A postcard....

Throughout my adult life the road I have travelled along has, for the most part, been well mapped out and followed with a satisfying degree of success.  It has been smooth and wide, with beautiful scenery of stunning green fields filled with flowers of the most vibrant colours.  Over the years I have enjoyed not only plotting the course of this road, but travelling down it.  To date it has been an incredibly memorable journey of love and laughter.  Whilst walking along this road I met and married a gorgeous Scotsman, we travelled the world, and started a family.  This road had no potholes, no detours, and the ground was firm and true.  Recently, this road changed.  


The surface became rough and loose under foot, and what was once a safe passage very quickly became an unstable path. Where once I could see the perfectly straight and flat road before me stretch for miles ahead, I could now only see sharp corners and steep hills.  The fields of colour  became shadows that closed in on me, and lined my unstable path as far as it went.  So I did what any sensible traveller would do when the terrain changes.  I changed my footwear.  And I bought a postcard.


My path has proven to be a tricky one to negotiate, and for the majority of it I am proud to say that I managed it with strength and style.  I have paced myself when fatigued.  I have stopped and asked for directions when lost.  And I have brought with me a pot plant of beautiful flowers to remind me of the fields of gold from the road that lay behind me. And in my pocket are seeds waiting to be sown in the fields alongside the road that lies ahead of me at the end of this path.  And while my footing has been mostly strong and sure, a revelation came as a result of a stumble.


What I previously thought to be shadows of darkness along my path, I discovered to be the silhouette of people who had come to protect me from falling while on this perilous journey.  Their presence, so immediate and overwhelming, touched me more deeply than I can ever convey.  My family and friends, sacrificing anything to be within arms reach of me should I need their help.  My journey continues, and so to my husband, my mother and step father, my brother, my family in New Zealand and Scotland, my best friends and dearest work colleagues I send you a postcard.  But it doesn't say 'Wish You Were Here', because you already are.  And for that I thank you, and I love you.  Lee x

Woohoo

Happy days in the Henderson household - I discovered another dessert I like. Bridget, stop making me food I'm not supposed to like, unless it's dessert of course!!!!

In other news, Lee got the all clear this morning and in what must have been a hospital record had her discharge papers within an hour or so and left the hospital with her handsome chauffeur.

I wear my undies on the outside

Hi team - it's Lee here. Since being admitted into hospital on Wednesday for surgery I've spent a lot of my spare time lying in bed wondering about several things.

I wondered whether there are any real flesh and blood doctors that are even half as attractive as the ones on TV.  There aren't.

I wondered whether hospital food got progressively worse the longer you were subjected to it.  It does.

I wondered whether nurses have favourite patients who they give special treatment to.  They do.

I wondered whether I would be one of those favourite patients.  I was.

I wondered whether visits from my gorgeous husband, friends and Mum & Poppa would make me feel infinitely better.  They did.  

So as you can see I spent a fair bit of my time wondering about very important things, which I guess makes me Wonder Woman.  Which I guess means I should wear my undies on the outside.  

It's all good

Well folks, Friday was a pretty good day all round. Not only did Lee get to spend the entire day in my company, she was moved to her own spacious room with ensuite - think her room mate was sick of her positiveness (if that's not a real word, it should be).

She had a pretty good nights sleep last night, the iv lines were taken out of her arm and neck this afternoon, she managed a couple of short walks today and her appetite is coming back - although not necessarily for hospital food so I had to make a mercy dash to the nearest drive through.

We'd have been happy with all of that but Lee also had a visit from the surgeon who said all going well she can come home Sunday. The surgeon that was supposed to operate (but didn't in the end) also visited to put a face to the name - he's spent long enough debating the case with colleagues so had to meet the medical weirdo for himself. Their opinion seems more positive than we could have imagined but won't count our chickens until they're sliced and diced by the pathologist.

So there you have it - at this rate she'll be ironing my shirts and pampering to my every whim by this time next week. It's only been 13 years of wishing, it's got to happen some time doesn't it?

News from the space cadet

Hello readers, keeping this post brief.

Lee has had a pretty good day. Both chest drains have been removed and she's now managing without the morphine as well. She managed a brief walk tonight to stretch her legs and has moved into a room with only one other guest. Didn't sleep particularly well last night but not surprising when they wake you every hour to check blood pressure. They don't need to do that anymore so she's been getting some well needed sleep.

No pressure then!

I kind of feel like the presenter at a successful conference who has the last session before drinks. Huge amount to live up to based on the previous presenters and conscious that everyone is just waiting for what comes next.

I promise I'll get to the interesting stuff in a second but thought we'd start off with an observation / anecdote to pique your interest:

Q: What do you get if you cross a jigsaw power tool with chicken wire?
A: Lee's entertainment for the afternoon

Yes, that's right - we got a call yesterday morning to say there'd been a cancellation and could Lee come in that afternoon for pre-assessment. Then home for the night and back in at 7:30 this morning. All went well and she went under the jigsaw this afternoon. The chicken wire (true story) is used to fuse the bones back together and will be a permanent addition to her bullet proof exterior.

A few hours after going in to theatre, she was sounding like a happy drunk extolling her love for everyone around her. Lee is doing really well and will be spending the night in the recovery ward having avoided a trip to ICU which is great news.

My chat with the surgeon was also very positive - he's confident he removed the entire tumour which was reasonably well contained. Now we wait a week or so for definitive results on the tumour.

So, round one of cosmetic surgery is done and dusted. Can't believe she'd go to this much trouble to get out of doing housework for 6 months though. Seems rather extreme to me.

Sporting Achievements......

Whilst suffering from insomnia following my first round of chemo, a very dear colleague of mine who from here on in shall be referred to as 'TW' gave me some excellent advice. His trick to cure insomnia is to lie in bed and think of his sporting achievements, and he suggested that I should try the same technique as apparently this works every time.  Thankfully I never had to, as the next night my insomnia checked itself out of 'Hotel Henderson' and found new lodgings.  That was until last Thursday.  It would seem that receiving news of a confirmed surgery date was like having a neon flashing 'VACANCY' sign out for any insomnia either in the neighbourhood or simply passing through. Yes, my insomnia checked in to 'Hotel Henderson' again, but thankfully the room rate was too high for it to consider staying any longer than one night.  


So my first round of cosmetic surgery (thymus removal - remember, less is more) is scheduled for either next Thursday or Friday.  This will be confirmed on Tuesday, and I'll have a brief pre-surgical assessment the day prior to surgery but will be allowed to spend the evening at home before returning to hospital the next morning to under go the beautification process.  This will be followed by a brief stay of 3-5 days in hospital - then I'll be allowed to return home to recover in the comfort of my own bed.  At this point I must give some credit to my colleague 'TW' and his awesome advice.  Because last Thursday whilst lying in bed at 1.09am contemplating the silent evils of insomnia, I recalled his previous advice on how to cure it.  So I lay there and thought of his sporting achievements.....and was asleep within moments.