Sidekicks and Side Effects
So - last time I wrote my blog, I had just finished the brachytherapy!
2 weeks later sees me a wee bit tired, a bit quieter perhaps than usual, and slightly aware of some of the suggested side effects from those particles of radioactive material that I had a close friendship with for all of about 16 minutes!!! I'll come to that again later.
I've been really lazy - or so my guilt ridden personality tells me. I've not been getting up very early, I've not been doing very much and I shouldn't really feel bad about that, I suppose. Today I was grateful to my colleague, Helen, who called round quite early to deliver knitted squares to me....... this is for a secret project, so I can't spill the beans - I shall at a later date..... Interesting how many youngsters (and oldsters) would LOVE to learn to knit - we've started a knitting club - which is fun. Some of us (Peter included) call it a "Stitch'n'bitch" session, whilst others name it "knit'n'natter" - this is all completely dependent upon who turns up! Some of my friends are just too nice to bitch (and they know who they are!). Some are supremely qualified (and I think they know who they are too!)
Talking of handmade items as I was (knitting - if you've lost the thread....)
I walked into the kitchen a couple of days ago to discover Ned crawling around on the floor, with a large tripod, a camera balanced atop, and a circular tabletop on the floor with some plates, and his HANDMADE tripod, a pot of veggie curry bubbling on the stove, and a certain level of stress in the air. After a brief interchange of ideas, I volunteered my services as his assistant.
Let me explain. Ned is in the last 6 months of his Masters programme at the RCA, and is focussing now on his final projects. His course is Design Products (otherwise known as DP) and he had agreed to put one of his projects (plywood trivet called Kolmio) into a Kickstarter programme, which will help him with a manufacturing opportunity. He's been looking at the properties, and possibilities, of manufacturing with handmade plywood. He has made some really beautiful trivets, sold a few at the RCA christmas Fayre, and is now looking for backing to help him with the cost of producing a first run. When I found him crawling around, he was endeavouring to make his little video to promote his product. He was setting up, positioning the camera, using the telefoto lens, moving the food and plates and trivets around, dishing up, spilling, crawling between the tripod legs and generally getting rather stressed........
I think I arrived at just about the right time- and was able to hand objects to him, heat up food, decant food, wash sausages (I kid you not) and even get some brussel sprouts onto the plates (for aesthetic effect you understand......)
I really enjoyed being his studio assistant (well - kitchen assistant actually) and he was able to finish his video in time for the kickstarter deadline the following day. He posted his Kickstarter link online shortly after it was approved, and we're delighted to discover that he has achieved over 100% of pledges within 24 hours. Go Ned! (Don't shout that out loud - we used to do that at the swimming pool during galas, and it gets confused with the word 'gonads') Unfortunate.
This is the link to the Kickstarter video if any readers want to have a laugh - Ned chose the music because he thought it would be amusingly trite - but many people have told him it was brilliant! I think it sounds like a long clip from a bad early days shopping channel.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/262719894/quickstarter-kolmio-molded-plywood-trivet?ref=project_build&fbclid=IwAR3wKQovHOpXgDnP61JKtPt1uX9B9ML-9dwMP7YuxVljN82p4Kdk8f-z7rc
SO back to my side effects - stop reading now if you're feeling squeamish....
2 weeks later sees me a wee bit tired, a bit quieter perhaps than usual, and slightly aware of some of the suggested side effects from those particles of radioactive material that I had a close friendship with for all of about 16 minutes!!! I'll come to that again later.
I've been really lazy - or so my guilt ridden personality tells me. I've not been getting up very early, I've not been doing very much and I shouldn't really feel bad about that, I suppose. Today I was grateful to my colleague, Helen, who called round quite early to deliver knitted squares to me....... this is for a secret project, so I can't spill the beans - I shall at a later date..... Interesting how many youngsters (and oldsters) would LOVE to learn to knit - we've started a knitting club - which is fun. Some of us (Peter included) call it a "Stitch'n'bitch" session, whilst others name it "knit'n'natter" - this is all completely dependent upon who turns up! Some of my friends are just too nice to bitch (and they know who they are!). Some are supremely qualified (and I think they know who they are too!)
Talking of handmade items as I was (knitting - if you've lost the thread....)
I walked into the kitchen a couple of days ago to discover Ned crawling around on the floor, with a large tripod, a camera balanced atop, and a circular tabletop on the floor with some plates, and his HANDMADE tripod, a pot of veggie curry bubbling on the stove, and a certain level of stress in the air. After a brief interchange of ideas, I volunteered my services as his assistant.
Let me explain. Ned is in the last 6 months of his Masters programme at the RCA, and is focussing now on his final projects. His course is Design Products (otherwise known as DP) and he had agreed to put one of his projects (plywood trivet called Kolmio) into a Kickstarter programme, which will help him with a manufacturing opportunity. He's been looking at the properties, and possibilities, of manufacturing with handmade plywood. He has made some really beautiful trivets, sold a few at the RCA christmas Fayre, and is now looking for backing to help him with the cost of producing a first run. When I found him crawling around, he was endeavouring to make his little video to promote his product. He was setting up, positioning the camera, using the telefoto lens, moving the food and plates and trivets around, dishing up, spilling, crawling between the tripod legs and generally getting rather stressed........
I think I arrived at just about the right time- and was able to hand objects to him, heat up food, decant food, wash sausages (I kid you not) and even get some brussel sprouts onto the plates (for aesthetic effect you understand......)
I really enjoyed being his studio assistant (well - kitchen assistant actually) and he was able to finish his video in time for the kickstarter deadline the following day. He posted his Kickstarter link online shortly after it was approved, and we're delighted to discover that he has achieved over 100% of pledges within 24 hours. Go Ned! (Don't shout that out loud - we used to do that at the swimming pool during galas, and it gets confused with the word 'gonads') Unfortunate.
This is the link to the Kickstarter video if any readers want to have a laugh - Ned chose the music because he thought it would be amusingly trite - but many people have told him it was brilliant! I think it sounds like a long clip from a bad early days shopping channel.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/262719894/quickstarter-kolmio-molded-plywood-trivet?ref=project_build&fbclid=IwAR3wKQovHOpXgDnP61JKtPt1uX9B9ML-9dwMP7YuxVljN82p4Kdk8f-z7rc
SO back to my side effects - stop reading now if you're feeling squeamish....
- Deep discomfort (very similar to the feeling I had when I had a rectocele repair 13 years ago - google that if you're not a midwife)
- Dysuria (pain when weeing)
- Loose stools (and we're not talking furniture here)
- tiredness
- laziness
I'm wondering if weight gain can also be attributed to radiotherapy - but I fear it might actually be more closely linked to one of the seven deadly sins.........
I've been mulling over my decisions about returning to work too.... I had thought about actually retiring, and have been discussing this with family, friends and colleagues, BUT..... I have come to the conclusion that I want to retire on my own terms, and not just because I have cancer.
SO watch this space.
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