2022-04-25T12:08:00Z

After my single mastectomy a month ago, I have had five saromas. This is not particularly unusual either. Mine have all been large and painful. The grand total of the combined liquid comes to almost exactly two litres. All lined up, the actual p...(read more)

Happy Easter, maybe

2022-04-17T16:09:00Z

My fifth saroma is the size of a pretty large Easter egg. And I am afraid that it may just 'burst open' today (before my next appointment). Which hardly bears thinking about. Even if I would love to be instant...(read more)

Series of serious saromas

2022-04-14T15:33:00Z

Having a series of saromas (on one side of my chest, after a single mastectomy) has made me consider the size of what I have lost. The breast must have been around 500 ml, if the amount of liquid which has been filling the space is anything to go by....(read more)

Saroma, saroma, saroma ...

2022-04-13T14:53:00Z

As feared, I have a new ‘saroma boobie’. The fourth one, in less than a month. Looking at this really generously, it might be considered a special skill? I’m able to create a pretty convincing boobie-like structure, approxima...(read more)

Ooh, another saroma? Thank you so much, but ...

2022-04-12T10:55:00Z

My saroma (in the place of my left breast) has now grown to the size of its real twin. Yet I’ve said what I assumed was a final goodbye to my genuine left breast once before surgery, then to two imposters since! Another farewell – the fou...(read more)

Playing it by ear

2022-04-06T14:44:00Z

My original tumour measured over 9 cm x 4 cm x 4 cm. This made it the size of a quite a large mouse. It even had a sort of tail, in my lymph nodes. Mid-treatment my tumour measured about 2.4 cm x 2.3 cm x 2.4 cm. So it was then about the size of may...(read more)

Tis but a scratch …. Just a flesh wound

2022-04-02T17:57:00Z

The Dark Knight in Monty Python loses his left arm; I have lost my left breast. Presumably, his left lymph nodes are removed at the same time, as they were for me. So we share a similar experience then. Well, that’s unfortunate...(read more)