February Ends.

Well, for a short month February hasn’t been without consequence.  Many  of you will know that the pancreas is part of the digestive system, and as a result of having the cancer and also of having the splanchnicectomy ( yes, I’m just showing off that I remember what it was called) Julia’s digestion has been somewhat erratic to say the least.

There have been days of pain with constipation followed by the relief of her meds working to relieve the problem. There have been periods of great distress where the bowels have been working overtime and often without warning. This has also meant some pain, often for me when she screams down my ears “Not again”!!!!!!!!!!! The letter part of last week and the weekend were like that and her mood was very low. She becomes quite maudlin about her parents though she doesn’t want to leave us yet. To brighten her mood I decided to treat her to a hairdo (Thanks Groupon). I was just praying she’s be OK on the day.

The day arrived yesterday and with fingers crossed( and legs) we left the house to do a little shopping for an ‘Urgent ‘ Christening dress ( due in May), a new hat, lunch out and the hair ! Everything was going swimmingly and the weather was nice. Dress and hat nicely bagged ( though we we’re still in Wales and had to pay for the carrier bags) we set out for lunch. Crossing the car park to the pub we’d chosen I heard a sound like a frantic sewing machine approaching at speed. Almost diving out of the way in case a young learner had lost control of a moped I looked round but the only person in sight was Ju who was reddening by the second. It seems some trapped wind had just been released. The meal was nice and we got to the salon in plenty of time for her 3.00 pm appointment. Taking a seat I noticed they also cut men’s hair when they have free time so I took the opportunity to get a crop of my Santa white beard leftover from Winter and a grade 3 haircut. I couldn’t believe how much was coming off. While I was in the chair listening to the young lady tell me all about her father ( probably younger than me but at least it was better than football and politics at the barbers) Julia took her place on the chair close by. We’d been expecting a three quarters of an hour treatment for ‘lowlights’ and a cut to get rid of some of the hair weight that was causing her hair to come out. We left the salon at 6.10 pm and found she’d been given a full colour with lowlights. ( If it sounds like I know what I’m talking about with these technical terms forget it. I learned them parrot fashion). She looked wonderful and her mood was going up off the scale. Brilliant.

Today we had the opticians and learned we both needed new glasses. ( I’d like a pint of bitter in mine please). Varifocals for me and bi-focals for Ju. We were leaving the shop when I noticed that in order to try and fit the new frames the staff had moved her hair. I was left with a dilemma. Did I tell her that she had a very red ear as a result of the dye or did I leave well alone. I decided to mention it…” I didn’t realise that the colouring yesterday included your ears as well as your hair Sweetie” I said. It was suddenly my fault that I hadn’t noticed earlier and warned her before the staff had seen it. That mistake cost me another lunch out.

Recently Julia decided to change the colour scheme in the kitchen. Red kettle, red toaster etc. If she goes in there later I’ll lose her with her hair that colour now.

We see the oncologist on March 8th so I’ll keep you up to date with any news then as to whether there’s any more treatment on offer.