Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner.

It may come as a shock to some people, but I was actually born down here (in Chertsey). Most folk are normally pretty surprised when they find out myself and my sisters had English accents until 1990 when we moved to Wick. Apparently we moved for Dad's work... My bet is that we moved to get rid of our London accents. We then had Caithness accents until 1993 and we moved to Uddingston. I don't know what's better... A weegie accent or a Caithness one? Hmmm.

Anyway, Mum and I have been in London now for a week so I thought it was time for an update. I was admitted into hospital last Tuesday and the first thing they had to do was put in another Hickman Line... If you have spoken to me in the last few weeks then you will know I was terrified about it. I really don't know why.. The last one was quite uncomfortable but I think the build up was actually worse than the procedure. This time round I was really nervous the whole morning but strangely, I started to calm down before I actually went in. It went quite well and the doctor said he was surprised as I was chatting the whole way through. The radiographer was really nice and we spent most of the time blethering about musicals. It was over before I realised! It was pretty sore after but nothing worse than I'd already had so it was ok. It's just strange having wires come out of my chest again. They weren't going to start the chemo til the next day so I had to stay in overnight. I was on the same ward (Ward 6 South) that I was on when I was whisked down to London back in May and this time the experience felt very different. Quite a few of the nurses remembered me (one in particular because of my Mulberry bag!) and the other ladies on my ward were great. It was the first time I had met people who have been going through similar experiences to me so it was good to have people to talk about it with.

The next day seemed to drag in as I was waiting for the chemo to be hooked up. I knew I was having a round of chemo called Etopiside but did not realise it was a high dose. The first time I was made aware of this was when I was signing the consent form - I was NOT happy about that. Anywho, the etopiside was given over 24 hours with lots of fluids. However, due to the timing of it, it meant that my machine would constantly beep throughout the night (the chemo every 2 1/2 hours, the fluids seemed to go off constantly). The way they administered it was through some sort of syringe that had to be plugged in at all times. This was not good when I needed to go to the bathroom (which was LOADS due to all the fluid). Once the machine was unplugged it would make a really loud high pitched beeping noise which gave me an awful headache. The next day I was hooked up to fluids until about 4pm and then had to wait around for ages for the prescription. My friend Gordon came down for a couple of days to keep me company in the hospital which was nice. Mum wasn't well when I was discharged on Thursday so Gordon had the fun task of carrying all my bags. He also helped me decide what I will call my yacht (The P Diddy, in case anyone wants to know). This round of chemo has made me feel a lot more nausceous than any other. To prove my point, Gordon showed up with a bag filled with M&S food and I felt so ill I couldn't touch any of it.. Clearly not like me.

On Friday I felt much the same as Thursday and did nothing the whole day. We went to stay with some friends in Ottershaw for the weekend and they were very kind. I barely moved the whole weekend (as whenever I moved, I would feel sick) but I did manage to watch The X Factor. I clearly couldn't have been that bad. We came back to Daphne's last night and today I've just sat about, listened to the radio, read a bit and watched Grey's Anatomy. Clearly I've been very busy. I still feel pretty ropey but I suppose it's given me a taste of what the next round of chemo will be like... I'm dreading it.

The weekend before we came to London was great. On Friday night, it was the Wedding Reception for one of my best friends Louise. She got married in New York in the summer and it was lovely to see her and Kenny so happy. She wore a gorgeous green dress and looked absolutely stunning. Obviously many pictures were taken..

My wig was doing my head in throughout it and I was so tempted to just whip it off. Here's some pictures of me and the fam when I got home... You can see that my hair has grown in a wee bit!

On Saturday my Auntie Sheana and cousin Emily came for the night and it was so good to see them. Emily is such a lovely girl and we all get on so well. In the evening, Ruth, Jamie and co came round for dinner and to watch The X Factor. We had such a nice night but as the night continued I started to get quite sad as I knew I wouldn't see them for quite a few weeks. My Dad has commented several times on how amazing my close friends have been throughout all of this. They have remained very loyal, caring and considerate. It is cliched to say, but I really couldn't ask for anything better. I am not one to be mushy about this kind of thing but I just hope they all know how much they are appreciated.

This week I don't have any great plans at all. I have some good friends in London I would like to see but that is all dependent on how I'm feeling! Also, my cousin Kate is studying down here so I'm looking forward to seeing her. Well, I best be off. I feel I have blabbed enough tonight. Au revoir!