Back on task

Now that the hospital visit is over, I feel so much more able to focus on life.

Yesterday, I was so tired that I did nothing more than potter to the village and back - by car! If truth be told, the examination on Friday was really quite rough. I assume that the nurse was checking whether I really wasn't experiencing any pain, but I did find her technique rather more vigorous than I would have expected. Consequently, I didn't want to do very much yesterday, preferring, instead to recover.

I did learn something interesting on Friday. The nurse said that I'd been lucky not to have suffered any post-radiation side effects such as bleeding from various orifices. I was surprised to hear this, since, when you sign up for radiotherapy, you're told that you may experience some problems after the treatment finishes, but you're led to believe that there isn't a huge risk that this will happen. So, I asked the question, "Is it unusual not to experience some after effects?" Apparently it is, though it seems that those of us who've had external radiation therapy only are less likely to have unexpected bleeding than those who've had the internal variety. It would be nice if the risks were made a bit clearer when you start off. I'm sure it's in the small print somewhere, for legal reasons, but, quite frankly, when you're told you need radiotherapy, you're usually not in a fit state to read the small print! I was really quite shocked to learn this and count myself very fortunate - though there's still time for me to have problems, of course...

Now, all I need to do is phone the hospital to check that they've made sure I'm seeing a female member of staff in January when I go back - there was some confusion about the date, and I see that my appointment is for the male consultant's clinic, though this may simply be because the nurse's clinic takes place under the auspices of that one. Best to sort it out now, though, I feel!