Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
If the other people having chemotherapy knew? They'll kill me.
I was offered - again - pills for nausea. I still have, unopened, the set of pills I was given after the first session. Today was my fourth.
But I took my wife to a restaurant for her birthday meal. I washed it down with a pint of Stella Artois. Many of my fellow sufferers can barely manage a dry biscuit and sips of water.
I've lost several family members who had severe side effects from the chemo. Positive thoughts that yours continues to go well.
Back from five hours of boring chemotherapy. I don't like sitting in one place for that long. I need to get up and move around, and with a cannula and line to a machine - I can't.
Except for the slight prick when they insert the line I feel nothing and have no side effects except thinning of hair in my beard and my bald spot has grown.
But it is boring...
I normally wear a Chicago Bulls 1998 NBA champions baseball cap that my eldest daughter brought back from when she was working in Chicago. I also have a Russian Foxtrot submarine baseball cap.
My other hats are a bit OTT:
A Canadian Mounties Hat
A Australian Army slouch hat
A Turkish Fez
A maroon beret
I don't have my cake on head hat any more as seen in my AV. I passed it on to my successor as Henry VIII but a neighbour has offered to make me a replica.
A grey Top Hat
A black bowler
That's quite a collection of hats. With such an eclectic mix it sounds like each one has some meaning to you.
Also, from a previous message, I hope that Queen Bashan had a happy birthday.
Thank you for sharing. You did not disappoint in that you had a story for every hat. Some of those experiences are easier to picture than others and some have more emotion than others, but each story, like each hat is different. As it should be.Canadian Mounties hat: Closest to the Australian Scout's hat I wore back in England when on duty as a car park attendant for a Buckingham Palace Garden Party. I also wore my 24 inch razor sharp Wilkinson Sword machete which I carried as the winner of a Bushman's Thong. I promised, on Scout's Honour, not to take it out of its sheath. Most of the other Scouts were English and all wearing sheath knives but my machete was seen as more threatening.
Australian Army Slouch hat: Souvenir of my Australian School's Cadet Force who trained with Lee-Enfields, Owen submachine guns, Vickers machine guns, mortars and a few artillery pieces. Since my time they have acquired a few tanks...
Turkish Fez - swapped at a Scout Jamboree with a Turkish Scout for my green scout beret.
Maroon Beret: given to me by Royal Marine Commandos for completing their assault course - as a civilian - in a faster time than most Royal Marines and also for beating their record for circumnavigation of an island by going sideways around the cliffs without ropes or touching the base or the top of the cliffs. The previous Marine record was 28 minutes. I did it in 13.
Grey Top Hat: to go with my tailed morning suit at my daughters' weddings.
Black Bowler: Relic of my time as a civil servant in the Admiralty based in royal dockyards. I had to wear a hat when boarding any HM ship and doff it to the quarterdeck until 1965 when the requirement was replaced by a nod. In 1965 I had left my Bowler at home when I went to sea for a fortnight. I was wearing a disreputable trilby. When the regulation was changed I ceremonially disposed of the trilby into the Irish Sea.
Australian Army Slouch hat: Souvenir of my Australian School's Cadet Force who trained with Lee-Enfields, Owen submachine guns, Vickers machine guns, mortars and a few artillery pieces. Since my time they have acquired a few tanks...
You've reminded me of my father's tale of a classmate in a similar school who managed to get excused from Cadets, normally compulsory, after an unfortunate accident (?) that convinced the instructors he shouldn't be anywhere near a machine gun.
Canadian Mounties hat: Closest to the Australian Scout's hat I wore back in England when on duty as a car park attendant for a Buckingham Palace Garden Party. I also wore my 24 inch razor sharp Wilkinson Sword machete which I carried as the winner of a Bushman's Thong. I promised, on Scout's Honour, not to take it out of its sheath. Most of the other Scouts were English and all wearing sheath knives but my machete was seen as more threatening.
Australian Army Slouch hat: Souvenir of my Australian School's Cadet Force who trained with Lee-Enfields, Owen submachine guns, Vickers machine guns, mortars and a few artillery pieces. Since my time they have acquired a few tanks...
Turkish Fez - swapped at a Scout Jamboree with a Turkish Scout for my green scout beret.
Maroon Beret: given to me by Royal Marine Commandos for completing their assault course - as a civilian - in a faster time than most Royal Marines and also for beating their record for circumnavigation of an island by going sideways around the cliffs without ropes or touching the base or the top of the cliffs. The previous Marine record was 28 minutes. I did it in 13.
Grey Top Hat: to go with my tailed morning suit at my daughters' weddings.
Black Bowler: Relic of my time as a civil servant in the Admiralty based in royal dockyards. I had to wear a hat when boarding any HM ship and doff it to the quarterdeck until 1965 when the requirement was replaced by a nod. In 1965 I had left my Bowler at home when I went to sea for a fortnight. I was wearing a disreputable trilby. When the regulation was changed I ceremonially disposed of the trilby into the Irish Sea.
As always, Ogg, you have the most interesting stories which is why so many here are wishing the best for you. Reading about your hats reminded me of one of my favorite Britcoms "Are You Being Served". Of course like much of Brit society things had to follow a rigid hierarchy so it depended on your position on what type of hat you were allowed to wear. To an American it was beyond bizarre and I'm guessing things may have relaxed some by now. Make sure you stay upright until you can polish off your wine collection, at the least.
Farewell
So what if I am about to die?
I have lived my life and that’s no lie.
I have tried to help my fellow man,
doing what and when I can
Sometimes I have failed, it’s true
Perhaps I had no effect on you.
But I live to the last without regret
Remembering the best til I forget
When I’ve gone, remember me
Until you too cease to be.
Except for the slight prick when they insert the line I feel nothing
But it is boring...
My Goodness, Ogg, you are definitely to be applauded for sitting patiently for five hours with a small prick.
Loved the hat stories, and the poem
Not a good day. I slept badly until about 8.30 am then back to sleep to 11. Once up I was very wobbly and eyesight bad - can barely see the screen even with glasses and eyepatch. This is a reaction to chemotherapy.
Maybe tomorrow will be better. Without spellcheck I couldn't even post this.