First day of Chemo

I have been dreading today
My return to the Oncology ward
Now relocated to the ground floor
And renamed 'Patient Infusion' room.
'Hello Alison'
A sense of deja vu
Emma the head nurse remembers me from 2011
My old files dug out of the paper based archives
Everything's computerised now
Nurses wheeling laptops around on trolleys
Wifi
Order my lunch
Settle in with a home made quilt by one of the visitors
I carry my hot water bottle on my arm from home
to keep the vein warm and swollen
Easier to get the needle in
And it works first go
Very relieved
All goes well











I have a good book
My phone  - sending texts and Ruth rings into chat
Time passes
Five visits to the toilet attached to the trolley with the bags
I keep crashing it into the TV on the ceiling
In the toilet lots of notices
One catches my eye:

'Cancer might rob you of that blissful ignorance
That once led you to believe that tomorrow stretched forever
In exchange you are granted the vision to see each day as precious
A gift to be used wisely and richly
No one can take that away'

On my fifth visit dragging the trolley I take a detour over to the wig library
Donated wigs you are welcome to take one
The hot pink one speaks to me
But I pass and choose a gorgeous blonde wig with long hair 
Two weeks and I will be bald

  




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