Sunday 7 September 2014

So Much Support and Visits

The first couple of days after chemo are really tough going this time around.  It really takes it out of me and fatigue is probably the hardest to deal with, especially as I am usually quite active.  I find this aspect hard to deal with and its gets me a little low.  Along with this my taste buds change for about 5 days and everything tastes metallic and so it's hard to stomach (sic) food and I lose my appetite.

Luckily I have a lot of support with the boys when Leonie is at work so Thursday and Friday immediately after treatment I slept a lot trying to get over the chemo.  My parents in law came over to take the kids out while I caught up on sleep on Thursday as I only manage to sleep about 4 hours at night due to the steroids.

Leonie was off on Friday so we spent time together as a family but it was a difficult day and I found myself being sick for the first time due to chemo and it wasn't very pleasant.  Late on Friday afternoon our friend Lousie came over to help out too and she brought with her Rose, her daughter and her new dog Boo.  We had a good evening together and we always have a laugh with Lou.

On Saturday morning I was able to sleep again as Lou looked after the kids and I only got dressed around midday.  We were expecting the newlyweds Becca and Ian to visit from Reading.  We went to their wedding in May and hadn't seen them since.  Lou was still here when they arrived and she stayed a short while to meet Becca and Ian. 

Once Lou had gone, our guests wanted to take the boys out so we grabbed a football and took them to the park.  Ian and I played football with the kids but I only managed about 5 minutes before I stepped out and chatted with Becca; Ian did a sterling effort with Oscar and Sid but the boys won the game by about 10 goals, although the rules were constantly changed by Oscar throughout the game.  On the way back home Becca treated the kids to some treats from the shop.

In the evening I cooked my now famous Chinese; sweet chili duck and sweet and sour prawns and followed it up with another Eton Mess.   We had a few drinks and we saw the wedding photos before playing a game of monopoly;  I'm not really competitive but I won quite convincingly.  The following day Ian wanted to go for a run as the following week he had Maidenhead Half Marathon.  I desperately wanted to run with him but settled on riding my bike.  We did around 4 miles and in hindsight I am glad I went on my bike.

For lunch we took Becca and Ian to Guys and they enjoyed the food and quaintness of the hamlet, its quintessentially British.  We finished off the day by teaching Oscar and Sid how to play monopoly before letting them watch the previous nights X-Factor; both the boys like Simon Cowell, not my influence.

It was a difficult couple of days but with the visitors it had been a lot of fun too.  Even though it's hard to get through the first few days after chemo it makes  it easier to take when you have family and friends around you.  I also keep reminding myself that I am lucky that I don't have really bad symptoms when some people are really suffering,  my thinking is that there is always someone worse off than yourself and I do consider myself lucky.

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