Bognor or Bust!

I've had some complaints (strongly worded comments!) that I haven't been keeping people up to date. Criticism accepted. Just don't moan that it's boring! So here we are on 20th February a mere 8 days before the next onslaught. I have to admit that this cycle has been harder. I think perhaps it is because the drugs from the first cycle are still in my system and so a lot of the effects are cumulative. Or perhaps it is just that the honeymoon period is over! I have been pretty knackered this cycle and only just feel like I am coming out of it. On the positive side I have had a fairly lousy cold (nothing positive there) but have managed to stay out of hospital despite this. Nausea and vomiting have also been a feature. I probably talked this up when I said I had a couple of spa days coming up! We've had half term since I last wrote. It started with a trip to Jack and Alice in Thame with Angela and Molly on the Monday. Briony had french toast with bacon and maple ...

Thursday was the next onslaught of chemo (cycle 4 of 6), although I now feel like an old pro at this! After the relatively good news of Tuesday I was in a good place and ready to go. My chemo buddy on this occasion was my little, only and best brother Paul. A relatively sedate pair of Jimmy Choo's and some fab socks from Jude (sorry for any offense caused) were the order of the day for those keen to know the chosen footwear for this cycle. We set out from home in a positive frame of mind, with a first stop to drop Briony off at school. However, the world did not seem to be aware that we were in a positive frame of mind. They had shut the main road through our village, which then meant that all of the cars had to go down one narrow lane with very few passing spaces. We gave up after about 20 minutes and drove several miles in the opposite direction to try and by-pass it all. Finally we managed! There were a few frantic phone calls to both the school and the hospital to expla...

The big news is that it is Stephen's Dad is 80 today and Angela is 50 today! We had a great weekend with all of Stephen's family in Dorset to celebrate and there are some great photos on Facebook for those who are interested!  Yesterday we saw the consultant for the results of the scans. After the initial diagnosis appointment, this has probably been the next most important and understandably the nerves for both Stephen and I were running high. Let me bring you back up to speed. This appointment was to look at the results of the most recent scans (brain MRI, breast MRI and CT scan) and then plan the path forward from here. There had been a mix-up with the MRI so it was done a bit early and wouldn't have shown any impact of cycle 3; the CT was then rearranged for the right time. The MRI was looking at the size of the breast tumour and my lymph nodes, the brain MRI was checking to see whether there had been any changes from the previous one and the CT scan was checki...

I'm going to say this in a really quiet voice........I've made it through a whole weekend at my most at risk point without ending up in hospital! What's more, we even managed a night out. I'm very proud of myself. My ongoing anxieties about the thermometer have abated temporarily. Technically I still have a couple more days at risk, but I'm now happy to say that I'm quietly confident that this will be the first cycle where I haven't ended up in hospital. Third time lucky after the first two failed attempts. I've pretty much been a hermit since my last post until Saturday. I figured that staying out of people's way would help with the infection control thing. I've even been to the supermarket early in the morning to try and avoid the crowds. Shopping was all done and safely at home in the fridge by 9am in the morning. My diet has been mainly beige over the last few days to reduce the likelihood of ingesting anything that may cause a problem. R...

A quick update for you all....... Well the CT scan on Friday didn't happen which put me in a really bad mood! Apparently there was some mix-up between the scan department and consultant on when it was due to happen. Unfortunately they didn't realise this until the needle had been put into me, which was a bit of a shame as I really don't like them putting it in. Never mind, all for good reason as the consultant wants to see the impact of cycle 3 on my lungs and given the CT was planned for the day after cycle 3 he didn't feel this was long enough, which seemed to be reasonable. I'm all for giving it as long as possible...... That said it did leave me in a bit of a grump on Friday, so I went back to bed so as not to inflict my grump on anyone else! This cycle has left me very tired. I'm not sure if it's because of the GCSF. Even if it is, it's very welcome if it keeps me out of hospital. I'm also pleased to report that there has been no rash th...

So that's it. Round 3 of chemo is in me and fighting it's way around my body. That brings us to half way through the chemo so I feel I am now a veteran at this. With comforting predictability my taste buds have already gone and my nose is streaming. So at least I have confirmation that it was indeed chemo that they put in me today! And so the battle of staying out of hospital begins. My first defence against that is the GCSF which I will stab myself in the stomach with at lunchtime tomorrow. I also have a confusing array of anti-nausea drugs with various instructions around taking before or after food. I struggle with it and I trained as a pharmacist, so I have a head start on quite a few other people! I have also had to start in-filling my eyebrows for the first time. I was a bit nervous about doing it as it was the first time, but one of the chemo nurses commented that they looked really good and asked if I was a professional make-up artist, which did make me smile. Littl...

Sunday evening and a wonderfully normal day and weekend. I've even managed to stay out of hospital this weekend - hurrah! I managed a short run yesterday (painfully slow, but completed none the less) and then Briony had stage coach as normal. Stephen's parents got Briony a Scalextric for Christmas so we had some fun setting this up and then racing. Briony got a bit cross when either of us won, so we had to have a gentle word with her. Sometimes it must be tough being the only child! The evening was finished nicely with 3 glasses of Prosecco and a ridiculous film called Burn After Reading. Stephen has told me to add that it is directed by the Coen Brothers. I'm such a heathen that it makes no difference to me. All I know is that both George Clooney and Brad Pitt were in it. As a consequence of the 3 glasses of Prosecco I slept terribly last night and awoke with a headache this morning. I am now a certified light-weight as 3 units is more than I have drunk in the past 2...