My Story - Part 5

Pandemic

Amidst all of the chaos of finding out how very little time I actually had left, a virus decided to consume the world. Two days after finding out about my new prognosis I developed a cough, which pushed my final 2 radiotherapy sessions back as I had to follow the rules and isolate. Then the whole country went in to lockdown and I was advised to shield from the 23rd March. The cough amounted to nothing and I was able to finish RT as normal.

My final session was the 6th of April and then I was able to have my break from treatment as planned. Of course, even then, it wasn't really a 'break' because of the side effects that followed. Breast RT was an absolute breeze compared to the after effects of brain RT and they can also go on for months afterwards. The headaches were the worst and there was a 2-3 week period where I couldn't even get out of bed and I even thought that this was it. This was the end.

After a conversation with my team and my hospice nurse, my medication was altered and I was able to get back to resuming as much of a normal life as I could in lockdown. But that didn't come without its downsides.

Stolen Memories

Any hopes I had of booking any trips to make memories with my family were dashed. We had to cancel a family trip to Weymouth that we had booked in May and with the way the country is continuing to go again, I'm still very uncomfortable rescheduling it. I also had to prepare for the possibility that nobody would be able to attend my funeral, so I had planned for two different services. After getting my bad news, I made A LOT of lists.

I had the make the most out of a bad situation. Set myself smaller achievements and make them my own. So Easter weekend became Chreastmas. The generosity of complete strangers was, and still is, second to none. With the inconsideration from a lot of people in spreading this virus, it was extremely heartwarming to see the amount of people reach out to us to help make the weekend so special. We had a full roast dinner with a turkey, an egg hunt out the garden, gifts for the children, the decorations were up, and the Easter bunny appeared at our door!

It was bittersweet, but a brilliant mood boost for myself and the rest of the family.