The unreality continues. One moment everything is normal and then I remember. This morning I stayed in bed until after 8 am and then filled in time until 10.45 am when we left for the Wollongong Private Hospital which is situated not far from Wollongong Public Hospital. I took the lift to the 7th floor and was shown to a room with a green recliner chair, a TV and a view across to the Five Islands.
A cannula was inserted with a drip of radioactive glucose and I was left for an hour. I chose to read the Mushroom Murders from chapter 4 onwards where the preliminary cases for the prosecution and defence were presented. The book went on to describe Erin’s early life and off-again on-again marriage. Needing a break from real life murder I swapped to my headphones and listened to my audio book, The Girl Under the Floor, by Charlie Gallagher. Here, Detective Maddie Ives tries to solve equally puzzling mysteries but at least it is only fiction. The hour went fast. A nurse directed me to another room where the PET scan machine sat waiting to decide my fate. Any cancer cells will radiate a glow. The machine moved me in and out of a high white tunnel for about half an hour but I didn’t feel claustrophobic as I’m an old hand at these things now.
Thankfully I devoured the sandwiches they gave me, had my intravenous cannula removed and went back down to the real world outside which was warm and windy.
John drove to meet me as I walked down the hill towards Beaton Park. It was so good to be free and I needed some exercise. Once home John made me a good coffee and I ate too much panettone.
This afternoon I just relaxed until evening drinks of tonic water with ice and lemon which I enjoyed. I don’t really miss wine as the need to help my liver through this crisis is more important.
Next Day
I rang the hospital to see if it was OK to do a blood test the day after a radioactive PET scan. They gave me the all-clear so John dropped me off at 11 o’clock and I found my way to Pathology. The room was crowded with mainly elderly people climbing awkwardly into large chairs to have their blood taken. The nurse had no trouble finding a vein and soon I was out of there. John had parked at Beaton Park so again I walked down the hill to meet him.
The Hello Fresh Box arrived today with three meals inside. Tonight’s meal was quite tasty with fresh barramundi and vegetables. The instructions said to eat first. As well there is a prawn dish we will have to eat tomorrow. At least I don’t have to think with Hello Fresh. Instructions and ingredients are all there. I just have to chop and cook and sometimes I can listen to an audio book at the same time. My daughter started using Hello Fresh when she was juggling work and children and encouraged me to try it. Now I am so grateful to have it as a back up.
Next day
Another day of hospital visits. Again, it was my turn to go to Wollongong Private. The nurse was very friendly and chatty and so was the doctor. I had three anaesthetic injections and then four biopsies taken from a lymph gland under my arm. It didn’t hurt at all. I wish I was having the mammogram there but that will be over the road at Wollongong Public.
On the way home I bought four tickets online for The Shiralee. We will be teen sitting next week so a trip to the Opera House will be something the grandchildren will remember they did with Nanna. The play, The Shiralee, is based on the book by D’Arcy Niland about a swagman called Macauley and his young daughter, Buster, whom he takes on the road. My father used to call me his Shiralee, although we travelled in the relative comfort of a truck all over country New South Wales.
The Curry Apple Orchard 
The barramundi looks terrific. A good idea to have the menus and shopping sorted with a meal kit option.
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I have a copy of the Shiralee from many years ago. I’m surprised they were performing it even today. Hopefully that was a lovely treat with the teen. Meanwhile all those tests!! Well done on coping with the PET scan.
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Good thinking regarding the easy meal prep. You certainly haven ‘t lost your thinking abilities with all the stress. Well done!
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The stress of “what will we eat tonight has been removed” – good for you.
I have vague memories of The Shiralee from when I was quite young, it must have been that I saw the movie. Should chase up the book.
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Linda you have amazing recall for every detail during your treatment. I would have been too stressed to remember a thing. Well done…. Angela
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Hi Angela, I felt I had to record everything at the time because I knew I would forget the details. Thanks for checking in.
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I never thought of keeping a journal as complete as yours. To the minute if you will. I keep praying this will trun out well since you’re writing about it. Interesting that you mention Hello Fresh. We have that in Canada. I get coupons in the mail at least once every second month. This is the first time I’ve heard from someone who uses it. When I had my surgery last year, we stocked up on meals prepared by our butcher shop. Casseroles made with the smae ingredients I would make them with at home. I froze at least a dozen which hubs was able to cook in the oven. Salad added-and voila. Hello Fresh sounds like they do the shopping, but you have to prep the meal. Not what I needed, but glad it worked for you.
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I had other more convenient food as well which I write about in a later post.
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What is a swagman? That is a new term to me!
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A swagman (“swaggy”) is an iconic 19th/20th-century Australian itinerant worker who travelled on foot between rural farms seeking seasonal work, often carrying a bedroll (“swag”) and billy can.
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So many tests Linda. It’s great to read that you’re sounding so positive. I have the Mushroom Murders coming up soon to read, but I’m not sure if I can be bothered with it, after all that we’ve been bombarded with about it.
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I felt that way. It was John who was really interested but once I started the book I was interested in the court case and the backstory.
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You dealt with all those tests with such yeomanlike courage and steadiness, Linda, and carried on with your everyday life as well, We have used Hello Fresh when friends have sent us a week of free meals, and were impressed that they really were fresh, and pretty high quality. I hope your grandchildren enjoyed the show. Your father calling you his Shiralee was the most touching part of your post for me.
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That is why I was so keen to go but see what happens next!
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Oh boy. I’m guessing that since then you have had many of your plans changed at the last minute. I’m impressed–your family had back-up plans with the other pair of grandparents. And you–you seemed to move on with the minimum fuss, because that was what the situation demanded.
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