Life has settled here into some sort of hospital routine,
albeit one we never sought or dreamt of.
It begins quite early in the ward. Even before the 6am
onslaught of chirpy staff coming along to dispense medications or take blood,
there’s friendly cleaners coming along to mop the floors. They reappear at
numerous other times of the day to work at keeping the place (especially
oncology ward) as infection free as possible.
Sleep. Sleep and hospitals just do not belong well in the
same sentence. Apart from the regular ‘obs’ and checks, there are a large
assortment of strange sounds, from squeaky doors, beeping equipment, bells to
attract nurses attention (I’m situated near the nurse’s station), quiet chatter,
right to the creaks and groans coming from the water pipes deep in the bowels
of the old hospital walls. The other night I settled down early at around 9pm
(as you do) and drifted quite quickly into a deep sleep. When I woke to the
quiet rustle of a nurse doing routine checks, I thought “Oh beauty that was a
good night’s sleep”. It was only when I checked the time that I discovered it
was actually only 10:47pm… sigh…
My days are fairly unexciting now that the testing
process has been done, with my daily (except for weekends) trips to
radiotherapy. It takes about an hour all up, and I am coping ok with the
procedure, with a slightly pink ‘sunburnt’ back and a little nausea which is
able to be managed. The radiotherapy machine beeps when the actual radiation
takes place, and I strongly visualize the rays doing their work. “Take that you
mongrel cancer cells… take that… and that…”
I am in a two-bed ward at the moment and am with a lovely
young girl in her 20’s. She has had a long cancer journey at this stage, around
3 years, and I am in awe of her ability to remain calm and cheerful despite the
difficult physical circumstances she endures.
Thank you to everyone who has touched base with Brian and
myself, whether it be by text, Email or phone. Your love, concern and prayers
mean so much and have helped to lift our spirits. It can feel very isolating
being out of our community of family and friends and these touches just serve
to strengthen that link.
We are also very grateful to Tom and Chelsea Pietsch (and
baby Benedict) for their kind hospitality by providing bed and breakfast for
Brian.
Brian has been here in Geelong most of the time, but with
short trips home to keep the home-fires burning.
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