Well, it’s the end of cycle three, week three, I have my next chemotherapy session tomorrow. For the last week I’ve felt much like my old self, but things do periodically arise that remind me of the reality of my situation. Last weekend we went to Durham for a work-related conference at the university – my first ‘work-related’ event since my diagnosis. Firstly, Durham is a delightful place, amazingly pretty and such friendly people. The event was a little more challenging, it was the first time that I had been in a setting where networking and interaction (in workshops) was essential, but only a very few people at the event knew my situation. I attended the first session and it was clear that maintaining some reasonable distance from people without sharing was circumstance was going to be hard – pretty every time I stepped back from people to create a little distance, they then stepped into that space; it was even more challenging with one-to-one discussion sessions. The alternative of course was to simple say: “I have cancer and by immune system is vulnerable, so I need to stand back from you.” But, even with the people who knew my circumstance, that immediately led into a conversation about my illness; which is kind, but it’s not what we were there for. So, I managed myself around the sessions, and dipped out of a few, to focus on the actual purpose. Fortunately, when I ran my own session - along with Shirley - we could arrange things in a way that suited my situation; and our session was very well received, so that was a nice bonus for my first piece of face-to-face facilitation since my diagnosis. I’ve got quite a lot more work now lined up for the summer and I’ll still be vulnerable, so I’ll have to do some planning for that, but it will be manageable.
I had a lovely time yesterday, some of my old (in both senses of the word) work friends from my time a Surrey came to visit for the day; ostensibly, it was to celebrate my 60th birthday as they couldn’t make the party last year. We spent time touring Godalming, and I had the chance to share some of the activities of my environmental charity (What Next?) with them. But most of the day and evening were spent chatting, catching up and of course reminiscing about what we did together when we worked with one another; it was a great day and I so appreciate Ron, Bubbles, Hans, Renate, Jonathan, Lizzie and Brenda for taking to the time to visit me, literally from all over the world.
Today, I’ll be gearing up for the next cycle. Even though things have been going very well, I’m not complacent. I am aware that the impact of chemo is cumulative and, although I’m hoping that cycle four will be similar to cycles two and three, I am preparing for the possibility of a more challenging time – just in case. Before that though, we have an early morning ukulele gig at a nursery on Godalming which I must now prepare for …
… just back from the gig and I’m quite worn out. I think all the activity this week has caught up with me, I’m resting for the rest of the day now.
