It’s been a crazy week: Dealing with a throat infection (been disease-free so far, apart from the Cancer), having my hair tidied at home by lovely Jeanette (who has cut my hair for decades) after the radiotherapy hair loss (less of the “mad professor” look now, and Wow! so that’s the shape of my head).
Friday night was the date of the annual Lab reunion, “The STL Quarter Century Club”, which was once just for those fortunate enough to have spent 25 exciting years at Standard Telecommunication Laboratories in Harlow, Essex, UK. Fortunately the event is now open to absolutely anyone who at one time enjoyed working there.
From the age of 21, I spent 38 happy years of my life at the Labs, developing Optical Fibre Communication (“retiring” at the end of 2004 to focus on my new passion: the implications of the incredibly limited rate at which humans can absorb New information from the present moment). So when my rapidly developing tumour was first diagnosed (end June, and biopsied end July), I did not dare to anticipate being able attend the event.
So on Saturday night I got smartly dressed, put on my STL QCC tie! and spent a delightful evening mixing with all my ex colleagues. It felt a great way to celebrate the end of an exraordinarilly exciting (and with hindsight productive) period of my life.
So home to bed, and down into into Hell!
The Steroids and the anticoagulant injections, make me prone to nosebleeds. At midnight the blood was just pouring out so fast that I dare not lay down, so stayed sitting upright in the cold for the next 5 Hours, bleeding heavily and continuously despite all my attempts to stem the flow. Finally I accepted defeat and my dearest Lavinia managed to get me dressed to take me to Harlow hosital A&E.
We naively assumed that A&E departments are always very warm, so I staggered out to the car in the dark, only to find the car completely frosted up! The temperature was 10 degrees colder than anticipated, but too late to correct my attire, we needed to press on, this was an emergency!
Arriving at Harlow hospital, it soon became apparent that the entire reception area was unheated, due to the unanticipated sudden drop in temperature. After a few hours of hypothermia Lavinia managed to negotiate for me to sit inside where it was considerably warmer.
By chance the wife of one of my ex work colleagues (who had sat on my table the night before) who works as a nurse there, had spotted my name on a list of patients waiting to be seen. She found some extra blankets for me and I was soon sweating with relief!
Five hours later I got to see a doctor. By then the bleeding had become far more intermittent. The doctor prescribed some mysterious magic ointment, and we set off home.
Exhausted from 35 hours without sleep, I fell into bed, and into a deep sleep for the next glorious 6 hours. For someone used to waking every hour and a half to pee, this was absolute luxury! Woke very much refreshed, and started to blog!
I want to say just how much I depend on Lavinias support to get me through these times. She must be exhausted from being continually at my beck and call. I’m humbled by her Love and her patience with me.
