Road Traffic Collision

Yesterday I had an RTC - a road traffic collision! They used to call it RTA - Road Traffic Accident but the word accident had "implications" re blame etc so they changed it to collison.

We were cycling home from Cola, Harry was in front of me because I have to keep a close eye on him. Cycling behind Harry is precarious enough as it is and last night... he got me. We were almost home and suddenly he swerved out in front of me and caught my front tyre. There was nothing I could do to stop myself so the bike fell and I skidded on the tarmac.

I lay there startled for a bit and Harry started getting upset, he wanted me to get up and off the road in case a car came and squashed me so he said, so he helped me get up. No damage to my bike, Harrys plastic mud guard was snapped off and all I can say is that it was a good job that I was wearing my riding jacket because I scraped and bruised my elbow and hip and blood was seeping through my jeans at the knee. Nothing major it just means that I will be more achey for a few days and of course I was badly shaken.

The fall really messed up my mojo but what messed with it even more was the fact that I discovered that I had lost my weight watchers pedometer. The boys and I searched and searched but it was gone. It sounds really daft, but the pedometer is what has got my weight loss going and since I had it I lost half a stone so I became really down and started to think about comfort food.......

However, my weight watchers leader is a friend on facebook and I contacted her and as a result I was able to call at her house to buy a new pedometer and she discounted it for me. It gave me my mojo back and I stopped thinking about comfort food.

In addition to this, Harry and his little friends hatched a plan to sell their unwanted DVD's to raise money to buy me a new pedometer.

So it was a nasty do but goodness and kindness came out of it in the form of those I care about helping me.

On another note, thank you for your support on my changing my blog. Hopefully I will get it up and running in a few days and I already have an idea for a final post on Cancer Ain't Gonna Beat Me.

Aches, Pains and Tiredness

The last few weeks have been quite difficult for me really because I am fighting fatigue together with an all over stiffening and aching of my joints made worse by the fact that my shoulder which was injured before Christmas is really hurting because I am using it more for mucking out, changing rugs on Cola etc etc.

Now before you feel too sorry for me, I must hasten to add that my shoulder was injured when I tripped over my dog Wilbur in a quest for crisps. I had had rather a few glasses of wine at the time so needless to say, the injury was of my own doing! It doesn't make it any the less painful though!

So I saw my GP today, Dr Happs; very nice doctor he is too! He checked my movements and they are all fine and suspects soft tissue damage. The fatigue he suspects is down to the herceptin so he has prescribed some strong painkillers, voltorol gel, refered me for physio and sent me off for some blood tests!

I have at last found a bra that doesn't hurt me, but it is a mastectomy bra. I know that I had a lumpectomy but out of desperation I thought I would give it a go and it has worked. It is padded and shaped in such a way that it gives support and I don't get hurt. I am a 32G these days and my shoulder has been better after a day of wearing that so it makes me wonder if my lack of support has been aggrivating the shoulder injury! I was fine up until I had radiotherapy and since then I have had a huge problem with bras.

I also find that I am still retaining fluid. I still can't get my wedding ring past the first part of my finger and my bra size has gone up from 30FF to 32G even though I weigh less so I feel as though I am slowly starting to explode.

On the plus side, we did have the first spring day today and it was wonderful being able to go out without a coat!

I have been busy preparing a small party for Jason's 40th at the weekend. Here's the plan but shhhhhhhh its a secret! I am going to try and get him to take the children to the pictures on Sunday afternoon and while he is gone I am going to get my friends over to fix up a gazebo, decorate the place, put a big pot of chilli on the hob, jacket spuds in the oven then when he gets home he will have a big surprise!

I will blog about the party after it has been and gone. I have ordered the food and drink online with Tesco so they will deliver on Saturday while he is at work. I have ordered a birthday cake with the Welsh flag on it - tidy!!!!

My First Post Cancer Hair Cut

The thing pictured above is not my new hair cut! No.... I thought I would post a picture of my Aqua Jogging Belt. It is fab! You wear it around your waist and this enables your shoulders to rest above water. This means that your feet don't touch the ground and you can focus on your running motion and remaining in an upright position.

Onlookers are mistaken in thinking it is an easy and slow sport but trust me.... you use the same muscles as you do with proper running but without the impact and with the added resistance of water.

This sport has helped me this week with my injured ankle. I would have been very frustrated otherwise not being able to stick to my running plan.

Not a very flattering picture of me, showing all of my many wrinkles! Those creams don't do what they promise you know! Anyway, today I had my first hair cut since I lost it all due to chemotherapy. My hair colour was different and the texture was fluffy and dull so I asked the advice of my wonderful hair dresser, Sue. She parted my hair and showed me that my hair underneath is as dark as it used to be, shiny, glossy and healthy but the dull end bits were as a result of my hair starting to grow back and given the fact that there was still chemo in my system, this reflected in the texture and colour.

Sue set about snipping, tidying and can you believe it? Thinning my hair out and the end result is a snazzy pixie cut! Sue reckons that with one more trim the bad hair will be cut out and I will be in a good position to start growing it properly.

I feel so much better now that the texture is back to normal along with the colour.

I will never take a hair cut and style for granted again.

Aqua Jogging!

Most of you know how much I love running and how frustrating that through treatment I just wasn't able to keep it up. I am into week five of my beginners running programme, I have never had to start at the begining before! I have injured my right ankle, I think its a strain so I have spent today using embrocation, cool gel and a tube grip for compression.... so far so good! I am not due to run again until Friday so I am hoping my ankle will be better by then.

Today I used my aqua-belt for the first time and it is fab! fab!fab! It enables you to stand upright in the water and not touch the floor with your feet. In this position you then run as you would outside but in the water. Yes its slow but ...... oh it is hard, hard work. I could feel my leg muscles working. This great thing about aqua jogging is because it is a no impact work out, it will not affect my ankle.

So my training programme tomorrow involves me doing any type of exercise for 30 minutes. I will either try to get to acqua aerobics in the evening or I may just try to get a mix of acqua jogging and swimming in.

Today has been productive. I enjoyed my visit to the Grosvenor Garden Centre for this weeks My Town Friday Shoot Out. I love that shop, it is wonderful. I enjoy going there for a mooch or to buy gorgeous gifts. I love the decorations during the Christmas season, they are the best which is why I chose to use that shop for my shoot out.

So now I am about to set off for my Breast Cancer Support Group..... Bye for now folks!