CYCLE 4 DAY 15
A busy day once I had got myself going with a visit to the GP for my 21 day injection of testosterone sucker. Eight thirty in the morning is a quiet time at the surgery so I have time to contemplate all the good information around me and decide to ignore it. The nurse is quick and efficient and I soon have a neat round plaster on my abdomen. I confess that the oncologist has confirmed I should have the injection every 28 days but we do a deal so that my next injection is in 21 days, which means the one after can be in 28 days and is into January when my chemo will be over, for now I guess. This arrangement means I avoid self stabbing on the next cycle into the area where I’ve just been injected. I get a newspaper on the way back home and indulge myself in the crosswords and a fried egg sandwich to start the day. An amazon parcel arrives and I begin to work my way through a to do list. All those unfinished chores from yesterday get tackled, like printing off a returns form and repackaging a dress to return. I rummage through the safe to find my divorce documents that I need to apply for a civil partnership. I also find the document’s that my partner will need.
Once I have everything organised its time to venture out and get things done. So I drop the return parcel into the post office, go to Sainsburys and eat, collect my partners mothers drugs and pick up odds and ends like bread. Home via the petrol station to unpack my treasure trove and get on with more jobs. I pack a surprise postal tube for my grandchildren which I will dispatch tomorrow and fill the bird feeders in the garden. Feeling quite energised I set to preparing for a therapeutic community accreditation visit I am doing on the 25th. Lots of documents to be run off and understood but the bulk of the work will happen when I get the evidence bundle through the post over the next couple of days. I also deal with some enabling environment work for the YMCA project, by which time my partner has returned home and we start the evening routine of phone calls, food and a selection of television till blog time.
All day I have had painful cramping in my hands. I think its called “trigger finger”, where a finger becomes painfully locked and cramped. I’ve had it in my right third finger for a while and on occasions wear a ring on that finger when I am driving as it seems to help, however my index finger and second finger of my left hand have started to do it now. I link my calf muscle cramps to this cramping in my hands and think it maybe due to dehydration, restricted blood flow, or blood “richness”. My instinct tells me this is related to the chemo and can be dealt with. When it happens I take a proactive approach by either massaging them or rapping them on a hard surface and commanding the offending digit or digits “to get with the team”. It has worked so far. I had a moment this evening when my right forearm threatened to do it, but I wasn’t having that and nipped it in the bud by some vigorous arm waving. I think I might have looked like a human windmill for a moment.
Tomorrow I have a work visit to undertake locally and some more chores, however I plan a gym visit to fight the flab and keep my strength up before going and seeing “the pub landlord” Al Murray. My blog could be short and odd tomorrow.
