Can you believe it!

It was all arranged and we were set to go. kate and I had a few appointments to attend and then we would drive down to London again for my 3rd IV chemo drug day in my 6 months worth of treatment. The problem with myeloma is that it makes it difficult to plan very far ahead. You never know quite how the treatment and the damage that the toxins or the myeloma is taking on your bones is going to effect you, so it’s doubly frustrating when the plans change because of something that happens in the hospital. My lovely new research nurse, Diane, was equally as frustrated and very apologetic when she called yesterday to say the drug wasn’t going to be available. Luckily we hadn’t yet started our journey down he motorway. However any plans for today have had to be scrapped as we make our way down to the hospital this morning. Kate has kindly changed her plans to drive and accompany me through today’s ordeal. I shouldn’t really complain, I know I am lucky to be at one of the best hospitals in the UK and do receive on the whole excellent care, it’s really just my inability to be able to plan anything nowadays that gets me down sometimes.

It wasn’t all bad yesterday. Both Kate and I had some pampering, including make up, nails and tea and homemade cake at the Cancer Hair service. This really is a very special place run by some lovely generous people and you can’t help but feeling more cheerful after attending one of their sessions. The positive energy shared around makes a big difference.

Talking about positive energy, I have decided to embark on an Alpha course. I am more of a spiritual than religious person. I find it hard to accept, especially word for word, all that is written about in the bible but there are lots of stories that I read as metaphors and give me a feel of what things might have been like many years ago and messages about how we could possibly consider living our lives today. I also believe in the powers of prayer whoever it may be to, as a way of asking, sending out and receiving more positive energy. I would however like to have a stronger faith, but I am cautious that I am not just reaching out at this time because I’m feeling particularly vulnerable. I have always been interested in religion. I was christened in the Church of England, have a Jewish mother (which in their books makes me Jewish), my step father is an Atheist, my cousins are preachers in a New Fronteir church currently being developed in Dubai and we have some great friends including the local retired vicar who is always happy to lend a listening ear. I have had lengthy conversations with the Mormons, attended happy clappy churches, been a regular visitor to the Catholic Church, where both my girls were baptised and now occasionally join in with the local community church where Colin rings the bells in our little village. Colin has agreed to be my chaperone on the Alpha Course although he doesn’t want to be actively involved. He is a Humanist and at the moment is finding our current situation quite difficult to come to terms with, he is battling with equal measures of anger and upset. He doesn’t like to share his feelings at the best of times, let alone with strangers, so exploring his faith or lack of it with an unfamiliar group of people is a bit of a nightmare for him. But being the lovely man he is, and because he can see how important it is to me, he is willing to come along. I just hope it all doesn’t get too much for him, but as my Psychologist said on our last visit, it’s worth trying anything offered even if we go along once and then feel it isn’t the right time or thing for us. We are both starting on some reflexology sessions too, at our local hospice, which may be more of a comforting experience for Colin.

I was also able to use my free afternoon yesterday, to get on with working on the BrainBox. Re-writing the manual is a fairly straight forward process but developing the physical computer metaphor, from a solid box of components that all click together, into a cardboard cut-out is proving to be more of a challenge, but we will get there.

So today it’s back down the motorway and then we can look forward to the weekend. We will be catching up with family and friends or just resting, depending how the mood or the journey that myeloma takes us on next, although I do try to be the one in control. Why change the habits of a lifetime?

Have a very happy Friday

Deborah x

PS. John Lewis update. I received two separate letters (if you can call them that) the first included £25.00 worth of vouchers the second £50.00. I expect they sent out the first before agreeing on the £50 but at least I am not out of pocket and the extra £25 more than covers my additional costs. I would however have appreciated something more than a one line letter that just said; “please find your enclosed vouchers as a gesture of our goodwill”, or the unsigned compliment slip. I know they did apologise to Colin over the phone but it’s just another example at their lack of understanding of their customers and how they missed the point from the first round of mistakes. Honestly a few words of kindness and a decent apology letter would have gone someway to make the whole dreadful experience a bit more palatable, it was never about the money, but I think I must end it there and move on now, even though I still feel very cross and upset by the whole unnecessary episode.