It’s amazing how out of the loop you get when you’re in hospital for a week. I saw K most days while I was in, spoke to her on the phone at least twice a day not to mention exchanging obscene amounts of text messages, but somehow I still seem to have spent the day catching up on all the big news-worthy events of life in MK which appear to have slipped her thoughts while she found ways to keep me entertained in the Big House.
I have had a great day, though, quite apart from catching up on all the goss (which, incidentally, K claims she “forgot” in all the excitement of spending time with my in my room… excitement I wasn’t party to at the time, clearly, since I distinctly remember my room in Harefield being most very dull), I have had several cups of tea with visiting friends and also managed to do something I’ve not done for a long time.
This afternoon I did the most wondrous of Sunday afternoon activities: ODD JOBS.
It’s not until you’ve spent a goodly amount of time not being able to submit to your whim and fancy of “popping” somewhere to pick things up or drop things off that it becomes quite such a special thing. That’s why today has felt so good, I think, because for the first time in a very long time I’ve been able to think of something that needed doing and just go out and do it.
Sitting around with a couple of friends this afternoon chatting about what computer one of them should pick up, we decided to swing by PC World to have a look, where I could also pick up an iTrip for my new iPod to play it in my car and replace the fumbling around with CDs that has been the case up to now. Following which we skipped across to Borders (where else) to pick up a scrap book to help us plan our many and varied travels we’ll be taking as I get stronger and more free to move about without the restrictions of clinic appointments and potential hiccups. Including a quick swing past my ‘rents house to pick up our spare house and car keys, we weren’t out for longer than about an hour-and-a-half but it was the most wonderful feeling to be able to follow an impulse and get things done.
The first few months (well, 3-6 if you listen to the docs) post-transplant are supposed to be the big rocky patch, with hiccups here and there and the occasional (or not-so-occasional in my case) knock-back. But I’m fast discovering that they are also the times of the biggest revelations about what life is truly going to be like with new lungs and just how much of a difference to the every-day they are going to make.
Here’s to a week free and clear of hiccups, clinic trips (bar my appointment on Thursday) and a more settled routine, including getting into proper training for the Tresco mile. Anyone fancy a cuppa and in MK, you know where to find me – I’m the one sitting on the sofa grinning.