Results day.....
Well the snow has caused complete chaos as usual! 2 snow days for Briony and then last day at school today - one tired girl.
Monday was shocking. I spent most of the day with my head down the toilet. To be honest I'm not sure what caused it and it could have been any one of about 3 things. My money is on the anti-biotics given the timing. Thank you to my lovely neighbour Angela for having Briony when I really wasn't at my best and desperately needed some sleep - you are a life safer!
Monday was also the day for the hair chopping #2 after delaying for the lurgy last week. I would put a photo up but my cold has left me with some rather attractive tender areas around my nose (because of constant nose blowing and lack of nasal hair), so I'll spare you the grossness. Funny how some things don't bother me about this at all, yet some things do. Love my new hair, which is a bit of a shame as it won't be a lasting feature! Oh well, something to aspire to once it does start growing back again. Hairdresser Lucy has a BMW, which we found out wasn't great in the snow - we had to tow her to the end of the road. Thank you so much Lucy for sticking with it! Love ya!
Also had some visitors in the form of my brother, Amber and this cheeky chappy, Arthur. Love the baby grow! It was lovely to see you guys and thanks for helping to occupy Briony and generally look after me. The sausage casserole was lovely and even better on day 2!
In other news, I finally finished my puzzle. Who said I wasn't old before my time. It's just it's very boring at home on your own avoiding people.
So Tuesday dawned as "Results Day". I've never really been nervous about results day before. Truth is I was a bit of a girly swot and knew whether I had done enough to pass or not. Not so now.....another new experience! All was quiet on the drive to the hospital - it's difficult to make small talk in such situations. On the positive side, the barrier was up on the car park so no need to pay for parking on the way out.
We were duly ushered in. I've stopped trying to read things into expressions as it's futile and won't change anything. My consultant seemed on quite good form (perhaps because I was the last appointment of the day). We dispensed with the formalities, which I'm sure everyone found a little awkward when all you really want to ask is "Are you going to turn my life upside down again?" So, on with the show. A brief discussion about what had been happening since I last saw the team (Wednesday last week), so we covered the rash, A&E visit, other general side effects and my concern that I was still feeling very tired and coldy. A brief examination of "the affected area" and a check of my lungs and chest and he confirmed it was likely an upper respiratory tract infection and just general bad luck (tell me about it).
We have decided to lay off the GCSF on the next cycle as the timing of some of the side effects seems to indicate that this may have played a part.
Then on to the main event. MRI breast revealed some good news. Apparently the MRI gives a better image than the CT scan being used previously. The MRI showed that the lymph nodes were less diseased than originally thought and that might have implications for surgery later on. The MRI brain was a bit more of a curved ball. There is no evidence of cancer spread to the brain. There is however some "unexplained inflammation". He was clear at this point that whilst it is not cancer it is a concern and because it is outside of his area of expertise he would refer me urgently to a neurologist. I didn't get any more detail than that as it seemed everything else would be supposition. But, on the positive, there is no cancer. I remarked to Stephen on the way home that he has been trying to work out for years what is going on in my brain, so perhaps a neurologist will have more luck.
I then asked about the bone scan. Queue shuffling papers - turns out the result wasn't back, probably because it had been done on the NHS and the rest of my treatment bar the initial biopsy appointment has been in the private sector.
So we left feeling relatively pleased - it certainly hadn't been the devastation left by the appointment just 2 weeks early. Next appointment with the consultant will be in January where we will start to look at whether I am responding to treatment.
Sadly our rock and roll life style continues. Sleep is still an asset that sadly escapes us on a regular basis so we were in bed by 8.30pm last night. Sorry to keep you guys in suspense. The consultant appointments are always late in the day and we need a bit of time just to get our head around whatever the news is before we go public.
As ever, thanks for all your messages. I've barely managed more than 4 hours out of bed for the last few days, so please don't think me rude for not responding.
Today started well for 2 reasons:
1. No snow day for Briony (last day at school so didn't want to deal with the fall-out from that if it hadn't have happened). Christmas jumper day too. Thanks Nanny Julie!
2. Email from the consultant to confirm that the bone scan is NEGATIVE (no cancer in my bones)........
Off to bed now. It's been a long day with Briony's school play this evening and tomorrow is a big day - Wig shopping!
Monday was shocking. I spent most of the day with my head down the toilet. To be honest I'm not sure what caused it and it could have been any one of about 3 things. My money is on the anti-biotics given the timing. Thank you to my lovely neighbour Angela for having Briony when I really wasn't at my best and desperately needed some sleep - you are a life safer!
Monday was also the day for the hair chopping #2 after delaying for the lurgy last week. I would put a photo up but my cold has left me with some rather attractive tender areas around my nose (because of constant nose blowing and lack of nasal hair), so I'll spare you the grossness. Funny how some things don't bother me about this at all, yet some things do. Love my new hair, which is a bit of a shame as it won't be a lasting feature! Oh well, something to aspire to once it does start growing back again. Hairdresser Lucy has a BMW, which we found out wasn't great in the snow - we had to tow her to the end of the road. Thank you so much Lucy for sticking with it! Love ya!
Also had some visitors in the form of my brother, Amber and this cheeky chappy, Arthur. Love the baby grow! It was lovely to see you guys and thanks for helping to occupy Briony and generally look after me. The sausage casserole was lovely and even better on day 2!
In other news, I finally finished my puzzle. Who said I wasn't old before my time. It's just it's very boring at home on your own avoiding people.
So Tuesday dawned as "Results Day". I've never really been nervous about results day before. Truth is I was a bit of a girly swot and knew whether I had done enough to pass or not. Not so now.....another new experience! All was quiet on the drive to the hospital - it's difficult to make small talk in such situations. On the positive side, the barrier was up on the car park so no need to pay for parking on the way out.
We were duly ushered in. I've stopped trying to read things into expressions as it's futile and won't change anything. My consultant seemed on quite good form (perhaps because I was the last appointment of the day). We dispensed with the formalities, which I'm sure everyone found a little awkward when all you really want to ask is "Are you going to turn my life upside down again?" So, on with the show. A brief discussion about what had been happening since I last saw the team (Wednesday last week), so we covered the rash, A&E visit, other general side effects and my concern that I was still feeling very tired and coldy. A brief examination of "the affected area" and a check of my lungs and chest and he confirmed it was likely an upper respiratory tract infection and just general bad luck (tell me about it).
We have decided to lay off the GCSF on the next cycle as the timing of some of the side effects seems to indicate that this may have played a part.
Then on to the main event. MRI breast revealed some good news. Apparently the MRI gives a better image than the CT scan being used previously. The MRI showed that the lymph nodes were less diseased than originally thought and that might have implications for surgery later on. The MRI brain was a bit more of a curved ball. There is no evidence of cancer spread to the brain. There is however some "unexplained inflammation". He was clear at this point that whilst it is not cancer it is a concern and because it is outside of his area of expertise he would refer me urgently to a neurologist. I didn't get any more detail than that as it seemed everything else would be supposition. But, on the positive, there is no cancer. I remarked to Stephen on the way home that he has been trying to work out for years what is going on in my brain, so perhaps a neurologist will have more luck.
I then asked about the bone scan. Queue shuffling papers - turns out the result wasn't back, probably because it had been done on the NHS and the rest of my treatment bar the initial biopsy appointment has been in the private sector.
So we left feeling relatively pleased - it certainly hadn't been the devastation left by the appointment just 2 weeks early. Next appointment with the consultant will be in January where we will start to look at whether I am responding to treatment.
Sadly our rock and roll life style continues. Sleep is still an asset that sadly escapes us on a regular basis so we were in bed by 8.30pm last night. Sorry to keep you guys in suspense. The consultant appointments are always late in the day and we need a bit of time just to get our head around whatever the news is before we go public.
As ever, thanks for all your messages. I've barely managed more than 4 hours out of bed for the last few days, so please don't think me rude for not responding.
Today started well for 2 reasons:
1. No snow day for Briony (last day at school so didn't want to deal with the fall-out from that if it hadn't have happened). Christmas jumper day too. Thanks Nanny Julie!
Off to bed now. It's been a long day with Briony's school play this evening and tomorrow is a big day - Wig shopping!
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