It’s the ‘Last Train to Glasgow’ . . .

Well, it is finally here, my last week of treatment for this cancer. As usual, I had fully intended to do more updating, but took advantage of some peace and quiet to read, explore, and just try to relax. Well, okay so my version of relaxing meant most days step count exceeded 10,000 so I think I still haven’t quite gotten the hang of that. My routine has been getting the 7:48 train from Dundee to Glasgow Queen Street each Monday and then a commuter train out to where I am staying in West End in Glasgow. Then, every Friday, I would repeat the same in reverse to spend the weekend at home. I actually enjoy riding on the train so that has been a bonus – to work, read, puzzle over the Wordle or Quordle of the day while I am traveling beats driving any day.

Cheers!

My home away from home was the Leonardo Inn West End which is conveniently a less than 5 minute walk from the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre. You will remember from my last post that I am getting my radiotherapy here since the NHS trust where we live was unable to provide what was needed at this time so arranged to have my treatment here and reimburse the cost of travel and accommodations. Though it is obviously not a bar/pub, my stay at the Leonardo Inn has had very much a ‘Cheers’ vibe. Have I lost some of you? This will definitely tell my age, but the theme from the sitcom, Cheers was a place where ‘everybody knows your name’. Staying here included breakfast and the evening meal (supper, dinner, tea – fill in the appropriate blank for your particular culture). Being away from home, family and friends, it was nice to be greeted by name, and have a ‘usual’ drink that was known to them (Dad – you’d be proud to know it was fizzy water).

Every morning there was a buffet offering a full cooked ‘Scottish Breakfast’ – sausages, bacon (the strip of ham type, not American style), mushrooms, tomatoes, (occasionally) Haggis, eggs and of course baked beans. There was also lovely fruit, cheese, meats and breads to toast. I will now admit to pulling what I will call and ‘Alice’ (this particular Alice will know who she is) as I was getting the train directly home after my treatment on the Friday so I decided to make my lunch from the breakfast items as well. I told Matt that to have truly pulled an ‘Alice’, I should have also taken a couple packets of the nice strawberry jam 😂.

Facebook Friends-

Social medial may have it’s MANY faults, but it has been brilliant at keeping me connected with so many people during my treatment. With some it is sharing frustration or elation over the daily Wordle, others it is keeping up with what is going on with their families, but I can say for me it has turned into a literal life line. If you are anything like me, you belong to some very oddly specific groups – to name a few I am a member of ‘American Women Living in Scotland’, ‘Physician Moms of Four or More’, and ‘Hooker High Class of 1990’. Once I started down this road of cancer diagnosis and treatment, I was added to more that were focused on that – groups from both the US and UK of fellow physician mothers diagnosed with cancer. These groups have women of all ages and stages with a variety of cancers in various stages of treatment and recovery. There are some who have had more than one cancer and recurrent cancers. As you can imagine, they are a treasure trove of information and a good place to get a reality check when you feel you are having a bad day – there is always someone having a worse one. I have had opportunity to turn some virtual friends to live, in person ones and that is such a blessing!

In addition to these groups, there have been so many people from different stages of my life (Hooker, Enid, Tennessee, OU, Naval ROTC, USMC, Scotland, and on and on) that have reached out to encourage me, friends old and new and all of you have been a help and encouragement along the way. So many have been in touch to let me know they are praying for us and that is so comforting and humbling.

Doon the Toon –

Being so close to the West End, I was able to walk there on several occasions for lunch and even ventured to walk as far as the Kelvingrove museum – that ended up a bit further of a walk than I had anticipated, but made it back in one piece. I was also able to take advantage of the closeness of Hyndland station and bought a train flexipass to go in and out of Glasgow city centre. Those who know me, know I am not a fan of shopping, but it was fun to just see all the activity and have some passable Mexican food as well. Evidently, Glasgow has really put itself forward as a location for filming movies. On several occasions through out my 4 weeks there, I ran into film crews working on Batgirl. I was intrigued by this and stood around a fair bit waiting for something exciting to happen, but managed to only see a lot of cameras moving from here to there, a crowd of extras with umbrellas running away from a police car, and a stuntman riding his motorcycle up to said car and skidding to a stop. As best I can tell, movie making is a good bit of lots of people just standing around waiting for things to happen.

Hair it comes –

So thought I would also give a further update on the hair – it is growing. It is gray, but it is growing. I think there was a day or two this week I almost caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. That is funny after not seeing that girl for so long. I would love to add in some colour with scarves and such, but really feel at this stage I end up looking like either a pirate or a fortune teller. Just gotta figure out how to pull this new look off 😂🤣☠︎🔮

What’s next??

Well, Matt and Emma are on their way as we ‘speak’ to help me ‘ring the bell’. You have likely seen photos and videos of people doing this. It is to signify the end of treatment and help give a sense of completion to the whole thing. I have learned along this journey that the road is not the same for everyone. There are many who have rung that bell who are no longer here – they have died of either the same or another cancer. So it is with a bit of trepidation I will ring it, knowing there is noting ‘special’ about ringing it that means I am out of the woods or that this cancer is gone. That may sound a bit depressing and I don’t intend that at all. Instead, today I want to focus on the fact that God is good and will sustain me. If the ringing of that bell ends up not being the end of my treatment for cancer, I will not have failed, cancer will not have ‘won’ and God will still be good. Today, I am happy to be over this hurdle finally (I never could get the knack of running hurdles) and am thankful to so many – I am already thinking of my next post and how many people I will need to be thanking, but for now know if you are reading this, you have been an encouragement and blessing to me. God has used each and every one of you along the way and I love you!