Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink

"Water water everywhere 
And all the boards did shrink
Water, water everywhere 
And not a drop to drink"

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner- Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1798

These are but four lines of one of the longest poems written. Spoken by the protagonist, it encapsulates the despair of sailors drifting on the ocean surrounded by water yet without any water to drink.

These words came to mind several times in the last six weeks. I have always gulped rather than sipped water. I could drink 500 ml of water without a pause if I was really thirsty. I learned to appreciate cool water when as a teenager I trained as a race walker with my father and, in those "olden" days, the prevailing wisdom was that one didn't drink while training in order to avoid "stitches" in one's side. My father also discouraged drinking water until half an hour after training ended. So you can imagine the eagerness with which I drank water once the time limit was reached. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be shipwrecked or in a desert without water.

On the first day of the chemotherapy I did not ration my water intake, as a result of which I threw up all the anti-nausea medication I had been given.  That was unfortunate as I had to endure discomfort until the next time the medication was due. I began to ration my fluid intake and took my supplements and medications one tablet/capsule at a time ( instead of 5-7 in a mouthful). In the second round of chemo I was given a week's supply of antibiotics ( 3 capsules every 6 hours) this was the most difficult course of medication I have ever had to take. When I tried swallowing all 3 at a go they seemed to get stuck just south of my collarbone and the pain was physical pain. It was as if the 3 capsules and the water that was carrying them down met a huge burp on its way up and neither would give way. I had to rub my chest in a totally vain attempt to ease the discomfort... That just gave me something to do as the pain remained for at least 15 minutes.  Eventually I took one capsule every 15 minutes with just enough water to send it on its way. Surrounded by water yet having to take only a sip at a time- how sad, how maddening, how frightening.

Imagine the delight, the relief, the glee when I discovered this morning that I could down a whole mug full of cool water at one go. I imagined and actually savoured the physical sensation of the cool water tumbling , rushing, leaping like rapids through a gorge down to the very middle of me. I downed a second mugful just to celebrate. I repeated this TwoMug dosage every hour for no other reason than " Because I Can".

Like my tastebuds ( oh yes, they've all returned from their holiday and chicken tastes like chicken and water no longer like metallic water) that I now consciously appreciate, I add " drinking water without imposed limits" to a growing list of things that I will no longer take for granted.

Tomorrow I go for the blood test that needs to be done before I see Dr Beh, the medical oncologist, who will decide if Round 3 of the chemo is a go on Thursday 5 Oct 2017

I'll just go drink more water - it's worth waking up in the middle of the night for a pit stop😇