Back to Cairns

Yesterday was rather hectic. I spent Wednesday night at the hospital with Joshua and then flew to Cairns on Thursday afternoon. However it was slightly fraught as Joshua had a lumbar puncture under general anaesthetic, which he went into quite early, but then didn't resurface for a long time. He'd been given a larger dose of anaesthetic to keep him still, which meant it took ages for him to wake up. By the time I was allowed into recovery it was getting quite close to the time that I had to leave. He was technically awake and his obs were good but he was pretty out of it. We were waiting for him to be transferred up to the ward so his siblings could say goodbye but after 40 minutes of waiting for a 'wardie' (porter?) the nurse and I decided we would push the bed ourselves. We got back to the room with only a few minutes to say goodbye to a very sleepy Joshua. Then it was back to the accommodation to get our bags, and straight to the airport in the taxi I had booked two minutes earlier.  While we waiting at the gate I realised I still hadn't got around to brushing my hair that day, I probably looked as ragged as I felt!

A slightly bumpy flight back to Cairns, sitting next to a guy discussing farming on cattle stations and we were home. (I seem to be having these discussions a lot recently).

We were picked up by the wonderful Christie Giles who also gave us dinner. It was lovely to be in our own house, especially as my bible study group had bought me flowers and cleaned the house. 

The lovely welcome was somewhat dampened (literally) when I woke in the middle of the night to find a huge leak covering half of my bedroom floor. As I speak the plumber is trying to get to the bottom of it and has ripped up the bedroom carpet. The morning was spent rushing around Cairns looking for a mask for Bethany's school 'informal' (Like a prom but less formal - hence the informal!) tonight. The masks we bought in Brisbane we (Ruben...) helpfully managed to leave behind.

It feels odd to be back. I feel slightly as though I have been transported from one world to another. From the intense world of Oncology, that most people, thankfully, have not had to experience first hand, back to the normal world (where words and phrases like methotrexate, central lines, neutropenia, PET scans, and cytotoxic waste are not commonly used). I'm going to have to get used to having conversations with people that don't revolve around cancer and chemo protocols and talk about things like...actually what do 'normal' people talk about?!

Cairns

Brisbane