Numero uno: the masked man

Well, today’s been jolly, as well as pretty long, as we had an early start to get up to the Marsden for my appointment in the Mould Room. Don’t worry, it’s not a room where they store everything that ever grew a bug or failed a Health & Safety test – it’s where they make the masks used for the cranial radiotherapy.

The mask is made from a type of plastic, and before being moulded is just a flat sheet of blue lattice. Having lined me up and made sure I was comfortable, the two lovely technicians put it in a hot bath before placing it over my head, attaching it to the bed using big poppers. It felt a bit like a warm flannel. For a couple of minutes they moulded the contours to my face, and after five minutes took it off. They left it for two minutes to cool, and cut out a decent hole for my mouth, before checking it was a good fit. Which it was.

I was a bit worried that my face is still a bit fatter than usual, and may well not be come the date for the radiotherapy, so perhaps my mask would be too big. But after consultation with a doctor it was decided to go ahead, as we just don’t know how much my face might change shape over the next few weeks, and if it does so too much, it won’t take long to mould a new one. So that was that! The mask could well frighten small children (especially as it has my features), so hopefully I’ll be allowed to keep it…

Having finished that, I wandered outside to find my father waiting for a man to come and fix the car, which had been doing strange things on the journey up. Two and a half hours later, we left… The mechanic was good, but unfortunately unable to resolve the problem, so it was a bit of a frustrating wait, though that was tempered by the sunshine. The car still goes, fortunately, so we weren’t stranded, and eventually made it to St George’s a bit after 2.

As a result it was too late to start chemo today, but I had all the admission bits done and moved into Room 1. Don’t be fooled by its premier enumeration, though: it’s officially the worst room! But it’s not too bad: just a bit small and isolated. Hopefully they’ll shift me when a better one comes up, though I’m not too fussed, as I’ll hopefully not be in for that long this time.

My landline ends 2560, and I’m again open to visitors as long as you ring first! Tomorrow I have a nebuliser (pentamadine) followed by my chemo. At last!