Woke up at 04:00 and can’t get back to sleep. It happens now and then and it’s annoying. Have eaten a banana and had a cup of “sleepy” tea and am waiting for it to take effect. At least tomorrow is Sunday and there’s no plan. Monday we have to be at the hospital for Mr B’s blood test at 08:15 which means an early start as he can’t get ready quickly. If all is well he can have his immunotherapy treatment so fingers crossed. He has been so tired lately. We visited the nearby town this morning, had breakfast in a cafe, went to the opticians and a bakery to buy pistachio cookies (my favourite!). A new supermarket is being built where the car parking area used to be and the one disabled space was occupied so we had to park on the edge of the centre. I was glad I’d thought to put the wheelchair in the boot or we wouldn’t have got very far!
Early evening we drove to a cafe-bar in a neighbouring village where a friend was playing an acoustic set. Lots of golden oldies, which was nice! We ordered hot chocolate and chocolate cake - Mr B mustn’t drink alcohol and I was driving. It was fun to get out in the evening for a change. A couple we hadn’t seen for ages came over to talk to us. We caught up with family news: they have just become grandparents and my grandson is 8 years old today. She is into alternative health and, when the talk turned to Mr B’s health, I didn’t know what to say when she described cancer treatments as “horrible”. I know the side effects can be difficult but I’m certain that it’s chemo and now immunotherapy that keep Mr B going. I don’t think homeopathy would’ve helped much…. Each to their own, I suppose!
I got very anxious in the week. Mr B had an telephone consultation booked with his rheumatologist on Tuesday morning at 11:55. He had polymyalgia rheumatica in 2019 which has been in remission since 2020 but he still takes a very low dose of steroids and has 6-month check-ups. The last couple of years these have been by phone as we have to travel to Granada for them otherwise, which is a 3-hour round trip. I take the phone call as the consultation is in Spanish and I’m fairly fluent, whereas Mr B struggles a bit with anything complex language-wise these days. I’d collected a copy of the blood and urine tests from the doctor’s surgery and had all the paperwork ready by the phone. But the call never came. I waited until 15:00 then gave up. (For many people here the working day stops at 14:00 or 14:30.) That left me feeling anxious - it doesn’t take much these days! The next morning I rang the hospital switchboard and, once I’d got through (“you are number 16 in the queue, please continue to hold”…) they gave me 2 numbers for rheumatology. I rang 33 times but got no reply. Switchboard said to “keep trying”. Eventually I found an option on the hospital website to send an email query so did that and got on with the day, but feeling super-anxious. The following day, the rheumatologist rang. I was doing some grocery shopping so didn’t have the prepared paperwork to hand. He’d had a busy morning, etc.etc, the blood and urine tests weren’t too bad, showed the polymyalgia is still in remission and he’ll renew the necessary medication for another year. Having spoken to him, I immediately felt calmer. Mr B doesn’t really get it, he gets a bit apprehensive before oncology appointments and scans, but in general has always been a “go with the flow” kind of guy. I’m anything but!
I think I might try getting some sleep now!
