An unexpected rainbow..........
It's been a while since I posted, so what have I been up to?
The after effects of the last cycle were bearable, but the tiredness did take its toll. Probably because I overdid it and booked Center Parcs for the "wrong" weekend. I thought I had booked it for 9 days after treatment, but sadly it would appear that all of this cancer business seems to have impacted my ability to count and I instead booked it for the day after treatment. Oops.
Having said that we did have a lovely time. Say what you like but you know what you are getting at Center Parcs. We went to the Longleat one as there is more there for Briony to do on the swimming front. Unbeknownst to me it also has a hot tub where I spent a significant portion of the weekend! I did make it down the rapids with Briony, but drew the line at the cold plunge pool. We did a few of the activities as well - the highlight for me was the pottery painting as I got another comment about my wig!
Next on the list was Easter. Suffice it to say that sufficient chocolate to keep a small country alive for a week or so was consumed. And that wasn't even Briony. Still, I have to put back on the weight that I have managed to loose. I'm not going to get on the scales for a while just in case.
As I am now a lady of leisure, I managed to bag an offer in the newspaper for cheap tickets to Legoland. So far, so good. You had to pick the day you wanted to go, with no refunds and no exchanges. This obviously represented a significant risk given the great British weather. I went for Good Friday (booked about 5 weeks ago). Sadly Good Friday turned out to be one of the wettest days in recent history. Not to be deterred we spent a good 5 hours in the rain and tested the limits of all of our wet weather gear. Perhaps the most disappointing moment was when they closed a ride whilst we were in the queue! Oh well, it will definitely be a day to remember!
On the cancer front there have been a few developments. My operation is now scheduled and in the diary for the 23rd April. I need to be there at 7.00 but am not on the list until the afternoon. So although I don't get to stay in overnight (boo!) I will at least get some time to do some reading. It turns out that the recovery is a little quicker than we originally thought and I won't be able to drive for around 7-10 days rather than what we originally thought would be 2 weeks. So good news there.
The big news is that the pulmonary guy has reviewed my case. I haven't heard anything from him specifically, but I have had a letter from the surgeon who said that the pulmonary guy had said that the likelihood of the nodules being down to breast cancer was "relatively small". This is, quite frankly the best news we have had since November last year. I rang the secretary to confirm the date of the surgery and she read out the letter to me and I have to admit that I burst into tears when she said it. This is a complete game-changer and means that I am more likely stage 3 rather than stage 4. The 5 year survival stats for stage 3 are 72%, rather than the rather bleak 22% at stage 4. This is obviously a massive difference and I feel like I have completely dodged an arsenic-lined bullet. That said, there is still a "relatively small" risk that they are cancer and I will be followed up with repeat scans to check. But importantly, this follow-up is now what anyone with "indeterminate" lung nodules would receive.
Oh and the other big news - I can tolerate red wine again! Hurrah!
The after effects of the last cycle were bearable, but the tiredness did take its toll. Probably because I overdid it and booked Center Parcs for the "wrong" weekend. I thought I had booked it for 9 days after treatment, but sadly it would appear that all of this cancer business seems to have impacted my ability to count and I instead booked it for the day after treatment. Oops.
Having said that we did have a lovely time. Say what you like but you know what you are getting at Center Parcs. We went to the Longleat one as there is more there for Briony to do on the swimming front. Unbeknownst to me it also has a hot tub where I spent a significant portion of the weekend! I did make it down the rapids with Briony, but drew the line at the cold plunge pool. We did a few of the activities as well - the highlight for me was the pottery painting as I got another comment about my wig!
Next on the list was Easter. Suffice it to say that sufficient chocolate to keep a small country alive for a week or so was consumed. And that wasn't even Briony. Still, I have to put back on the weight that I have managed to loose. I'm not going to get on the scales for a while just in case.
As I am now a lady of leisure, I managed to bag an offer in the newspaper for cheap tickets to Legoland. So far, so good. You had to pick the day you wanted to go, with no refunds and no exchanges. This obviously represented a significant risk given the great British weather. I went for Good Friday (booked about 5 weeks ago). Sadly Good Friday turned out to be one of the wettest days in recent history. Not to be deterred we spent a good 5 hours in the rain and tested the limits of all of our wet weather gear. Perhaps the most disappointing moment was when they closed a ride whilst we were in the queue! Oh well, it will definitely be a day to remember!
On the cancer front there have been a few developments. My operation is now scheduled and in the diary for the 23rd April. I need to be there at 7.00 but am not on the list until the afternoon. So although I don't get to stay in overnight (boo!) I will at least get some time to do some reading. It turns out that the recovery is a little quicker than we originally thought and I won't be able to drive for around 7-10 days rather than what we originally thought would be 2 weeks. So good news there.
The big news is that the pulmonary guy has reviewed my case. I haven't heard anything from him specifically, but I have had a letter from the surgeon who said that the pulmonary guy had said that the likelihood of the nodules being down to breast cancer was "relatively small". This is, quite frankly the best news we have had since November last year. I rang the secretary to confirm the date of the surgery and she read out the letter to me and I have to admit that I burst into tears when she said it. This is a complete game-changer and means that I am more likely stage 3 rather than stage 4. The 5 year survival stats for stage 3 are 72%, rather than the rather bleak 22% at stage 4. This is obviously a massive difference and I feel like I have completely dodged an arsenic-lined bullet. That said, there is still a "relatively small" risk that they are cancer and I will be followed up with repeat scans to check. But importantly, this follow-up is now what anyone with "indeterminate" lung nodules would receive.
Oh and the other big news - I can tolerate red wine again! Hurrah!
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