Back where I started
Once again I’m lying in bed in the quiet pre dawn. Actually, quiet is not accurate. I was woken early by a caucophony of kookaburras, laughing maniacally in the enormous gum tree in the neighbour’s backyard.
Today is Tuesday and I’m leaving the house today for the first time in over a week. The past week has been absolute hell. My last round of chemo made me so sick that there were some days I couldn’t speak. I was absolutely crushed - fatigue, nausea, headache… it’s hard to describe the feeling - like the worst hangover you’ve ever had magnified by 1000 and relentless for more than a week. Today I still feel awful, but I am able to open my laptop and type, and I am planning on getting out of bed. Sesame is booked in for a clip at 9am so I will drive him into town, stumble into the vet and hopefully make it back again.
Despite me not participating in any of it, the last ten days have been very eventful and I owe some enormous thank yous to Marcie, my Mum and Dad, my brother Peter and his girlfriend, Jen and my beautiful friend Ros. They have all worked so hard to get the house in Newcastle ready to hand back to the real estate. Last Saturday, on one of the rainiest and coldest days of the year so far, Pete, Jen, Dad and Marcie hired a truck and moved everything from the house in Adamstown to Green Point. Luckily the rain held off in Newcastle while they were packing the truck, but by the time they arrived here around 3pm, the rain was torrential and a freezing wind was blowing.
Dad, Pete and Jen worked tirelessly, lugging my furniture down the steep driveway in the cold. It was dark by the time they were done. Somehow, all of my possessions had been absorbed into the house.
Pete and Jen left in the cold, dark pouring rain for the two hour drive back to Newcastle. Along the way, through a quiet stretch of windy road through the mountains, they came across a car that had skidded off the road into a tree. They stopped to give assistance. The man wasn’t hurt but had no phone service. Pete and Jen gave him a lift to Buladelah, the nearest small town, where he could call for a tow truck.
The following week was amazing. I walked the dogs around the lake each day, went out for coffee on the beach with Mum, organised and decorated my new space.
Wednesday I went into Forster hospital and met my new oncology team. My new oncologist is a beautiful, bubbly lady called Giovanna. I also met the oncology nurse Lynda and the hospital social worker Jane. I saw where I’d be coming in for my next treatment.
That Friday, Mum and I woke early to make the journey back to Newcastle. I was to meet my radiation doctor for the first time and learn more about what I will be in for. We got to Newcastle just in time to drop the dogs off at the house with Marcie and rush to the Mater hospital. We were ushered into an enormous waiting room and it wasn’ t long before my name was called.
My radiation doctor is a lovely Indian lady called Geetha. She was kind and caring and genuinely interested in knowing my whole story. She told me that when my chemo is finished, I’ll get a four week break before beginning radiation for five weeks. I’ll have treatment five days each week and will have to stay in Newcastle. The hospital offers onsite accomodation for patients who live a long way away. Dr. Geetha seemed to think that I would be eligable. I was surprised that I’d be having five weeks of treatment. It seems like so much. That will take this until almost the end of the year. What a year it will have been!
After my appointment, we picked up Marcie and the dogs and went out for brunch. It was so lovely to see her again. I still haven’t gotten my head around the fact that we don’t live together any more. It looks like Marcie might have somewhere to live… a lovely little terrace she’d looked at last week. She also had just found out that she had a job interview for a marketing company that she’s applied for weeks ago. Wonderful things are happening for her and I couldn’t be happier.
After brunch, we took the dogs for a run at the park before saying goodbye to Marcie and heading home, arriving just as dusk was falling.