The Mistake.

The number of side effects listed on the chemotherapy trial sheet was terrifying. They had everything under the sun – from nausea and vomiting to hair loss and abnormal hair growth (what the?!) to kidney lesions and stones. Everything and anything, although the doctor insisted that was only the researchers covering all their bases. Whatever she said, we all knew it was the only option we had, despite it only being a trial, and not curative.

So I started chemotherapy on 27^th November 2013, and up till this date, have been coping pretty well, thank God. I’m experiencing very little side effects (no abnormal hair growth to report as of yet), although I have noticed if I don’t eat for more than a couple of hours, I start feeling extremely nauseas and light headed, which isn’t a very good feeling at all (not sure how much of that is because of the chemotherapy or because my body is just so used to me eating all the time...). Either way, I’ve learnt not to go too long without eating, and am careful not to push the limit I can go.

And so it was probably my own fault on this particular day, when I knowingly went three/four hours without eating. We had travelled from Northampton down to London for the appointment, which meant waking up at 6am and having a quick bowl of porridge for breakfast. We had made big plans of going to our favourite Lebanese restaurant afterward (an amazing little place in Kilburn called Zaytoon), and so against my better judgement, I decided not to eat until we got there. I was feeling brave. It was extremely foolish.

As soon as we sat down and I had the first sip of water, I started feeling nauseas and light headed. I thought it was a spell I would get over, and so ignoring Faisal’s advice of going down to the bathroom, I stubbornly stayed in my seat. Again, so foolish. As soon as the waitress had placed the crockery on the table, I proceeded to unload the largest volume of vomit onto the plate in front of me. It was gross, and frankly, I'm surprised Faisal is still married to me, after that display. I immediately felt better though, but was then tasked with somehow covering up the vomit (I'll spare you the details of what it looked/smelled like, just know it wasn't my proudest moment). Eventually, I found some tissues which I strategically and artfully placed to cover up any evidence – until the waitress came back with our food and Faisal told her what happened. She was lovely about it though and even gave me free lemonade, although I find it suspicious how every time we’ve gone back to the restaurant, she's nowhere to be found...

Lessons of the day:
- Know your limits. Don't push your body into doing something it is not capable of - the consequences may be extremely, extremely embarrassing.