It’s been a very strange week and my sleep pattern is completely fucked up. After driving back from Cardiff on Monday I had to go to the LOC in London to have my blood checked. I thought that was going to be fairly routine as I didn’t feel particularly unwell. I was actually confident that I would be in and out. Wrong lol! Whilst  I was in the waiting room the lovely Anette who I had met on my first session visit came over to chat to me. A room full of people and she is stopping to talk to me and people must have been wondering who is this guy she is talking to? She recommended I stay for the results in case anything needed to be discussed. After about 20 minutes after being drained yet again I was ushered downstairs to the chemotherapy suite and one of the nurses, Jo, sat me down to discuss my results.

Well I knew at this point it was not going to be straightforward. Jo explains that my white blood cells are not as good as they could be and I will now require some injections of GCSF in order to force white cells to be produced. Wow I was not expecting this if I am honest and it was another one of those things where you think when will this all end. Jo who is absolutely lovely explains she is waiting for Dr Marcus to come back to her as I will probably need to come back every day for 5 days for these injections. My heart sunk at that point. How can this be possible I thought to myself and I can’t be travelling to London every day. Jo says there is another way, you can inject yourself if I teach you today. Well as surprised as I was, I immediately said yes, thinking WTF how will I manage that. I used to be terrified of injections and needles of any kind. I guess once you are constantly being pricked you just get over that. Yikes.

Jo comes over with what she called a goodie bag with things I will need including a sharps box, my very own lol. Anette walks by again and says there is no better teacher than Jo. Jo tells me to grab hold of my belly fat after cleaning the area (I have gained some of that over the last few months), aim and then just insert the syringe and then inject the contents then voila. I sat there with this syringe in my hand for a good few minutes thinking can I really do this, am I really going to do this DIY style?? Shit, ok the alternative is coming in every day. OK deep breath and lets have a go! I have included some graphic photos of my recent home session so you can get the gist of it. Apologies for those who are a bit squeamish haha. I’ll be a pro soon!

If you think the injections are an issue it’s really the side effects that get you. The best way to describe it is like you have been hit by a bus. That feeling when you have a really intense flu and have aches and pains and just feel like crap. Your bone marrow is being forced to produce white cells just like it does when you have a real flu and a high temperature. You have to monitor your temperature all the time, they worry so much about infection and the fact you have to get to the hospital in 1 hour max if this happens to you. This really has been more intense than the actual chemo. Can’t wait to finish the last one later today and start feeling normalish again. I am gagging for a good nights sleep with Nathan when he gets here tonight. I need my cuddles you see.

Been a busy week with work too and been back at the gym Wed-Fri mornings trying to keep as active as possible, even though I may not have leaped out of bed in anticipation lol. On Tuesday I decided to call my local garage and see if the Land Rover I had seen on line was still there and unfortunately it had been sold on the weekend. I was gutted but Paul my sales guy asked if I had seen the BMW X3 on the website and it may be worth looking at. So I headed there on route to work and took it for a test drive and decided this is what I needed now that I am a family man! As will be picking up Nathan and Bentley late Friday evening it all made sense. Within the hour I managed to go from a 2 seater sports car to a small jeep haha! The X3 is not new by far, 2008 but in pristine condition with low mileage and it’s a diesel which means I can cut down on petrol costs. Bonus! I just hate the thought of buying a brand new car and its value decreases so quickly. So there you go, hopefully picking it up today.

I had my Swiss boy Hans-Ru over this week to catch on work issues and it was great to see him and spend some time together. Hans-Ru is our Cabin Crew Manager in Geneva and does such a great job there. We have become very good friends outside of work too over the years we have been working together. He always stays with me instead of a hotel and he has been quite concerned for me and wanted to give me a big hug too! Lot’s of laughter and a few glasses shared together. Denis spent some time with us too which is always great. It’s good to exchange ideas and thoughts in the business we are in.

I really am so fortunate to have such great friends around me. Constant messages from them all checking in on how I am. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with the all and reply. Had some great FT chats with Karen, Thora and Una (who are in Italy and will be popping in on Tuesday for a few hours on the way home to Iceland). Messages from Frankie, Sue, Bella, Andrea, Becs, Natalie and Laetitia. Laetitia gave Nathan and I this wonderful framed print for our engagement and it was so personal and we are both truly touched. XX

Caught up with gang at the gym as well this week; Gilly, Pammy, Norma, Chrissypoo. Even managed two awesome sessions with Bernie this week and more on the weekend hopefully. I can’t wait to see my boys tonight and Miss Pascale can’t wait to see Bentley too. Gonna enjoy the weekend cause on Tuesday I am back in London for my chemo session and luckily with my fiance by my side.

Wishing you all a great weekend ahead. X