… the 21st Night of September?
🎵 Earth, Wind & Fire – September (https://youtu.be/Gs069dndIYk?si=n-cpiwN0DHVfeQK-)
Well Monday was my 21 year wedding anniversary- we married in Paphos, Cyprus on the 21st September 2005 ❤️ Thirty-two years together in total, but 21 years ago today we finally made it official and tied the knot.
Happy anniversary to us! 🍾🥂
Who’d have thought, looking at that wedding photo below, that 21 years later I’d be the bald one?!🤣🤣🤣 He’s kept his head of hair, albeit a bit greyer now and less greek waiter!
And where better to celebrate such a romantic occasion than The Christie chemotherapy unit for chemo number 7! Forget champagne, chemo drops are where it’s at!
I’m now well over halfway through this first lot of weekly treatment, which feels quite significant. I can actually see the end of these weekly ones getting closer now, rather than feeling like I’ve only just started – remember how depressed i was feeling thinking it was going to be such hard work but I think i’ve coped pretty well all things considering!
I asked the chemo nurses about a pink rash/blotchiness that keeps appearing across my arms and chest. Apparently that can be quite normal with Paclitaxel (yes, I have finally learnt what the chemo beginning with P is called!) so it was nothing they seem particularly concerned about, which is good -they’ve just given me some antihistamines and cream so hopefully i can keep it under control.
I’d purposely pushed for a later appointment because we’d been away for the weekend, and it was so busy later in the day! I was in the Yellow Suite and every chair was full. A few of the nurses said they’d not had a break all day. There are nine chairs in each of the different coloured sections and it feels absolutely relentless. We tried working out how many people they must treat a day but lost count!
I felt lucky that I’d had a rather lovely couple of days before the chemo, and escaped to Shropshire with my son and Chief for a little glamping trip – a fab little shepherd’s hut, hot tub and a complete change of scenery. It also worked out rather conveniently because Gary came back from his lads’ trip poorly, so getting myself and my chemo-compromised immune system well out of his way was probably excellent timing.
So 21 years ago, we were all dressed up, with hair, saying I do. Then flash forward and we’re sitting in The Christie, Gary’s drinking tea, I’m having chemo number seven and we’re still laughing. That’s true love – and a true demonstration of our vows ‘in sickness and in health’ ❤️
Sam x
PS i’ve just looked up the numbers being treated as it really struck me with how busy it was, with so many people going through their own different and personal cancer journeys. Christie’s cancer treatment service now treats around 400 people every single day, and demand has apparently been rising by 8–10% a year. Across its sites and at-home service, they’re now delivering around 115,000 treatments a year. Madness!
When you’re sitting in your own chemo chair, having your own little bag of chemo, you don’t really see the scale of it. It amazes me that somehow, amongst all those people and all those treatments, and the missed breaks, the nurses still manage to make it feel personal ❤️
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