I had my second round of immunotherapy 6 days ago, and felt great for the first 4 days. It’s now Wednesday and on Sunday I woke up in the middle of the night feeling as though my head was literally going to explode – headache from absolute hell. Monday and Tuesday are a bit of a blur, as I’ve pretty much slept them away. I’ve never felt so weak, I couldn’t stand up without feeling as though my legs would give way, and opening my eyes felt like the most monumentous of tasks. As well as the headaches, I had nausea and significant tummy troubles (TMI? I used to get embarrassed by these kind of things, but being poorly has definitely given me a bit of a ‘who gives a f***’ attitude). I was admitted to hospital yesterday morning semi comatose, and given a drip in each arm to get fluid, paracetamol, steroids, anti sickness and antibiotics in quickly.

I know the majority of people don’t particularly like hospital visits, but I can’t tell you how much relief I have felt since being here. Knowing I’m somewhere that will be able to make me feel better is incredibly reassuring. In addition to that, being at Velindre, the cancer care hospital in Cardiff, is an entirely different experience than other hospitals I’ve stayed at in the past. Staff here are getting to know me, and seeing familiar faces around that are already schooled on my medical history means I don’t have to repeat my entire story over and over again to strangers. I also managed to bag myself a room with en suite which when you’re feeling completely crap makes the absolute world of difference!

The main and most important reason why I’m actually enjoying my stay in hospital this time around is the people. Every single member of staff I have come in to contact with has been caring and kind beyond words. It makes me want to cry every time I think about the compassion shown to me by people who technically don’t know me from Adam. They all act like they do though, like we’ve been friends for years. When I was admitted to the assessment unit yesterday morning, the two advanced nurse practitioners on the ward couldn’t have been more reassuring. I was panicky, and they held my hand and stroked my hair whilst explaining everything they were going to do to help me feel better.

My superhero however, is my consultant Dr F. Luckily for me, he was covering the assessment unit yesterday when I was admitted. He was therefore a million percent on the case immediately, no stone unturned. His bedside manner is second to none, I truly mean that. He makes me feel like I’m his only patient and that he has all the time in the world for me. He cares about his patients, and boy does he know his stuff. It has actually been researched, with studies showing that your medical caregiver has the ability to influence your healing, and not in a prescribing medicine sort of way. Your stress response is diminished with a genuinely caring and optimistic doctor, thus releasing less toxic hormone in to your system. Your relaxation response is activated as you fully trust the person who’s in charge of getting you better, and as a result your body is in a better position to aid the healing process. Dr F is that person. Of course the medicine gets all the glory, but the people are the most important part of our healthcare system and are so often overlooked. Enough gushing, but I wish every cancer patient a Dr F – he’s like no other I’ve come across! Back to today and I feel like a different person than yesterday, I potentially get some scans later to check hormone levels in my brain and inflammation in my abdomen. Continuing with steroids, antibiotics and a bucket load of fluids, and then maybe home time this evening!