Cancer 185

I made a discovery at the hospital yesterday. As usual I had time to kill so after having a tea in Costalot which was disturbed by a fake fire alarm where all we ill people were sent outside in the cold to get iller. I hung around right next to the door for some warmth – most of the staff carried on entering the building to go to work. Tough folks these health workers, literally fighting through fire to look after their patients (except for the ones forced outside). I thought I would have a look at the MacMillan centre and see what they do. I have been in once briefly to get a leaflet on travelling abroad but that is it – rubbish for nearly two and a half years of treatment when the place is on the same corridor as where I get treatment.

It took some nerve going in because in my head that is where all the people who are psychologically disturbed by their cancer go so staff can go ‘there there, it will be all right’ (when it won’t). Get a grip folks, it’s just cancer. Something has to kill you and why not have lots of attentive nurses and others being nice to you for a few months or years.

I was pleasantly surprised. No, I wasn’t surprised, I expected it to be lovely. I went in, had a word with the receptionist about just being nosy and not really needing anything (stand up straight, try to look well, try to look like a man ready to build a house if necessary. She doesn’t know I would struggle to pick up a brick in one hand and a trowel in the other!). She took me to some comfy seats and made me a cup of tea, asked me if I needed anything else, and told me it was fine to wait here away from the bustle of the hospital.

I sat down for some peace, and opened a recipe book about cooking for cancer (not eating the cancer itself which is what the title suggested), saw all the dishes were the sort of thing the wife tells me to eat and closed it again. There was not an ounce of bacon for breakfast. It was all fruit and stuff. Three more people turned up with a volunteer. They sat down at my table and we ended up having a good-humoured chat about this and that. Really friendly. It turns out one of them has just been diagnosed with breast cancer, but she was as cheerful as the others. was disappointed when I had to go to my appointment and leave them there.

The MacMillan centre is the ideal place for me to sit and wait for my appointment, away from all the other people in the hospital who don’t have real diseases (cancer is a winner in so many ways). The centre wasn’t an unhappy place. Everyone was cheerful and joking. The staff were great, Add free tea and I thoroughly recommend it.