h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well. oops. I appear to have missed err... two or three days, so

William was over for the weekend. I got distracted... then yesterday evening I couldn't get the site up on the PC for some reason

No matter, I'd have missed days out anyhow, soon, as I'm off to my Dad's Thursday, coming back early Monday, so William can meet me here, at the rail station, and we can bus to the hospital where I've got yet another CT scan Not even sure I can recall what this one is ment to be for now

Off ten pin bowling tonight.

Think I'll have to dress 'as a male' for bowling tonight... - I doubt tryign to bowl in a skirt or dress, would help my score any, so back to jeans for tonight... Simularly, I think I'm gona have to just wear trousers whilst I'm off at my Dad's, asides anything, I'm not used to travelling on trains etc, in a skirt, so, well, I can see all manner of amusing incidents possible for my trying to get on/off trains carrying a rucksack, handbag, and then forgetting I@m in skirt, not trousers so... practacility wins out, I guess, over asetics

May pack a dress or skirt to take to my Dad's though, so long as he doesn't try to steal it off me

Do hope the new bra I ordered arrives tomorrow, before I travel off, on Thursday

Oddly. or not. I've not had a sore back/shoulders since I started wearing a bra virtually full-time

Not a vast amount happened, really, the past few days....

One very painful incident err, well, actually there were several very painful incidents, but most were fun and pleasurable, of course.

err...

yeh, so was walking up to Waitrose and the bank, with William, err, Monday I think it was, and it was a bit cold

I was wearing purple leggings, a black skirt, brown leather ankle high boots, my brown leather jacket, the new brown leather Gatsby cap, my handbag, and I think I was wearing the heavily embolished/embelished round the neckline with roses/flowers, top, cotton I think it is...

Anyhow, yeh, like it was cold, so I put my gloves on.

ouch. gloves not good enough.

my right hand obviously got a lot more affect of the vinblastin than my left did, as by the time we reached Waitrose, even with the glove on, I had no sensation whatsoever in my right hand, cept for the sensation of thousands of needles goign in and out of the skin, all over the fingers, particularly moreso at the tips.

They'd gone entirely white and had no blood in them, and I could only just move them (but had no feedback to my brain, at that point, to let me know I was moving them).

ouch.

Luckily didn't take too much of a temp rise, to get them back to 'normal', or what passes for normal now they're so messed up.

on getting home, ran hot water over the hands for a while, then wrapped them into a warmed up wheat heat-wrap, for a while, to really get some heat deeper into them

Found my other, hopefully more insulating black leather gloves now, shall try them out, and if they fail, try find a new pair. - Problem is, yes they need to be warm, but even more than previously, I need something thin enough I can 'feel' through them... as it were

Must get on today, get stuff done, as its ten pin bowling tonight, and I'm gettin gpicked up quite early for that

You can actually get battery-operated heated gloves I would think they're quite bulky though.

Deb

oo... that might be rather useful, for some situations! - I'm not quite sure, yet, as this only happened bad, like this, once so far; but, it appears, that it only really affects my right hand badly; my left got a bit more tingly and numb than it oughta, but, was basically sort of OK...

of cours,e this may be that when I'm out, I hold William's right elbow with my left hand, and my cane in my right hand; so maybe my left hand is just more sheilded from wind/cold than the right... - I was wearing gloves on both hands, but, actually for just walking about like that, even slightly bulkier gloves would probably be OK I think, or, at least, I could just have the one, heated glove on my right hand, holding my cane, and not on th e left = all starts getting way too com;icated though and... TBH, if it gets too complicated I'd just put up with painful hands every now and then... - there is only so many pairs of gloves I cna fit in my handbag or jacket pockets afterall!- excrutiating pain in my hand, is, afterall, a small price to pay, for a nice clean unaffected 'line' on one's clothing; woudln't want gloves to spoil the line of my dress, afterall hmm... yeh... sod it.. I just need to '(wo)man-up' a bit I guess and 'take the pain' afterall... its only pain its a good job I'm very little sane



just navigated my way eventually* through the BA website, and think* I booked 'special assistaance' for my flight to/from Sweden for Christmas - now... do I need to book a seperate assistance thinggy for the airport to help me through checkin and stuff... guess I'll have to go dig through more of the website to find out so badly organised a website

talk about organised though!; I even got orund to checking the 'travelling with medical conidtions' bit... looks like I'm OK for carrying my drugs, and I've a Doctors note anhow, for my injectible emergency hydrocortisone so that oughta be fine... and looking at their list of medical stuff you have to tell them about, I think I'm fine, as I'm far enough away from treatment now - heck, I'll just blag it anhow, if they get stroppy, like they tried to do at the spa... hmm.... well... when I say blag it, I mean just lie of course, - I ... might have given the spa the faulse impression at the imte, of just how long ago my treatment had finished and, its not my fault, if the spa people got he idea that the Dr I was with, was my err, own medical doctor, that was... a supposition they jumped too, far be it from me to dispell their misheld belief Must check what my baggage allowance is though at some point I guess

[Amy P]

I showered. wore jeans, and a shirt. felt. so . so. so... odd... wrong went bowling... did bowling, drunk beer, got high score on bowling got home... and cahnged back into a dress as soon as I got back, and felt... far more relaxed and normal and stuff... I guess men clothes ain't for me anymore cept for maybe special occaions

We all wear costumes for the different parts we play though don't we? I know I have a whole set of professional outfits, including shoes, that are just for work and I wouldn't wear anywhere else. Except occasionally, for mum's big hospital appointments. Maybe it makes a difference, maybe it doesn't, but we're never talked down to and things are explained in detail.

Not all my colleagues dress up for work, some of the newer members of the profession seem very casual to me. And then they wonder why younger students don't take them seriously.

Absolutely I doubt it'd be a good idea for me to wear my skirts, etc, to any of my remainin ghospital appointments... Asides anything Endocrinology might get the wrong idea and not let me have any more testosterone injections A few of my oncology consultants find it for some reason difficult enough to talk to me, because I'm blind, without adding another barrier to their ainility to communicate - I think I'll just be taking jeans, blouses/shirts etc to my Dad's, asides anythign the weather is getting yucky and windy and cold and wet, and we do plan on doing a lot of walkign whilst I'm at my Dad's, so stout walking boots really don't match any of my skirts Although.... I may pack a skirt and leggings too, as I'll have the blouses, then I'm sorted on all fronts

in a warmer red full length skirt today (not quite knitted/woven but quite a heavy matterial), nice autumnal/winter red too matched with actually a really old black short sleeved male linen shirt as it was floating about upstairs for some reason still Purple leggings for no reason other than... they're purple and I had them out already

Talking of appropiate or inappropiate shoes reminds me of July.... being irradiated and being told by the clinition/opperative, that I needed to clean my boots.... - whilst they're up in their 'control room', they've got a camra in the scanner/radiation thinggy I'm bolted into, and as I'm laying down on my back, they got a really good view of my filthy boots... - They got William up to the control booth and made sarcastic comments about the state of my boots! - I did have to point out I'd been a little pre-occupied wiht chemo and didn't really have any energy going spare nor, at that point in time, of course, any feeling in my fingers for polishing shoes/boots

I got my own back... turned up with such shiney boots the next day to be irradiated in

I wonder if a hand in a fixed position, such as holding a cane, is more susceptible to the cold? Different situation entirely, I know, but when I'm on the computer with the back door wide open in winter (my is SO spoiled ) my mouse hand gets much colder & stiffer than the other hand, which is generally just lounging around on the table, free to move as it sees fit.

Deb

That was my thought too... - its more exposed if you think about it, as my left hand is on W's shoulder, so partly shielded by his back/arm But, still think in general, my day-to-day sense of touch etc, is betterer in my left hand now, so guess just randomly the right hand nerves, got more drastically afected by the damn vinblastin (the chemo drug responsible)