Evening What Nowers,
Tony got up with Ollie this morning, let him out in the garden and then as part of his daily ritual disappeared into the downstairs toilet long enough to read War & Peace TWICE OVER.....of course, both dogs all dewy from the garden came scampering up the stairs and wanted up on the bed. Ollie usually gets very excited when lifted up but today he curled up and went back to sleep.....course me waking to lift him up, couldn't go back!! I lay there till 6.45am and got up and ironed my top and made Lara's lunch and then went through my checklist for packing my bag:
book - check
Saw Lara off to summer school and before long I got a text from my sister saying "just going for a wee & I'll be round" now that means I have a good 15 minutes - my sister is disabled (cerebral palsy) and it takes her forever to get up and down the stairs & into her car!) so I put my makeup on, clean my teeth and grab a white hat, go upstairs and wake Sean up to come down and dogsit.....he bleary eyed grabs his quilt and pillow and staggers sleepily downstairs and plops onto the sofa, at that moment I hear her toot outside.
Now after 33 sessions of RT I know the way to the hospital, but not ever driven, I have the habit of saying "we need to go over there" not got the hang of advance notice and "3rd exit" or "turn right"........"that way" is so much easier - hence me printing off directions..besides there were various landmarks along the way that I knew what they were called but Buttercup wasn't allowing me access to!
We arrive an hour early at 10am but already the 3 rows of disabled bays were full. My sister is very unbalanced and can't walk too far so I suggest we just pull over and wait for a bay - thankfully we only waited for 4mins (seemed like 20 tho). Head through the main entrance, through the automated doors and straight into radiology. Sharon took me for my last MRI before surgery (xmas eve) so we walk in like we know where we are going, well we did........but lol, two hospital workers ask if we are ok "yes here for an MRI" "oh you need to go back to the main reception".....now last time we tried to book in that reception we were sent straight round and told to book in at the MRI desk......geez why do they keep changing things! A Queens Polo Shirt wearing worker saw my sister and said, "take a seat in the waiting area and I will book you in".
At 10.30am I take my Granisetron anti-nausea tablet and just before 11am the same polo shirt wearing MRI scanner man (or are they just radiographers) comes to collect me. He asks if I am nervous and I said no, its my 4th MRI but I am worried about them finding a vein for the gandolinium. I get remove my hat and glasses, stood there in my bald magnificence.......get on the bed and get comfy......well as comfy as you can on those "tables" he starts to look at my arms and decides the right one has been "over used" and takes hold of the left. Smacks me a few times - whoaaaaaa fella I am not into that.....then puts a tourniquet on and tells me to clench my fist.......nope still nothing.......smacks my hand a few times and then....."OK lets do the first half of the scan, we'll sort the needle for the contrast after". I decide to double check that the metal bolts in my head are not going to cause me to stick to the roof of the scanner...."bolts? or wire mesh?" he says "erm Mr B******** said I had bolts......there's one here and one here, do you want to feel" "yes please and he pokes my bolt....."hmmm I better check" headphones on and in I slide.
? Sexual Healing..........oh baby ? comes floating through the crappy headphones....I have to strain to hear the music over the noise of the scanner........whirring, drilling, banging away. Another couple of songs come on and then I feel myself being pulled out - I had my eyes closed so it came as a bit of shock.........now there's Mr Polo Shirt wearing MRI scanner man and a nurse......... oh oh.........she's here to stick me!
So, after MUCH MUCH more smacking of my hand (I want my mummy) she tells me it will hurt a lot but I mustn't move my hand!!!!! She wasn't kidding.....it feckin hurt alright but I kept still while nurse mean holds the needle in my hand and Mr Polo Shirt wearing MRI scanner man injects the contrast and wash solution........oooooooooooh feeling the cold go up the arm. I ask if he found out if I had wire mesh or bolts - "no idea" he said......at least they are not magnetic, cos I couldn't feel a pull LOL Slid back in and the noises continue around me (oh they turned the music off while they were sorting my needle out & forgot to put it back on).....so I sing to myself (in my head) the last song I heard on the radio ? this time baby I'll be.........bulletproof ?
All finished and I get to cover my head and go back to my sister. Grab my things and we head back to her car, before we pull away I wash down two chemo tablets with some sparkling water. We take a leisurely drive to Ashlyns organic farm restaurant via Ongar and arrive about 50mins after my poison.....now I've not eaten since 6pm the night before and I am ready for a horse sized steak........but I settle for chicken with roast potato herb wedges, beetroot relish, creme fraiche and a lightly dressed salad. Washed down with water and not my usual cuppa tea!
Don't do much till Tony comes home and then we go to feed the chief instructors birds - fancy pigeons, finches & canaries - I wouldn't go near them......oh the thought of feathers etc in the air freaks me out.
Come home and I make a chicken caesar salad with some new potato's for dinner.......followed by a Tiramasu icecream dessert........oh yummy! My hand is throbbing and aching like mad now.....so going off to watch some TV.
I now have the fun bit of waiting for the MRI results..........joy of joys!
Thought for today:
Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.
John Quincy Adams
FormerMember
Aww debs they were mean to you today x x x Love and angel hugs x x tricia x x
debs i had my ct on monday and was worried about the dreaded NEEDLE nurse looked at left where veins collapsed dropped it looked at right arm and said ah ha... i can get that first time (smugly) and happy days she did!!!!!..... isnt it funny how those little skinny buggers (the needles, not the nurses lol) send shivers down our spines? i mean i have had 8 surgerys and thats STILL the worst bit, strange eh? good luck with your results. liz xxx
Only you could do what you have just done........describe something as horrible as that and make me laugh!!!! I hope you dont mind but you crease me up. You guys on here inspire me.
I do hope the results are what you are hoping for, its December when I get checked out again.
Thanks Bill......actually it makes me smile to know I made someone else smile. Yes it wasn't a pleasant experience yesterday, I am sure there are far worse to come but....if you look hard enough there's always someone a little funny about most things.
Lets face it, this whole cancer malarky is kind of absurd, I just wish the hospital staff would get my humour.....I think they actually prefer grumpy patients LOL
My poor sister Sharon is usually the butt of my jokes, yes I know its not PC to make the pee out of disabled people, but she is my sister and I don't really view her like that.....she just walks wonky ;) as we were growing up both my little sis and I would still "fight" her, just made sure the sofa or bed was behind so that that when we hit her she landed softly LOL I still think she has us to thank for giving her such a "normal" upbringing ;)
Off to read your blog now - I see a holiday is on the cards - JEALOUS MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (oh how trendy did I sound then!)
