Birmingham Blood

I'll start off by apologising for the title of this post but it is Halloween!

After the first couple of weeks in Birmingham, I still hadn't begun to eat or drink. As can be expected, my parents were naturally very anxious about this and yet my doctors did say that it was perfectly normal and there shouldn't be too much to worry about. I spent every single day lying in bed being given chemotherapy which was mixed in with the occasional blood transfusion! I think in total I had over a dozen transfusions during the time that I spent in the hospital and if you ever have one, you might agree, that it can be an almost surreal experience watching someone else's blood being dripped into you.

However, apologies, as I am getting ahead of myself! To administer the chemotherapy and blood, I had to have multiple cannulas in the backs of my hands and the insides of my elbows. Unfortunately, this was unsustainable as due to the excessive strain that the cannulas were put under, I needed a new one to be inserted into me pretty much every day. Therefore, I needed, what is known as a Hickman Line, put in me as soon as was possible. A Hickman Line is a central venous catheter, which meant that all my chemotherapy could be administered with less pain, straight into my heart. The actual operation was delayed by an entire week due to the amount of other people requiring surgery, but when the day came that I was "put under", it was such a relief. It meant that instead of doctors and nurses sticking holes in me left, right and center, the chemotherapy and access to my bloods became far easier due to the two tubes which lead directly into my chest.

My operation was on the 22nd of October and that night was the first night that I ate, since the 7th. I can still remember being very proud of managing to digest a mouthful of pasta bake and one of those ever reliable Jaffa Cakes. It was a very important day in my treatment, made even more special by the fact that I had finally allowed some of my friends to visit me the next day. This was something that I had been loathe to do, due to fear of them not knowing how to act around me anymore. It was a genuine fear at the time, but a completely  irrational one as it turned out.