A face-to-face chat is such a real pleasure

As I get needled up for my chemotherapy treatment I remind my attentive nurse that I’m due my dreaded – and rather painful – “B52 jab”.

It’s given every nine weeks and it never fails to disappoint, delivering a long, slow, pain deep into the muscle tissue. It gives me a vital boost to a much-weakened immune system.

With a big smile my nurse corrects me: “It’s actually a B12 jab … a B52 sounds like some sort of fancy boozy cocktail,” she laughs.

I tell her it’s just my wee joke and that a B52 is a huge US bomber aircraft developed in the 1950s and renowned for delivering a most powerful punch when in military use.

The age difference between me and my nurse is significant – perhaps that’s why she thought “cocktail” and I thought “Second World War bomber”.

When I was her age in the bars of Glasgow and Ayrshire, a “cocktail” was likely to be a vodka in a short glass with a melted ice cube and splash of diluting orange juice from an open bottle on the bar top.

Now it’s a cocktail of drugs and, as it flows, the chatter moves on to Covid vaccinations.

The nurses have already had their first dose and the second will be delayed for some weeks. But there are no moans about the delay.

“We’ve got a high level of protection from the first vaccination – up to 90 per cent I’ve been told,” one nurse tells the ward.

Another adds: “We get tested twice a week at work and operate to strict protocols – actually I’d rather see my patients get it before me. They are much more vulnerable.”

The patients disagree – “we are isolating and you are more exposed so should be first”, some say. We’re seeing things from a different perspective but we are not arguing.

It’s the polar opposite of what happens on social media where we’re quick to judge, slow to compromise and immovable in our opinions.

My staple diet of face-to-face chat since March last year has been with my wife and our dog Mishka.

Isn’t it strange that something once so terrifying as a chemotherapy ward can become such an uplifting and convivial addition to my life.

As patients leave they say “cheerio” with a smile and a small wave, and everyone replies “see you next time”. Talk of the “B52 cocktail” reminds me of that 1980s comedy Cheers where a group of people from different paths of life meet in a Boston Bar.

The theme tune lyrics include:

“Be glad there’s one place in the world

Where everybody knows your name

And they’re always glad you came …”

Ally McLaws is managing director of the McLaws Consultancy, specialist in business marketing and reputation management. View all columns at www.mclawsconsultancy.com