The radiotherapy treatment is over and done with. It all went according to the master plan. However, since it finished I have had an annoying persistent cold. I have been feeling a little feverish in the last couple of days. It does not help that London is freezing. It even snowed today?! I am determined to get well, so I am doing nothing but rest. Which is so boring, but I want to get well for all these lovely events ahead of me. There is my birthday next week, and also next week is when we are off to Minehead for the ATP festival. And, pretty soon after ATP I am flying to Finland.

I am feeling the post radiotherapy fatigue. I do not think I have given the treatment enough credit, as it felt so easy at the time. What is the most noticeable is the emotional fatigue (?linked to physical fatigue). Apparently, this is pretty normal. The way it manifests in me is that my emotions are not quite how they should be. Things that should make me feel happy, I feel almost numb about them. And certain, small things make me more upset than they should. It is like my emotions are overshooting and undershooting at wrong times. They say this will get better. It probably does not help the matter that I am feeling ill as well, which is making me feel even more tired, and emotionally handicapped.

Apologies for the late blogging. This is mainly due to my busy schedule since the daily radiotherapy started about four weeks ago. I have also been busy with my social life, going to see some live music, and meeting up with friends. On Friday it was my dear friend Hala’s birthday, and her partner Rene had booked two lanes at the Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes. It had been years since I last did bowling. I think it was at school… To my surprise, I was pretty good at it. Actually so good that I won! I even beat the boys. It was so much fun.

Radiotherapy has been easy. The actual treatment does not take long, maybe 5-10 minutes. It is the trekking from Hackney east London to South Kensington in west London that takes a big chunk of my day, and is quite tiring. I have not had any side-effects to mention. The daily hospital routine, Monday to Friday has made me feel like I have a part-time job. I have not minded the radiotherapy, it is like a walk in the park compared to chemo!

My blood counts have been good. As a matter of fact, they have not been this good for a long time. My white blood cell count was 5.5 and neutrophils count was 4.52 this week! Platelets are still quite low, but apparently nothing to worry about.

I had the appointment with Dr Kassab at the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital. She mentioned the referral letter that my GP had sent her. She said that it was the nicest referral letter she had ever received. Apparently my GP had written something like he could not think of a more deserving person to receive this treatment. Dr Kassab was very thorough in her assessment and prescribed me Silica Terra for physical and emotional wellbeing and anxiety; Radium Bromatum for fatigue; and Calendula Cream for eczema. I have not noticed a massive difference in my fatigue levels since I started taking these remedies, but then again I have only been taking them for about two weeks now. I am going to see Dr Kassab again in January.

Liisa, the Finnish receptionist at the Royal Marsden has been a great support to me since I started going there. It is lovely to see a Finnish friendly face the first thing as I enter into the building. Recently she said that she wanted to help me by giving me some money towards a warm coat for the winter. She knows I feel the cold easily and that I am about to travel to Finland for Christmas. Yesterday I purchased a vintage leather/sheepskin aviator jacket from eBay. I cannot wait to try it out. It should be mega warm, and very much in fashion this season. THANK you so much lovely Liisa!

I only have two more sessions of radiotherapy left. After that, I have one more clinic appointment before I go to Finland on the 16^th December. The dreaded PET scan has been booked for me on 17^th January 2011. I guess it means I will be on holidays from Tuesday onwards until the scan.

My hair has grown. It looks a little bit like Emma Watson’s (Hermione from Harry Potter) new short hair cut.

I am feeling good physically, which is great. I can really enjoy this time off. My birthday is coming up soon, and we (Suzie, Minna, Lisa and I) have a weekend of fun, music and dancing ahead of us. We are off to All Tomorrow Parties (festival) in Minehead, Somerset on the 10^th December. And, then after that I am off to Finland, Funland!!!!

Emma Watson