5.9.14

Today is Dr Jack day. I will be enquiring about my scan results and asking about the 'area' in my groin that was high lighted. And i will also be ogling him!!!
Met Linda at M&S. Every so often they have a fashion show for the Premier Club, of which i am a member! You get to try some new foods and drink and see clothes that they hope you will want to buy when you see a weird looking woman with weird hair modelling them. Well we queued to get into the 'arena'. Just about got through as they were counting heads cos of 'fire and safety' (we're on the shop floor with a rope barrier round!!!). Helped myself to a paper plate with a mini flapjack, brownie and one of those marshmallow teacakes. A cheese straw, mini cupcake  and a plastic glass (a contradiction in terms) of bucks fizz. All the seats were taken by people, all with hair! I was the only baldie there! Nobody offered me a seat! There was about 8 of us lesser mortals stood up, no seats available to us. We stood there like spare parts, a plate of food in one hand and a plastic glass in the other. No table to put our drink down so we could sample the nibbles! I asked the nice lady at the barrier if there was anywhere to put our drinks.
'No' she replied, 'its not very well organised is it?'
'How do i eat my food?' i asked.
No answer.
We decided to leave the 'arena' and head for the coffee shop. We would eat the food there and have a coffee with it. Got to the cafe, full to bursting and a long queue.
So we enjoyed our party nosh on one of the sofas in the furniture department, with a nice oak table to put our drinks on! We did get some weird looks!
Time for my visit with my favourite haematologist.
Sat with our cup of free hot chocolate in the Harbour hospital, we waited for himself to call me in.
He came into the waiting area and smiled warmly. He didn't even call my name, he sort of tipped his head in the direction of his office. Very familiar, i thought!
'How are you, you're looking good!'
He obviously wants me!
His next comment, 'You've got more hair than me now! Is that your natural colour or are you a bottle blonde!'
How very dare he!
He sat across the desk from me, both of us wishing Linda wasn't there so that we could whisper sweet nothings! But she was there, so we didn't.
He talked of my scan results, how they were very good. He expects me to be cured for good of lymphoma considering my scan results now and previously. He said i should use sunblock to prevent skin cancer. A possibility of a secondary cancer in 10 to 15 years. Stay vigilant.
He would keep a close eye on me (what a lovely thought) for the next 2 years in particular (if i don't relapse by  then, I'm not likely to), but for 5 years, or more. I will have bloods done to check my ESR. But my ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate - a check for inflammation in the body) is always unstable and erratic. So i may need a scan if theres any worries. Either way, i shouldn't worry about a thing.
I mentioned to him about my veins being very hard.
He had a look. He held my hand and stroked where the veins are, gently, moving his hand in soft delicate strokes..... oops sorry, i got carried away then!
'Thats the worse case of calcification I've ever seen!'
My reply.........'Go me!'
He says they won't get any better, thats it! The chemo has well and truly wrecked my veins.
I asked if it were normal that i should feel 20 years older?
His reply..........'Yes you've had some pretty strong stuff injected into you!'
So its official, I am a crock!
He ordered me to have some bloods, and that was it. I won't see him for another 3 months - 12 whole weeks to sit and wait.
He does make me laugh. He's very absent minded. He said, 'Ive lost my pencil, oh I've found it, its in my pocket!' That tickled me!
So i had bloods taken. It wasn't my usual nurse Kelly, it was the resident houseman (doctor) who struts around in smart navy scrubs. He's taken blood from me before. He seems to think its a bit of a science, takes it all very seriously. Makes him feel important i suppose. Last time he ordered Linda to stand by the window - why, we don't know.
So today, he ordered Linda to stand by the window. She snorted a little which made me laugh which i had to disguise as a cough! He asked me to pump my hand whilst he put on the tourniquet, and to hold my fist closed whilst he prodded my veins to see where the plumpest one was. As he prodded the central one, i commented, 'thats usually the best one for blood!'
OMG the look he gave me!!! He looked me in the eye and then smiled. The smile that suggests he is the doctor, not me and that i should shut the f**k up!
What a twat!
Again Linda snorted a little and disguised it by shuffling about a bit.
We walked out of the hospital like grown ups and into the car, both shouting 'What an asshole!' and then laughing like lunatics.
Home again in time to pack the car and travel to Chris's house for the weekend.
And to bed to dream of Dr Jack and that desk!!!