Soooo, looks like this is IT! Its just taken me 10 mins to get into this page so I can write my first ever blog post (how am I doing so far on the tech terminology?). See, Gemma, I'm trying to sound trendy , but fishing for some older(?) generational empathy!
Obviously, I am Jacqui, Gemma's Mama. You might as well get used to that now, because we like the sound of that (Mum is for sons, of which I also have one) and we think Mummy's a bit babyish and too posh.........You can tell I'm putting off actually starting to blog (verb apparently as well as noun!) about the real subject of this blog (noun this time!). I should have done this years ago.....over 10 now, but didn't have wi-fi or a lap-top back then in the dark ages.......so with new technology at my fingertips and hours and hours of chemo-induced insomnia spent writing this kind of stuff in my head, and finally with the encouragement and promise to co-write this from my darling Gemma, HERE I GO.............
(Or..Gemma, is that enough for the first one????)
Where do I start? It would be easier to co-write this if Gemma and I lived in the same country. We don't, so she'll just have to trust me! Well I am into my 7th round of chemo (ie. 7 different chemo regimes of up to 6 months each) in 11 years. (Boring but relevant Medical History to follow...bear with..bear with...) I was diagnosed with stage 1 (TEENYWEENY little lumpette) Breast Cancer in August 2001. Only1 lymph node affected...I mean what's the point in that? Why not go for the full 18, Big C?
It all happened so fast I was in for the op (lumpettectomy) in what seemed like minutes! I liked that...NOT the op, but the speed of it happening, because..duh..no time to think. Doc (German/Greek...great combo as it happens, medically speaking...tell you why later..) kept being very optimistic."sure it's benign..."ok NOT..""probably no lymph-node involvement.." "ok 1/18" "op,chemo,radiotherapy tamoxifen, follow-up for 5 years..back to same as before August 2001" So upbeat was he that when (remember Gemma/) he told us all this in his office pre my first ever virgin chemo (NOT a verb..wonder why?..I chemo, she chemoed , we would have chem......Oh shut UP!)SO upbeat was he, that when he said I'd be doing 4 cycles and would probably lose 7 kilos, Gemma and I turned to each other and gave each other a high-five with a huge grin on our faces!! (This is TRUE, isn't it , Gem?)
We then floated down the road, with a spring in every step(mixed metaphor!)
to the nearest fast-food restaurant and ordered fajitas all round and a large jug of their special margaritas!!!
What WERE we thinking? What possessed us to be in celebratory mode that fateful evening......I dunno...but it's that kind of thinking that we're talking about on this blog. Call it denial, call it communal madness, but without it I'd have been deeply, clinically depressed long since....
Cancer isn't inherently funny...I know that, Gemma knows that...we ALL know that ffs(!) BUT if you make it feel like it is (sometimes) ,laughter is just as important a medicine as any one of those 43 chemo-cycles that I've done up to now...........(OK, I counted them......)
TO BE CONTINUED...............
Obviously, I am Jacqui, Gemma's Mama. You might as well get used to that now, because we like the sound of that (Mum is for sons, of which I also have one) and we think Mummy's a bit babyish and too posh.........You can tell I'm putting off actually starting to blog (verb apparently as well as noun!) about the real subject of this blog (noun this time!). I should have done this years ago.....over 10 now, but didn't have wi-fi or a lap-top back then in the dark ages.......so with new technology at my fingertips and hours and hours of chemo-induced insomnia spent writing this kind of stuff in my head, and finally with the encouragement and promise to co-write this from my darling Gemma, HERE I GO.............
(Or..Gemma, is that enough for the first one????)
Where do I start? It would be easier to co-write this if Gemma and I lived in the same country. We don't, so she'll just have to trust me! Well I am into my 7th round of chemo (ie. 7 different chemo regimes of up to 6 months each) in 11 years. (Boring but relevant Medical History to follow...bear with..bear with...) I was diagnosed with stage 1 (TEENYWEENY little lumpette) Breast Cancer in August 2001. Only1 lymph node affected...I mean what's the point in that? Why not go for the full 18, Big C?
It all happened so fast I was in for the op (lumpettectomy) in what seemed like minutes! I liked that...NOT the op, but the speed of it happening, because..duh..no time to think. Doc (German/Greek...great combo as it happens, medically speaking...tell you why later..) kept being very optimistic."sure it's benign..."ok NOT..""probably no lymph-node involvement.." "ok 1/18" "op,chemo,radiotherapy tamoxifen, follow-up for 5 years..back to same as before August 2001" So upbeat was he that when (remember Gemma/) he told us all this in his office pre my first ever virgin chemo (NOT a verb..wonder why?..I chemo, she chemoed , we would have chem......Oh shut UP!)SO upbeat was he, that when he said I'd be doing 4 cycles and would probably lose 7 kilos, Gemma and I turned to each other and gave each other a high-five with a huge grin on our faces!! (This is TRUE, isn't it , Gem?)
We then floated down the road, with a spring in every step(mixed metaphor!)
to the nearest fast-food restaurant and ordered fajitas all round and a large jug of their special margaritas!!!
What WERE we thinking? What possessed us to be in celebratory mode that fateful evening......I dunno...but it's that kind of thinking that we're talking about on this blog. Call it denial, call it communal madness, but without it I'd have been deeply, clinically depressed long since....
Cancer isn't inherently funny...I know that, Gemma knows that...we ALL know that ffs(!) BUT if you make it feel like it is (sometimes) ,laughter is just as important a medicine as any one of those 43 chemo-cycles that I've done up to now...........(OK, I counted them......)
TO BE CONTINUED...............
Thank you for sharing your story with such an upbeat voice. I can relate to it as my Mum has been going through some difficult times too and we also live far away from each other. I will tell her about your story and this initiative. Keep it up and beat the hell out of this Cancer!!!
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