Time to start the new pills today - the lovely oncologist decided I should try something else to see if the joint pain would be better since stopping the last drug (Anastrazole) for a month eased things decidedly. Now I will be trying Exemestane to see if that causes me less grief. The pills have been sitting on the shelf for a week as I thought it was probably a bad move to take a brand new drug just before getting on an aircraft for a very long two day trip away...
The trip was exciting enough without adding new drugs to the equation. The choice was to fly from Gatwick at 06.50 or Southampton at 06:45... Gatwick won as the flights were cheaper and everything else was the same. The two airports are both about an hour's drive away... So, working back, to fly at 06:50 meant checking in around 05:00, so leaving home around 04:00, so the alarm was set for 3am... Up, shower, loaded the car, no problem, still running a few minutes late, still there's a good two hours for getting through security... Last time I flew to Dublin (first day in the new job) I cut it a little fine, left an hour to get through the airport thinking that would be plenty as I had no bag to check - got to security to find about 2000 people queueing and ended up running to the gate. Never come so close to missing a flight... so taking no chances this time.
However, much surprise, Gatwick has been totally reorganised, and fifteen minutes after getting off the bus from the car park I had dropped my bag, gone through security and was stood in the departure area wondering what I was going to do for the next two hours!
The day was filled with work... but there was the promise of a sociable evening at the end, as the whole team went out for dinner. Much fun was had by all, but by the end of the meal (about 10pm) I was fading, while the rest of the crew were gearing up to enjoy the best entertainment that Dublin could offer on a Tuesday evening. I wimped out and headed for my bed at this point. I was quite embarrassed at this - feeling most glum, thinking that I used to be able to get up early and still party the night away... Having said that, they partied until 3am and spent a fortune, as I looked at the frail collection of colleagues in the hotel at breakfast I was quite glad I had retired early - and the sight that greeted us when we got to the office confirmed this. The UK contingent had partied hard, but the local team had clearly been equally excited about getting a night on the tiles, and a few broken figures were slumped around the table... Funny how business transformation didn't seem to hold their attention quite as it had the day before!
I got myself home around midnight on Wednesday, after chaos at the car park - I had contrived to lose the parking ticket, and then discovered that when I booked in I got my own registration number wrong, which added a whole level of confusion! Add to this the torrential rain, and I was very glad to see my bed that night.
I did spend a lot of time worrying that I was so tired, and that I should have coped better - blaming the after-effects of being a bit poorly last year - but on the whole I think any normal human would have been a bit whacked out after that little lot. Once again, another exercise in realising that there is a level of normality to be had in life after cancer... and that sometimes being tired is normal!
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