Zap! Pow!

This post comes to you from leafy Epsom, where I am staying with some lovely family friends. In fact, my hostess was at school with my mother! It's very peaceful, and I have a very comfy bed, and am being exceedingly well fed, so all is great. I am staying here while I undergo treatment at the Royal Marsden in Sutton, as this phase involves me going into hospital every weekday for two and a half weeks, so it just wouldn't be possible to whizz up and down from home every day.

My cranial radiotherapy has begun:

Having had my mask fitted quite some time ago, I was worried that it wouldn't be the right shape for my slightly thinner face, but it seemed to be fine as it pinned my head in place. My eyes were shut by the mask, so I didn't see what happened then, but the bed whirred around a bit, and then I could sense a blue-ish light moving over my head (the irradiation) and smelt ozone. The actual zapping only took a few seconds, though today the whole appointment took a bit longer because it was the first dose.

My hostess also works at Sutton on Mondays, so she helped whisk me through to the right places, and has done a wonderful job in enlisting her friends to get me to and from the hospital each day. I also met the senior nurse who is in overall charge of me (I think) during my treatment, and he explained that hopefully side effects shouldn't be too bad.

I was, however, pretty sleepy when I got back, so after lunch I had a good snooze. I've also had a slight headache, which could be because of the radiotherapy, but could well also be because I hadn't slept as much as I'd have wanted; was still tired from the last chemo; was suffering in the heat; etc. Anyway, I'm going to tackle the Telegraph Prize Crossword to see whether my brain still works.

The course is of 12 doses, so two weeks and then Monday and Tuesday, and I'll be here for those weekdays. At the weekends I'll probably head home, though we're yet to work out the best way to get there and back. On the two Wednesdays I'll also be popping into St George's for some intrathecal chemo to back up the radiotherapy, but hopefully that won't be too bad (ie the doctor will find the right spot the first time...).

Incidentally, the OMV is now in Lourdes, but I don't want to talk about it because I'm very sad that I'm not...