Saturday Dilemma

Photo Copyright: Maggie May

First of all I would like to apologise to those people who couldn't leave a comment on my last post because of a Blogger glitch. I only knew about it because they asked my brother to pass on a message about their difficulty.

I hope Blogger is working again now.

You might be wondering about the little owl photo on this post.

It was brought round by my friend and neighbour this afternoon.

At first I thought that it was a little bag or purse with a key ring on it. However, when I opened it up there was a strong nylon bag inside. That is ideal for unexpected shopping journeys. You know how easy it is to pop in for a small item and then go on to buy six. Then you notice you haven't sufficient room in your bag.

I am always doing that. Now I can clip this little owl onto my bag and never have to come home with a plastic bag again.

So I am well pleased. I do seem to have some lovely friends, don't I?

I hear some funny things while waiting in the hospital for my treatment to start.

Today I found myself sitting in a corridor with another lady while they prepared the two rooms for our radiotherapy.

The lady started telling me she'd just started having the treatment after a long session of chemo. I remarked that she was extremely lucky to have kept her hair.

She replied that it was a wig.

I was truly amazed because I can usually tell when some one is wearing a wig and this one even seemed to be mottled with grey. Very natural looking.

Anyway, she went on to inform me that while she had been having chemotherapy, another lady had asked her if it was her own hair or a wig and when she answered that it was a wig, the older lady asked if she could borrow it for the weekend while she went to a wedding because it looked so natural.

What a cheek. It would be as bad as someone asking to borrow a set of teeth or a false limb. Just a bit too personal.

We both had a chuckle about that.

It was my oldest granddaughter's 9th Birthday this week. I can hardly believe that she only came to this country five years ago after living in Japan from birth. She has done extremely well with all her English subjects.

However, she is feeling a bit sorry for herself at the moment as she is being taken by her mother to another city every Saturday to a Japanese school for the whole day.

It is the only way that both children can even attempt to keep up with their appropriate school year with reading and writing in Japanese.

The positive thing will be that both children will be fluent in both languages when they become adults and most likely will end up with good jobs because of this.

The downside is that they are doing a six day school week when everyone else is only doing five and they will miss parties with their friends and outings with their dad.

I can remember when I was only twelve and my teeth were overcrowded and my dentist wanted to make more room for them by extracting four good teeth. My mother left me with the choice and I obviously chose not to have the surgery.

I later told my mother that I wished she had made me have it done as my teeth grew crooked.

This seems to be a similar case with the girls and their Saturday school.

They might be glad of the extra tuition on a Saturday if they end up with good jobs as bilingual English/Japanese speakers.

What do others think about this?

Is it good or bad to cram children's schooling with an extra day?

Flare-ups

Photo Copyright: Maggie May

I expect that you are all wondering what it is like to go through radiation treatment.

I can honestly say that it is not as bad as chemo...... not by a long chalk.

However, when I went through chemo, I was ill for a week or so and then started to pick up each day until the next infusion.

Going everyday for radiation treatment might not be as harsh as that but it can make one feel extremely tired all the time and can cause flare-ups of pain.

As my coccyx is involved, it can get really painful. Bone pain can be excruciating so I am still on some meds for it but trying to cut down regularly depending how I feel.

The department I go to is very busy and people of all ages come here from miles around. I'm lucky that I don't have far to go.

The saddest thing is to see little children going through chemo and there are also many younger people than me and a good few are brought in on trollies. This all makes me feel I shouldn't be grumbling.

One day my appointment was cancelled because one of the machines broke down. I have been assured that I will get an extra session at the end of my treatment so there are no problems concerning that.

No one has any idea what is going on in my body. I have been told to concentrate on getting through the treatment and live for the day.

Nothing about my life is certain. I could make myself ill with worry. However, most of the time I am too tired to think too hard or go beyond today.

I do a little job or two each day. Sometimes I can only manage to clean one shelf of the fridge. Other days I romp through the house or go for a walk with no problem. There is no rhyme or reason for this...... no way I can tell in advance how I am going to be. I tend not to make any really important arrangements because I might not be able to keep them.

I am drifting through life and trying not to care.

However, I am glad to be alive.

The sunflowers were brought round by Hetty, a good friend. They lasted a long time.

They were bright and cheerful in my front room.

I am over halfway through the treatment now and hoping non of the terrible side affects (that I had to sign a disclaimer for) will happen to me.

By the end of this month I should have finished the treatment but it will go on working for a month after that. I could feel tired during that month too. Not sure what state I will be in by then. Only time will tell.

I feel I have lost my summer and am dreading the winter weather coming round so soon.

Chicken and Flowers

Photo Copyright: Maggie May

Last week I went for the first two of my 30 sessions of radiotherapy.

I didn't really know what to expect but it seems that I just have to lie very still on my stomach, after being lined up by humans .... then the machine takes over. It moves over my head and turns round and sometimes it seems dark and sometimes not. I have no idea what is going on, and can only hear the different noises that the machine makes as it goes its own way. Nothing hurts and there is no feeling when this beam of radiation is being shot into precise parts of my body. As long as I keep still all is well. If I need them to stop, then I can raise my hand and then they will interrupt the cycle. There is someone watching me all the time and obviously someone must be in control of the machine, behind the glass screen.

Before the first session, I waited half an hour in the waiting room, but last time I was kept waiting a good deal longer than that, so it does take a chunk out of the day and its best to take a book.

The department is 2 stories down in the basement so there is no daylight coming in or fresh air and whatever they use instead of this, makes me very sleepy.

When I came home from the very first session, my husband told me that I'd had flowers delivered by hand while I was away.

I had no idea who they could have been from until I opened the little card. It was from Denise Nesbitt. Some time ago, before I knew about my tumour on the coccyx........ Denise told me that one of her chickens was leaving home and heading for Bristol and could she stay with me?

I had no idea why she'd want to leave the beautiful countryside where she'd been living........ but was very pleased to receive Chicken Nesbit into my home. You can catch up with her arrival, HERE.

Chicken Nesbitt has been looking out of my dining room window since then. Occasionally she falls down onto the netting on the rabbit run and I have to untangle her feet.

Anyway...... she seemed to sense that the flowers were from Denise and her other chickens and she had to go and have a look and sniff them!

They are beautiful flowers, Denise, and I was truly overwhelmed by your kindness.

Thank you so much.

Just proves that blogging friends, however virtual they may seem to be, can be really supportive and kind and break through the ether, occasionally.

I have had another visit from my daughter and grandsons over the weekend, which was really lovely. I don't usually see them as often as this because they live nearly 200 miles away. I must have really scared my daughter when she came two weeks ago and I was in such pain. However, she can see that things have really improved since she was last here and that must have been a relief.

As it was the Balloon Fiesta in Bristol and the weather was not that brilliant, we didn't think that we stood much chance of seeing many hot air balloons over this way. However, on several occasions we looked into the sky from our road and saw great clusters of them floating slowly in the distance and we could hear the burners as they boosted their height. Radio Bristol announced that 62 took off together.

It was naturally on our local television news and we were dismayed to see that one unfortunate lady who was sleeping in her bedroom at the time, heard a noise like an explosion and found that a balloon had crashed into the side of her house. No one was hurt and you can read about it and see the picture here.

I wonder what this week will bring?