radiobeartime

“Change, move, dead clock,”

And so we reach cycle 8. I start to write as I sit in a chair in the Royal Marsden waiting for the ritual to begin again. And now it is three days later. I left the kind and friendly staff of the Royal Marsden on Friday and now this Monday I reflect again. 8Continue reading ““Change, move, dead clock,””

“the iron filings of lines”

It’s been a while since I last posted and I shall explain why soon but in the meantime I was talking to someone about the challenge reading can become when one is ill. Brain fog, exhaustion, pain, anxiety. All these symptoms or side effects of illness or treatment can make reading feel like a burdenContinue reading ““the iron filings of lines””

Cúig

The fifth cycle begins. The rituals remain the same – the three week cycle, the ceremony of taking bloods and measuring the body 3 or 4 days before the infusion, the infusion itself where the patient overworked staff struggle to find a working vein beneath my pallid Irish flesh as my body reacts like aContinue reading “Cúig”

Yearning for the estuary

I am back home. Tired, so very tired, yet much better. Much improved. My blood pressure is excellent as are my heart, my lungs, my kidneys, my liver and quite probably my sausages. I cannot speak highly enough about the Royal Marsden. The staff there are the very best. And Lamps is a very goodContinue reading “Yearning for the estuary”

Derailed

The train trundles onwards until suddenly, shockingly, it doesn’t. My second cycle of chemotherapy was cut unexpectedly short on account of me almost dying. Normally I avoid drama in these blog posts. Drama is messy, we shy away from it. Better to avoid mentioning difficult subjects, at most allude indirectly and in passing. But sometimesContinue reading “Derailed”

The Mystery of Bupa

I tried to contact @Bupa a week ago with a very simple question – “If an NHS hospital does not have a spare bed available is it possible to use BUPA to get a private one?” I have never experienced such a complete service failure in my life. I can only describe @bupa in metaphor.Continue reading “The Mystery of Bupa”

Taking the Train

It’s now a week since my first chemotherapy session. I am having adjuvant treatment which happens after the tumour has been removed and is intended to reduce the risk of reoccurrence. As per my last two posts I thought I would give a flavour of a medical experience in the hope that others might findContinue reading “Taking the Train”

One Month On

In my previous blog post I wrote about my experience of going into hospital for an operation for the first time ever. The operation was a month ago now and I was discharged a week after that. I am doing ok 🙂 I had my first meeting at the Royal Marsden yesterday to run throughContinue reading “One Month On”

Hospital Tips

So, I am back after a week in hospital. My first ever hospital stay. I’ve been an outpatient and had day surgery as a child but this was the first time I had ever been in hospital for longer than a day. And it was a deeply confusing experience. So some tips and reflections. IContinue reading “Hospital Tips”

A Classical Tale of Keats and Chapman

Chapman walked in to find Keats standing amid piles of musical scores which sprawled over table and chairs. “Have you joined a band?” Chapman asked dubiously. “No! This is all for the prize!” Keats tripped over a teetering pile of what turned out to be the complete score of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, scattering the pagesContinue reading “A Classical Tale of Keats and Chapman”