Day One Hundred & Ninety One (Radiotherapy 1)

Today will be my first radiotherapy session in Oxford at 2:30pm - we're staying in Oxford tonight as tomorrow's session is at 9am so it avoids battling the rush hour traffic. Most days radiotherapy is at around 12:30pm which is great as it means I don't have to get up too early or get caught up in traffic.

It will be strange to try to get back into a routine everyday after the last few months but it's good practice! I'm told to expect tiredness towards the end of the treatment as it builds up over the four weeks and can last for quite a while once the treatment is over but apart from that and red / sore skin it will definitely be a lot easier than surgery & chemotherapy. It was great to be able to chat to Charis about it over the weekend as she's a qualified radiotherapist / radiographer (sorry Charis I always forget which is which!!)

It was lovely to catch up with Nicky for coffee yesterday & with Steve & Ruth last night. Dave's back is still giving him a lot of pain - it's been sore since Friday so we hope & pray it will improve really soon.

Day One Hundred & Eighty Nine

I made it back to the UK last night after a really great 10 days in Ireland. It was so good to spend time with family & friends and to spend the last couple of days with Dave & Peta & baby Rebekah :)

I got to see Charis yesterday afternoon as she picked me up from Peta's, we went for a lovely al fresco lunch and she dropped me to the airport yesterday evening. It was great to catch up!

But it was really nice to come home to see my husband last night :) He's got a sore back at the moment so has to take things easy - hopefully it will improve really soon.

We have a couple of days to settle down before starting radiotherapy on Tuesday afternoon and get into the routine of travelling to & from Oxford. In some ways it's great to be starting off on the final leg of this journey - and more than anything looking forward to finishing in a month's time!!

Day One Hundred & Eighty Six

It's been so amazing to spend time with Peta & Dave the last 24 hours and to meet baby Rebekah! She is beautiful....so tiny & so cute :) She was 1 week old yesterday & it's a privilege to be able to share in some of her eariest days....I get all the good bits & managed to sleep through the night while Mummy & Daddy looked after her changes & feeds!!

I'm here until Saturday & then head back to the UK in time to start radiotherapy on Tuesday. Healthwise, I've been doing very well, although my arm is still a little tight & sore when I stretch fully. I haven't been as good as I should be at doing my physio excercises so I need to work on that over the next few days so that I can stretch properly for radiotherapy.

Day One Hundred & Eight Four

It's been great to spend time with family and friends back in Cork the last few days. I had a lovely time this afternoon catching up with Rachel who is just back from Canada - it was fantastic to see her after more than a year! And it's been great to spend time with Heather & Tommy & the girls this evening.

I'm travelling to Dublin tomorrow to spend some time with Peta & Dave & baby Rebekah - can't wait to meet their little daughter :)