New meds & a trip to England - what could possibly go wrong?
Following the trip to Wake Forest, my meds got bumped majorly. Instead of a Cytoxan pill, 10 steroids and a shot in the belly every Tuesday, I am now getting a Revlimid every day, 10 steroids on Tuesday and an IV drip on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Because Revlimid is a derivative of Thalidomide, I am not allowed to have unprotected sex with fertile women so there goes that hobby. (The risk of doing it, other than getting belted by Susan, has never been proven.)
What better way to test the safety of your meds than buggering off out of wi-fi range to England for a week. It turned out that more of England is out of wi-fi range than anticipated - for example, my wi-fi gave up somewhere between the free connection at Starbucks on Exeter St Davids station and the free wi-fi on the train on platform 5 and didn't kick in again until I reached Heathrow 2 days later (via an overnight in Paddington the train wasn't that late).
I took the Revlimid & steroids with me but there wasn't anything I could do about the IV. Much to my surprise & delight I slept well on steroid night and, other than feeling a bit tired by about 9 pm, survived the week with the Jordan family with no problem, catching up with some old friends and making some new ones. Even went crazy and had 4 pints of shandy but who's counting?
A couple of days in London were on the cards - should really have caught up with Pennie but I hope to be there next year for the Bedford 50th reunion, assuming there is one, and I will take a longer trip then, especially if I can scrounge a free bed somewhere (hint hint!)
So now it's back to reality at school - classes are still in a state of flux with new students arriving and others deciding there are more fun courses than mine to take. I can't complain at that - I think I tried 9 different A-level classes at Westcliff High before settling on my final group of 3. I've decided to follow the programming textbook a little more rigorously this year - I still think they introduce functions too early but the kids are managing them extremely well so I'll keep quiet. My fellow teachers are being very helpful keeping an eye on classes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays when my arrival time is not always guaranteed. I'm still facing the problem of being expected to teach two different classes at the same time for no extra pay next semester - been a bad idea all along and it's some thing up with which I do not intend to put.
So, how am I feeling? Generally tired but not overly sleepy. My hands shake a little which makes neither guitar playing nor mounting stamps in albums particularly easy. My appetite is more under control than it was - Susan has removed the padlock from the fridge and my memory for names is completely gone to pot - haven't got Susan or Sam's names wrong yet but it's only a matter of time.
Talking of time, it's time I went to get Sam from school.
What better way to test the safety of your meds than buggering off out of wi-fi range to England for a week. It turned out that more of England is out of wi-fi range than anticipated - for example, my wi-fi gave up somewhere between the free connection at Starbucks on Exeter St Davids station and the free wi-fi on the train on platform 5 and didn't kick in again until I reached Heathrow 2 days later (via an overnight in Paddington the train wasn't that late).
I took the Revlimid & steroids with me but there wasn't anything I could do about the IV. Much to my surprise & delight I slept well on steroid night and, other than feeling a bit tired by about 9 pm, survived the week with the Jordan family with no problem, catching up with some old friends and making some new ones. Even went crazy and had 4 pints of shandy but who's counting?
A couple of days in London were on the cards - should really have caught up with Pennie but I hope to be there next year for the Bedford 50th reunion, assuming there is one, and I will take a longer trip then, especially if I can scrounge a free bed somewhere (hint hint!)
So now it's back to reality at school - classes are still in a state of flux with new students arriving and others deciding there are more fun courses than mine to take. I can't complain at that - I think I tried 9 different A-level classes at Westcliff High before settling on my final group of 3. I've decided to follow the programming textbook a little more rigorously this year - I still think they introduce functions too early but the kids are managing them extremely well so I'll keep quiet. My fellow teachers are being very helpful keeping an eye on classes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays when my arrival time is not always guaranteed. I'm still facing the problem of being expected to teach two different classes at the same time for no extra pay next semester - been a bad idea all along and it's some thing up with which I do not intend to put.
So, how am I feeling? Generally tired but not overly sleepy. My hands shake a little which makes neither guitar playing nor mounting stamps in albums particularly easy. My appetite is more under control than it was - Susan has removed the padlock from the fridge and my memory for names is completely gone to pot - haven't got Susan or Sam's names wrong yet but it's only a matter of time.
Talking of time, it's time I went to get Sam from school.
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