So much to say

Get comfy, I'm about to bring you up to date with my life.

It's 2014! Yowzers! Time for a fresh start. I am a bit worn out after an action-packed December! I tried to take it easy as much as possible, but December is a month packed with social occasions, and it was hard. I made some sacrifices, but I still did as much as I could. I do know my limits, but unfortunately I have been pushing them a bit.

I was thinking the other day that, even with going through cancer, I still had a really good year. My cancer treatment is merely an ugly ink blotch on the chapter of my life that was 2013. I still had some good times in and amongst diagnosis and treatment.  (Mind you, I don't really remember anything that happened in 2013 before my diagnosis) If I have any regrets from 2013, it's that I definitely didn't take enough pictures!

Even though I have not had it checked out, I think that the vocal chord that got damaged is back to normal, so at the end of last year I bit the bullet and performed again! I was itching to get back out there and get bitten by the bug again, so I went for it. I'd missed a good sing!

It's time to look ahead now. Move on! I've bought a massive jar to fill with good memories, and I will hopefully fill it to the brim! (If anything, I would like to get to the point where I need a whole new jar!)

In March, I will be back up to St. James' for thyroxine injections, then I will take a dose of radioiodine which is much smaller (I won't have to stay in hospital this time, but I will have to avoid children under 16, and pregnant women, for 24 hours) then I have a radioiodine scan. Then, on April 1st of all days, I will have an appointment with the consultant who will tell me whether or not I am all clear!

Yesterday I had an appointment with my endocrinologist. Just a check-up, but over the course of November and December I'd been experiencing a lot of low calcium symptoms, which I'd originally put down to iffy immunity, because it seemed to coincide with colds and such. So, by that logic, I was hoping the symptoms would pass when the cold got better. It also seemed to be affecting my nerve endings, which was making hot baths unbearable! Not ideal in winter...Or ever, for that matter! At any rate, I assumed my symptoms would get better when I did, so it wasn't worth ringing endocrinology and telling them. However, when I told the endocrinology doctor about all this, the look on her face told me that none of this was normal, and she sent me for a blood test. Later on that day, the endocrinology nurse rang me with the news. Now, I think I've mentioned before that a normal calcium level is 2. Mine was 1.68. No wonder I'd been feeling so weird! So, I've upped the dosage of my alfacalcidol ever so slightly (from 0.25 nanograms, to 0.5 micrograms) and per the advice of a friend, I am going to try to eat lots of calcium enriched foods (maybe not yoghurt. I ate so many in hospital I'm not sure I want to eat one ever again!) Hopefully I can level it out now and I won't become nauseous!

I've also been going to Bradford Cancer Support. It is a lovely place! I've had a massage there, and a session with the life coach who is going to help me get things back on track! It's just nice to have a place like that to go to.

I feel like a good New Year's Resolution for me would be to stop neglecting this blog.