Radiotherapised

Evenin' dudes & dudettes. Like a virgin - irradiated for the very first time... Hmm... doesn't have quite the same ring to it eh? Soz, yeah anyway had my first radiotherapy today. It was quick. And yes I mean like Jim quick. :P I was told that it'd only be like 5-10mins in the room, and someone else my family knows who's had it before said they took their own CD in to listen to. Well the actual radiotherapy only took like 10-15seconds? Something like that. Well ok, not quite as quick as Jim, but you get the picture. The setting up & aligning took a minute or two, but yeah I was out in no time. No time to put a CD on or anything, although they did already have music playing - they just have a stereo in there playing all the time. And it was playing Travis, which was nice. So I had just settled down, ready for a snooze / nice relaxing listen to Travis, and then the gal comes in and says "Ok." So I'm thinking, umm... that can't be it, so I just stayed still just in case. But she lowered my bed thingy, says "There ya go."

"Is that it?"
"That's it!"

Hmm... so I travel nearly an hour to get to Colchester, for 10 seconds of Travis:P Lol. Could have done that at home. But naah the people are really kind. Especially one gal who I thought was quite fit & was real nice as well. She offered to take me into a private room to "Go through things with me." But I declined, heh - I saw straight through her. Naah lol I'd already had my questions answered when I had it all planned out. So yeah, basically - radiotherapy's a walkover. If anyone here ever has to have it done, then seriously, don't worry. It's nothing compared to chemo anyway. But as long as you all eat fruit, then you'll be ok:P hehe I think there's more to it than that, but hey, fruit can't harm ya.

I've definitely become more aware of what food I eat. Before, I used to love really fattening unhealthy stuff, which probably helped my lil growth on it's way. But yeah, I'll always have a glass of orange juice instead of a glass of wine with meals now. I still wouldn't mind getting a lil drunk every now and then, but I've been drinking a lot less as well.

Anyway - the only problems people have with radiotherapy are those where the selected area gets delicate & even painful. It all depends on where you have it done. If you ahve full body radiotherapy, then obviously, it could become quite awkward. I spose that'd most probably take a lot longer as well - hence the reason to take your own CD. The only thing I'm likely to get is a sore throat, coz that's where it's all being directed. No probs. I spose I might have been more apprehensive had it been the only thing I was having. Chemotherapy kinda prepared me for anything & everything, and comparatively, what I'm having done now is nothing.

Some older people I've met, (in waiting rooms etc.) who have / have had cancer, are really grumbly & complain all the time. One lady I was talking to kept saying how it was awful that they didn't even let you put Radox in your bath when having radio. Excuse me? You're being cured of cancer. Cancer. And you're complaining about not being able to use frickin' Radox. Sigh. Coz I'm not allowed to use spray anti-perspirant or shower gel or anything like that, otherwise it'll burn & singe my skin or something I dunno. And she was also complaining about the taste of the white stuff they make you drink before having a CT scan. Ok, that's not as bad. I think that any normal person is allowed to complain about the taste of that, as long as they don't go over the top. But after going through chemotherapy, who gives a crap what the stuff tastes like if it's gonna tell you whether you're cured or not? And this was actually her last CT scan - these were crucial results she would have gotten now. Anyway, enough about that. I spose I'm just young & don't care as much. Where as others are old, wanna settle down, retire & not have to worry about stuff like cancer... I dunno. But there's no point in complaining or getting yourself worked up right? Absolutely no point whatsoever.

Anyway enough about hospitally medically type stuff. Hope everyone who's at uni is having fun. In fact, I think I've spoken to everyone who's at uni at the moment, but anyway, hope it's all good. In fact, I just hope everyone is having fun. So there.

Oh yeah, on another immature note - on the way back from Colchester, I saw a road called "Turkey Cock Lane". Chuckle chuckle. Well, what can I say, my rents were being boring on the way back, so I had to find some other source of amusement.

Sometime in the future, I'm hoping to learn at least a little on how to physically maintain or even build my own PC. Coz apparently courses are cheap, and it'd save a hellovalotta money if I wanna use any money I might have left over at the end of my gap year on a new computer for uni. I was thinking of that since we went into PC World on the way back from the hospital, and they charge ridiculous prices for a "PC Healthcheck" or something. So yeah, I might try & learn a bit myself.

Anyway, that'll do for today. I'm gonna put in the other half of the Lawyer trufax quotes, as promised. But btw, tell me if you think they're crap and you never want me to put anything like it on here again, and maybe I won't.

Q: 'Do you recall the time that you examined the body?'
A: 'The autopsy started around 8.30pm.'
Q: 'And Mr Hubert was dead at the time?'

Q: 'Mr Slattery, you went on a rather elaborate honeymoon, didn't you?'
A: 'I went to Europe, sir.'
Q: 'And you took your new wife?'

Q: 'So the date of the conception was August eighth?'
A: 'Yes.'
Q: 'And what were you doing at the time?'

Q: 'Are you qualified to give a urine sample?'
A: 'I have been since early childhood.'

Q: 'Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?'
A: 'No.'
Q: 'Did you check for blood pressure?'
A: 'No.'
Q: 'Did you check for breathing?'
A: 'No.'
Q: 'So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?'
A: 'No.'
Q: 'How can you be so sure, Doctor?'
A: 'Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.'
Q: 'But could the patient have still been alive nevertheless?'
A: 'It's possible he could have been alive, and practising law somewhere, I suppose.'

Peace out.

Bits n Pieces

So we're back, and I've finally got my arse in gear and decided to write a blog - had loadsa stuff I wanted to blog about over the last week or so, so let's just hope I remember it.

First of all - I've finished my chemo!!! w00t. So there. I'll be having some radiotherapy after I've seen Prill off to uni:P but that shouldn't be anywhere near the hardship:) My hair has started to grow back as well:D so now I've got quite a dark collection of fuzz on my head. They've told me it might grow back a slightly different colour n stuff, so we'll just have to wait n see - it doesn't look drastically different as yet... And also - my income support has finally come through (hehe). A huge big fat cheque for £377.58 and hopefully they'll be some more on the way until I start work in Tescos. And when I do start work, I can carry on claiming for a while - it's called "Return to Work Credit". Hehe it's all gravy.

Anyway - went to stay with my cousin near Newcastle if you didn't know, partly coz my rents are planning to move up north when they retire, so they wanted to have a look at some areas up there to start thinking about. Don't worry, they ain't gonna be living close to the university, but it will be kinda handy having them within an hours drive. Also I got to meet the choral director-person, coz I'm planning on going for a choral scholarship. So I had a chat & he seems a good bloke - bit of a laff. He tested my range & said it sounded promising, so I'm gonna go back there sometime in the next calendar year for a proper audition, after I've got around to organising some singing lessons back at school. So yes - if you're one of those people who has another year of fun-filled Felsted frolics, then I might be visiting every now and then:) Oh yeah, and while I was in Newcastle, I spotted a few rather amusing place & road names that I thought I might share with you. One place called "Wide Open"... hmm... a little strange, but it doesn't compare to living in the wonderful village named "Dirt Pot". Seriously - we found it on the map... who could live in a place with such a name? Eh? A Place name that could be interpreted as the crapper, as my cousin astutely pointed out:P Also - we travelled along the road called the B1337 - so be jealous everyone.

Right - on a more serious note, I wanted to write about the hostage situation in Russia, but since it was a while ago, I've probably lost my momentum, but never mind. I was watching it on the news, as you do. Maybe it's just coz I haven't seen a real life tragedy on TV for quite a while, but anyway it just hit me really hard. Especially one image of a father holding his lifeless daughter in his arms, with the mother nearby pacing up and down, crying, not knowing what to do. I think it was because I haven't watched the news properly for quite a while, and haven't seen anything like this for ages. I've read the newspapers, but it's not the same as seeing moving images. This may not be a very nice thought, but can you imagine holding someone like that - someone that only a few days ago would have been hugging you back, full of smiles - suddenly gone, dead, now just an object, no longer able to interact. Also - something that Podgy said "Each human life has its own dreams" - I remember one of the boys who was killed in all this apparently wanted to open the first Macdonalds. Could seem a little silly, but yeah - everyone has the right to have a go at whatever they want, as long as it doesn't harm or hinder anyone else:( Sorry - I know this paragraph probably contradicts my last blog, in that I want everyone to be happy & here I am writing depressing stuff. Anyway - I know that in the short term, it probably would be better to give Chechnya its independence - coz the terrorist attacks would most likely stop. But what if there were other areas of Russia who then thought that if it worked for the Chechens, then why can't it work for us? Cue more terrorist attacks because they think Putin is easy. I can't actually name any regions that would want their independence in Russia, coz I ain't no expert. But even if there aren't any other such places, technically it only takes one person, so anything could happen. So maybe it is better not to negotiate in the long run, but then... the Chechens will just keep on killing anyway, right? So I dunno, tis a tough one.

Now on a lighter note, I've just finished reading Lirael. It kicks. Simple as that. So anyone who's reading this - go read Sabriel & then Lirael, coz they both r0x0r. Can't wait to read the next one:D Oh yeah, just remembered - if you didn't know, now you can get paid to put ads back on your blog. It all depends on how much people click on them, but yeah I'm gonna give it a go. If it's really crap and annoying then I'll remove them, so feel free to leave angry comments on the subject.

Anyway - onto more recent happenings. I had an awesome birthday:D hehe. Prill's written about it already, so you can go look there if you haven't already. But yeah, the driving wasn't too challenging, the place we stayed at was perfect - the owners were very nice indeed, and Alton Towers was amazing, as expected. Sorry we couldn't make it an outing with more peeps in the end:( would have been awesome. But anyway, had a good time. Prill managed to smuggle a Happy Tree Friends birthday cake up in the back of my car, hehe which was a very nice surprise:D Here we go:

And, to add to that - the owners of the B&B knew it was my birthday, coz, well, we were chatting about it, so they left a bottle of champagne in my room:D hehe. Prill didn't really like it, so... well... I had to have it all to myself:P hehe I finished it over two days, but had most of it on my birthday:P which was incredibly good timing, since I had only just finished on my antibiotics that very morning:) Anyway, Oblivion & Nemesis were awesome, apu, although Prill didn't like Oblivion:P d'oh! And the new one's pretty good as well - Spinball Whizzer. Twas my fourth visit to Alton Towers - still great stuff:D Oh yeah - Prill's rents got me a pressie as well:D a mini 40GB portable hard drive, just like hers:D Was very nice of them indeed. Tis awesome.

Anyway, to counter the depressing bit earlier, I'm gonna stick another quote in... oh and tell me if you hate them btw, I just think they're funny - these ones are all real life quotes methinks, it's just the first page, I'll put the next one in on my next blog:

"The Lawyer's an Ass:

'Now, doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know anything about it until the next morning?'

'The youngest son, the twenty-year-old, how old is he?'

'Were you present when your picture was taken?'

'Were you alone or by yourself?'

'Was it you or your younger brother who was killed in the war?'

'Did he kill you?'

'How far apart were the vehicles at the time of the collision?'

'You were there until the time that you left, is that true?'

'Doctor, how many autopsies have you performed on dead people?'

Q: 'She had three children, right?'
A: 'Yes.'
Q: 'How many were boys?'
A: 'None.'
Q: 'Were there any girls?'

Q: 'How was your first marriage terminated?'
A: 'By death.'
Q: 'And by whose death was it terminated?'

Q: 'Can you describe the individual?'
A: 'He was about medium height and had a beard.'
Q: 'Was this a male or a female?'"