Return from Mars

Finally I am beginning to feel human again, after intense Chemotherapy treatment started at the beginning of 2017. My eyebrows were the last to leave the party and guess who's back and brought a few friends? My hair is growing back too.

My place is quite snug and I was advised to stay away from crowds or people with colds and flu because of an almost non-existent immunological system, so, coupled with the absolutely spaced-out effect of the Chemo and long days of sitting at my laptop punching in directions, equations, eBay orders etc. it felt a lot like I was living in a space capsule on a deep space mission (I imagine), quite claustrophobic in a way (my place is beautiful yet a trifle bijou, did I mention?)

To bring the vibe right back down to earth - or water, being on aspirated Oxygen, I sometimes get the feeling that I am deep sea diving with Jaques Cousteau – waiting for an old French man to ask me to stop and admire the sponges that sit on the bathroom window sill any minute now.

As well as all that, up until today, I have been constantly checking the capacity on my Oxygen bottles, (it's a full-time logistics job this breathing apparatus game), but now, I am even more independent, the very kind nurses at Stoke Mandeville Respiratory Clinic have set me up with a new system, it is a portable Oxygen Concentrator which sits there and chugs its own, self-concentrated Oxygen, straight down my pipes, it charges in the car as well as indoors so I am served cool fresh high quality Oxyjoy 24/7. Yippikayay!

Thank you to all the people that have taken care of me for what amounts to almost a year to the day, from the Poor young doctor who tried to stick a needle in my wrist artery for an Oxygen reading in the middle of the night, I don't know if was nerves, medication or exhaustion that was inflicting him but his hands were shaking like a Hula Hula dancer and it took him ages to find the target, it flipping hurt too!, the numerous staff that took care of me in hospital and the deadeye person who spotted anomalies which I have been dealing with since, so then the Oncologist, the Pet and CT scanners, the Respiratory Nurses, my GP, through to the Macmillan Nurses, it seems like there have been hundreds, they are all angels. Oh yes don't ever criticise the NHS in front of me, just don't.

Photo: An Apollo capsule landing in the ocean, I chose it because the flotation balloons are red.