Wigs, chemo, baby bouncers and close calls…

Happy bank holiday everyone!

It’s been a mixed week chez Aideen at the hospital. Chemo was tough last week.  I won’t go into detail, but if I say I felt like John Hurt just after he sat down for dinner in Alien, then you’ll get some idea of what I mean.  On the up side I managed to get out in the sun for a bit, had a go at walking on a new gym harnessed treadmill, my new wig arrived and I had my family over from Ireland, so on balance, more good than bad.

So, the wig.  Those of you who have been in to see me recently will know that my hair has decided to stage a rapid exit, pink panther stylie, so the wig was becoming a necessary evil.  I’m currently looking like either a surprised baby with hair fluff on their head or a version of TinTin, depending on your perspective.  I’m actually rather pleased with the wig, which I’m going to call ‘Penny’.  I’m not sure why, but it seems to suit it.  The colours are fab and it’s the same sort of length as I’d had my hair cut to prior to its abandonment of me, so all those who said that short hair made me look younger, make sure you remember that when you next see me. ;-) It needs some ‘shuszing’, which I’m rubbish at, so will need one of my more hair styling savvy friends to do that, but overall I’m happy with it.

The harnessed treadmill was … an experience.  I’d been quite excited about having a go – it would give me the opportunity to try to walk further without any fear of falling if I got tired.  Perfect you’d think.  You’d be wrong.  First of all, in order to get me into the harness it took three people flipping me here, there and everywhere while they clipped all sorts of secure catches to each other and trussed me up like a proverbial chicken.  I sat and brooded on the fact that this definitely did not feel as cool as when I'd been harnessed up for my world’s highest bridge bungee jump or my various zip-wiring and abseiling adventures.  Then it was up on the treadmill, where they adjusted the weight bearing so that I initially felt like I was in a baby bouncer, dangling aimlessly while my feet occasionally hit the ground.  I made my feelings about this position clear and they lowered me a bit so that I actually connected properly with the treadmill and we got started.  I walked .2 of a mile (with assistance from the physios on my feet), which was exhausting but felt like a really positive step in the right direction.  Unfortunately, we then had to go through the whole untrussing process, which similar to the trussing one, was not as cool as previous experiences, when I’d been pumped up with an adrenaline buzz after jumping or zipping etc.  In summary, it was an interesting experience, but not one I’ll be rushing to sign up for again.

My Mam and sister arrived over on Friday this week and it was lovely to see them.  J  While they were here and the sun was out, we thought it would be a good day to get me out to one of the small gardens in the hospital.  What a treat – I hadn’t seen outside my ward walls for nearly 6 weeks apart from for medical reasons e.g. trips for MRI & CT scans, my treadmill experience and my chemo treatment.  Into the wheelchair I leapt (well, leapt is probably an exaggeration, I slid across elegantly (again, probably a misnomer!) on my boogie a.k.a. transfer board) and we sallied forth.  Initially I wheeled, but once I got tired, Kevin took the controls.  As we approached a bench beautifully placed in the sunshine, I said “I can probably park myself from here”.  It did briefly occur to me that we hadn’t clarified our driving rules i.e. that for transfer of control a complete stop is needed, but Kevin is a good driver, so I was confident in his wheeling abilities.  Big mistake!!!   As I careered  towards a closed window, I realised that he’d actually let go while I was still moving …. at some speed.  Panic ensued as I shouted; he ran back and grabbed the chair just before I tipped into the gully immediately in front of the wall housing said window.  I instantly burst into hysterical laughter, while Kevin’s head nearly exploded.  Cue remonstrations, “you said you’d take control”, “you don’t just let go while it’s moving”, but in the end we laughed it off and no harm was done i.e. I didn’t need to change my jim jams!  Definitely a close call though and a lesson very well learned.

Finally, and most excitingly, a leaving hospital date now looks imminent – I’ll keep you posted in my next update…