Cycle 1, Day 17

Wednesday 23rd January 2019
“When you have a lot of success you don’t need vanity anymore” — Amelie Nothomb

I really didn’t do much yesterday in terms of physical activity, but my word was I tired by 9pm. I was ready to throw in the towel about 8pm, but managed to stay awake a few hours longer. Great sleep, I slept right through. I obviously wasn’t drinking enough because I didn’t need a night time pee !

With about 8 and a half hours sleep, I still woke feeling pretty groggy. I feel achey still, generally lacking energy and run down, and today I’ve not even felt like eating which is unusual. I didn’t do a lot in the morning, then headed off to the hospital for my check-in following Monday’s admission.

I got to the hospital sat in a chair in a small room with a few others and waited. A nurse came to take another blood sample to compare to those from the early hours of Monday morning, and then I had an hour or so wait until the results were available. I was a bit bored because it had been an hour and a half, and guess what – I needed to pee. So I wandered to the toilet, but half way, I bumped into the person coming to speak to me, a nurse I’d spoken to on Monday morning who seemed to be a right hand person to the Dr that assessed me.

We chatted in the corridor going back to my chair. She told me my bloods were now off the chart (very high) and were looking great. That meant I’m fine for my chemo on Friday, and also far less vulnerable right now to infections. She asked how I felt and I said achey and crappy, apparently that is as a result of the Filgrastim injections (belly jabs) that have helped my neutrophil levels to rise. They work the bone marrow quite hard and that is quite draining it would be seem. She asked if the aching was in my bones, and yeah it is. All makes sense now.

That was it, and off I went. I totally forgot to ask what the infection was that caused my fever on Monday, I’ll have to ask my Dr on Friday when I go in. As I’ve had my bloods done today, I don’t need to have them done on Friday so that cuts an hour off my visit. Plus, I’m starting to look like a junkie with all the bruises and needle marks on my right arm. One less needle on Friday.

I’ve felt tired, achey and crappy since I got home, again not feeling like I wanted to eat but I have made a point of doing. I just want my bed ! I doubt I’ll feel like working tomorrow, but if I feel up to it I’ll catch up on emails from home. Given I’m in on Friday, and then Mon/Tues/Weds for chemo again, I’m not going to risk anything tomorrow if I don’t feel like it.

Regarding haircuts. Firstly, it’s certainly not the weather for a Mohawk. I’ve never shaved my head before, and it was zero degrees celsius today, not a fantastic combination. Thankfully I have a collection of about 8 hats now, although I forgot to take one with me to the hospital.

Secondly, I’ve felt the need to explain to people why I currently look like a yob everywhere I go. I explained to the nurse why I looked different to Monday, and how much I’d raised for the hospital charity, she seemed impressed and suggested (as some others have) that I should go one step further and ask for more donations to dye it pink. Maybe pink looks less yobbish ? She also said she hadn’t even thought about my hair because it just looks like a “young persons haircut.” 🙂 Loving the compliment, but then as I’ve said before, in terms of age I’m certainly one of the odd ones out in that place.

Later when dropping Parker off at Otters at the church, I had to rearrange him getting invested for a week ahead as it was due for next Wednesday and I’ll be in hospital. I don’t want to miss that. I again felt the need to explain my appearance, except this time upon mentioning I raised £500 so far, the leader passed me £10 and said now its £510. Awesome !

No major hair fallout today, although it remains fragile and I need to stop accidentally (on purpose says Jayne) picking bits out. I’m still blown away from the generosity I’ve seen on my just giving page. £515 in a little over 24 hours for getting a daft haircut is amazing, and as a good friend said earlier, it shows just how much people think of me. I am truly and genuinely humbled. Who needs hair ?