Busy times

It’s been a busy week.

Monday saw us at the hospital bright & early for my chemo. While I was there the Fox decided to pop into Dermatology as his discoid eczema is flaring up again – all that worrying about me! He was told he couldn’t see anyone without an appointment – even though he was due for recall last July! - & was given some numbers to try that afternoon & to talk to Gayle.

He rang in the afternoon when we were home again. No Gayle at work that day. He was given yet another phone number. He gave up in despair.

Come Tuesday I got onto the job. First I tried to make an appointment for the Fox to at least see a doctor. Having held on for half an hour, I was told non-urgent appointments were not available until 10am & it was still only 9.50. I couldn’t help thinking why didn’t they say that in the recorded message telling which number to press for various purposes. I could have put the phone straight down & just tried later.

Since I had ten minutes to spare I thought I might as well try the numbers the Fox had been given. The first number didn’t even seem to be complete. At that point I thought I’d ring the emergency number we’d been given a year or so ago. I got straight through to Gayle. She managed to organise an appointment within the hour. We hastily had some tea then set off to the hospital.

Yes, it is a flare up. Yes, it is infected. Yes, it is almost certainly caused by stress from worrying about me. The new doctor gave him a prescription for some antibiotics & various creams which he had to take to the surgery to get filled out.

As we were at the hospital I thought I might as well pop down to Orthotics. The new knee braces I got earlier in the year are disintegrating on me. The rubber rings that encircle the kneecaps have all split in half. On one pair the metal strips on the side are coming off. I’m now waiting to hear from them.

Once home the Fox went up to the surgery with his prescription. That should be ready tomorrow. He has to go then anyway to collect his monthly pills.

Meanwhile medical appointments are coming in on a regular basis. Friday sees me back at the hospital – bloods & to see the Breast Surgery team. Presumably they want to check whether the tumour has shrunk, possibly to operable size & possibly provisionally book a date for another op early in the new year.

The following week I have another appointment with Oncology to check how I’m getting on. The week after that I have a CT scan, the only real way to see just how much the tumour has shrunk. It is noticeable the scan is a whole body one so presumably they’re also checking at the same time that the cancer has still not spread into other organs.

And all that hasn’t even got us to Christmas!