Back in the Driving Seat and topless modelling

Yes folks, I started driving yesterday- and didn’t stall it once. The car being a trustyVW Touran of course started first time, since going to Broughton a few weeks ago.

Anyway the reason for my driving was to go to the hospital for two things, one to have my breasts photographed (no doubt in a few years there will be a CD go missing from the laptop of an NHS employee) and secondly, to attend the Breast Cancer Post Operative Clinic-I think that’s what it was called.

So the photo bit was fine, standing in an office with no clothes on my top half just seems as “normal” as anything else. But just to reassure people, this bit is optional- its to do with the Fast Forward Trail I’m taking part in, and even within that the photos bit is optional. But when you’re like me, revealing your bits isn’t really that much of a problem. The pictures only show from neck to waist anyway, so they’d be a limited number of people who could identify me from breasts alone.Well, quite limited 😉 

So then the clinic which was 5 of us “ladies” as it said on the letter, including me. We had a little talk from the Lymphedema nurse, which was all about how once you have any lymph nodes removed, no matter whether its 1 of 21, your lymph system becomes compromised- fluid can’t drain away as well. Not everyone will get it, but it was just about looking after your arm, not lifting heavy weights, etc etc. All quite logical stuff and not really anything too difficult to do- but it did bring home the fact that there are long term effects-long term as in forever. Not that I would want a tattoo but just the fact that now I shouldn’t. Well it makes you think a little bit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymphedema

Not all negative though, after the little talk we all in turn went to see Mags the breast cancer nurse, who checked everything was OK, and mine is, as in the scar has healed really well. then again in turn to see the physiotherapist, again I have pretty well all the moment back, I can’t quite move my left arm back as much as my right without it hurting, but certainly enough to get by, and doing the exercises will keep improving things. Then we again individually went to see the lymphedema nurse to have our arms measured, as in the circumference all up the arm. This way there’s a baseline of what my arms should be, so if I do develop any problems with swelling they’ll be able to tell.

There wasn’t really much chance to chat to the others, I think three of them had been in at the same time and had kept in touch afterwards. There was a bit of “So what have you had done?” along the lines of “What A Level’s did you do?”, and I think the tally was 2 mastectomies, and three lumps. And two having radiotherapy (inc me), one chemo, one doesn’t know yet and one nothing else as she didn’t alcyalyy have cancer but something else.

Nice as they were, I don’t feel any great need to keep in touch or join a support group either real life or online. Just because we all have the same disease (and even in our little group of 5, everyone’s treatment was different) doesn’t mean we will have anything else in common.

Oh and we got measured and weighed, I’m growing! Now measure 5ft 5 3/4 (and weigh 9’8″) It’s obviously reducing the weight of my enormous tit means that I can stand up straighter.

Called into work after the hospital to get a form to have my eyes tested-or rather have my eyes tested and work pays for the test. I was there for ages though, as I kept bumping into people. Unless everyone is lying to me, I’ll have to keep my hair short and purplish-although I think its too dark and prefer the red, but the short hair definitely seems to get people’s vote

 

 

Just saved that as a draft and then couldn’t get it back again.But I did.

So today was back to school for boys, who were OK about it, and I went into Rhyl to meet work colleagues for lunch and took them one of my famous lemon drizzle cakes. Then had my eyes tested and chose some funky new glasses, to go with what will have to be my red/purple hair.
First radiotherapy session tomorrow- I’m not worried at all, just a feeling of I don’t know, having to do the same thing day in day out. But its better than work I suppose and at least I’ll have the rest of the day free and be able to do what I want- which may involve lots of naps.

And reading, I have read so much- and some proper hard books. Finished Gunter Grass’s Danzig trilogy, and ordered a book which studies them- this was so I could understand them. The critical/literary analysis book duly arrived and looks almost as difficult as the texts themselves. But you don’t always have to understand all of something to love it.