Time is a healer...it's not that I am fully better but the difference between now and 12 April when I last left my top class accommodation at Southmead Hospital is quite significant.
Not that it's been uphill all the way. No...that would be just a little too much to expect.
Two weeks after leaving hospital I endured a bout of sudden onset vomiting. Lovely, I hear you say!
It was not lovely at all. In fact, it was very weird. Just one day each week; not connected to any particular food or action on my part and it occurred at different times of the day and night. And it was sudden and very unpleasant and it lasted for hours.
Then during week 4 of this new crazy life I lead, I had a dose of diarrhoea with the vomiting - which was even a step t00 far for me. So I called the emergency 'day care' team at BHOC (the cancer hospital in Bristol), explained my problem and asked whether I should just take a larger dose of anti-sickness tablets. Nope. They told me to pack a bag and pay them a visit.
I was not happy. Despite their kind and considered treatment, I do not like hospitals. But given my previous experiences I decided to do as I was told. I arrived on a Friday morning and underwent numerous tests but nothing was showing up as an issue, other than my blood pressure and heart rate which were both high. A typical sign of excessive vomiting.
In between all the blood tests, we did discuss whether my steroids could be causing this problem. I was put on 70mg of steroids in February when I had Sepsis. Since then I have been reducing the intake by 5mg per 5 days until I got to 5mg. From there I have been reducing by 0.5mg per 5 days until I could finish the course. When the sickness started I was on 3mg i think. When I went into hospital, I was on 1mg. The body does not like steroid withdrawal so my Endocrine Doctor asked me to increase my usage to 4mg which I must now stay on until I can undergo a Syncathen Test (booked for end of July).
In the meantime, there were further tests to be undertaken but it was late, and at 2300hrs on the Friday night the Doctors arranged for me to go to a ward...but I felt better - possibly because my body took on another bag of IV saline and some other drugs to calm my organs down.
We discussed the joys of staying in hospital over the weekend and I promised, as a fully grown responsible girl guide, that I would return Monday morning at whatever time they wanted me to continue with the tests. I also said if I even hiccuped out of turn I would run back to the hospital.
I returned on Monday; more blood removed and a full abdomen scan. You will be pleased to hear that I do have a liver; gall bladder, kidneys et al. The week before I had undergone a head MRI and I was told the same morning that I also have a functioning Pituitary gland and brain!
On Monday I felt fine - but I had increased my dosage to 4mg of steriods over the weekend. I am still on 4mg - and I have felt pretty good since that time. No further vomiting nor diarrhoea. So that is good - and bad. The good is obvious. The bad could mean I have to stay on steroids for an extended period or even for the rest of my life.
These steroids are not the muscle building tablets as seen on TV. They just make me feel bloated all the time and have increased my weight.
So what else, I hear you say. This week is the start of the radiotherapy treatment. I won't excite you with the thrill of what that means - not now anyway.
Needless to say another half dozen professionals have endured my busty nakedness with some having to physically handle the (not identical) twins whilst I whistle a tune in my head in order to forget what is happening to me.
I have not actually counted but I think I must be up to 150 professionals who have now seen me semi naked, along with 3 old men who accidentally walked into my room at Southmead whilst I was changing my pyjamas.
Only the elderly men showed anything like surprise !
ps. My hair is growing back quickly but not everywhere and some of it is weirdly grey. Unusual for such a young lady !