Christmas break

I was fortunate enough to spend 8 days at home over the Christmas period, 8 whole days!! Not everyone on my ward would of had the opportunity to go home, and so I feel extremely lucky to have had the chance to get out of hospital for a much needed break.

We left on the Tuesday (22nd December) before Christmas, once the doctors were happy with my recovery from the Pancreatitis. I was still feeling a little delicate but I think they were as keen for me to get home as I was. 

Once home, I spent the first few days in front of the TV with family and friends, and tried my best to ease my stomach back into food glorious food. I had such big plans to eat anything and everything over this period at home, unfortunately the recovery from the Pancreatitis got in the way a little bit as you have to be careful not to eat too much fat… (snore)! I was also dealing with the final extra kgs of water I’d retained during this time, and my legs, back, and stomach were still quite swollen. Once I had started eating more protein (the king of the food groups), and spent many an evening with my legs elevated on the back of the sofa, I was able to absorb the water properly by the end of the week, and FINALLY got rid of it! I left hospital at a whopping 73 kg and returned at 66 kg, anyone else lose weight over this festive period? There’s a first time for everything 😉

Here is a run down of my time at home, for anyone interested… Christmas Eve we watched Star Wars IV – A New Hope, as we had planned to go and see the new movie (The Force Awakens) on Sunday and so we needed to fit in IV, V, and VI before then. Christmas Day was spent at home with the family, we waited for Harriet to come back from our traditional Christmas Day run around Virginia Water Lake before having eggs and salmon and opening stockings. I said Harriet should have offered to piggyback me around the lake like Luke Skywalker carrying Yoda, but apparently I am marginally larger than him… “judge me by my size, do you?” Once H had returned, we got cracking on breakfast and stocking presents, then eventually got onto the main event (under the tree presents). Once all presents were open Mike started on the lunch and Mum, H, and I watched Star Wars V. I managed pretty much all of my Christmas dinner, which was as good as ever, and definitely upped my protein intake! Boxing Day we went for a walk at Savile Gardens (my first trip outdoors), which was a little shorter than usual, but the fresh air and walk felt so refreshing. If I hadn’t been so achey in my legs and back, I would have stayed out in the fresh air all day. We also watched Star Wars VI when we got in (we did it Episode IV, V, VI watched).

On Sunday, Mum, Harriet and I went for a feast at Nando’s (I ordered pretty much everything on the menu) and then went to watch the new Star Wars movie, which is excellent for all those Star Wars fans! I almost fell asleep in the cinema but held it together just about, not a reflection on the movie, but more to do with my general tired state. There were two things I really noticed when out and about in public, firstly, some people will stare at you more than usual when wearing a headscarf, this made me feel a little uneasy as mostly they looked like they felt sorry for me. Secondly, I was quite conscious of potential germs around me, my three main concerns were; public bathrooms, accepting anything from other peoples hands, and anyone near me that coughed or sneezed. In the past I wouldn’t have thought twice about these interactions, but you can’t be too careful when your immune system isn’t quite up to scratch.

On Tuesday I had to go back to the hospital to the Oncology and Haematology Day Unit for blood tests (to see if my blood counts etc. were OK to restart treatment), and to get my Hickman Line flushed as it hadn’t been used for a week. I thought we might have a long wait, but we were seen quite quickly and were on our way back home by lunch time. My bloods were all OK for the next round of treatment and so we were told we would just have to wait to hear when there would be a bed available for me. Wednesday came and went and we hadn’t heard anything from the hospital and so I got another day at home. Thursday we called the ward in the morning and were told they would have a bed at 2 pm on Ward F5, and so we popped to Windsor in the morning for some last minute shopping and my third Wagamama’s since being home. My time at home was just what I needed and hopefully has put me in a stronger position mentally and physically to start round two of the induction phase of treatment.

And so back in I went on NYE, not how I thought I would spend it, however I actually had a great evening and one I will always remember. Lucy, Felicity, Kathryn, and Rachel joined me in hospital for the evening ready with party snacks, Shloer, games and quizzes, and we had a great view of the various fireworks across Portsmouth from my window. I am so grateful to them (and others who offered – you know who you are) for giving up their NYE plans/offers to be in hospital with me, thank you all!

“It isn’t where you are that matters, it’s who you are with” – in this instance anyway 😉