Two down, now a week off!

Too nice a day to spend indoors in quite small room, but wood outside and breeze from the window. Geoff worked and I read, listened to my soothing friend Leonard and dozed. Plenty of encouragement to drink, though sadly no prosecco.

1. the line went in first with hardly a bruise left to show it had been there.

2. All the various hydrations, minerals, flushing stuff flowed through painlessly as well as the two chemo specials

3. Most exciting, my blood test was very encouraging with excellent kidney function (crucial as chemo can't continue if they are suffering) and white blood cells fine; red bloods down but that's a slow long term thing;

4. my liver tests show significent improvement which shows even the single  treatment last week has had  effect  

There's lots more detail but that's enough to make it worthwhile.

We celebrated on the way home by buying hanging baskets from an enthusiast's garden and splurging on goodies from M&S.

Cheers!   

2nd treatment in 1st cycle tomorrow, then week off!

A mixed kind of week, only to be expected I guess! Sunday worst day as could hardly wake up! So tired. Better on Monday and even better today Tuesday as despite some tum discomfort I felt quite lively.

I haven't achieved much this week but did enjoy the sunshine. A chair under an apple tree in the garden! And I can watch Geoff working on his veg or lawns or preparing the new house signs. Perfect. We did have a potter to a local quality superstore on Saturday to indulge in retail therapy (I'm getting behind there!) and hot chocolate. No dog but Beth and Chrissie came down and helped with putting up the very heavy slate signs and doing the mowing.

Don't forget to think of me again on Wednesday pm...and I hope I get away this week with less horrid bruises.

Two days after

Just a quick post to say all well and no real side effects. The anti-nausea drugs worked so effectively I had no hint of sickness. I had no high temperature problems but on the contrary my temperature struggled to reach 36! Blood pressure all over the place but ok. Felt quite energetic Thursday pm but fragile today so not much achieved. We did manage a potter to the canal where we saw a charming Canada geese family.

Last weekend we had a great visit by Phil, Chiff, Barney and Martha. B&M helped Grandpa mow the path round the paddock on the big, old tractor mower...and had a ball! I tried out my wig on them and they didn't run screaming from the room or burst out laughing.

This coming weekend we're hoping to see Chrissie, Beth and a visiting dog, which will bring some unwanted excitement into Minnie's life. 

One down, eleven to go!

The weather was truly horrid today so why not spend it indoors in a small room being pumped with chemicals?!

Actually more time was spent hydrating me and putting in compensatory vitamins etc that the two chemo treatments tend to take out, which can harm the kidneys. There were no immediate side effects from either of the latter. Tonight I feel fine, have had fish and chips, with a very nice glass of prosecco, while watching a reassuring episode of Poirot.

So an hour and a half was chemo, three plus hours flushing, hydrating and boosting.... and more than an hour and a half trying to find a vein to carry the canula!! It wasn't all 'pincushion' work but also warming hot pads and also a bowl of hot water, quite a lot of which ended up on me! My veins are rather narrow, always a challenge for the nedical profession. This was also not helped by my blood pressure which was surprisingly low - I assumed it would be high in this stressful, unknown territory that I was entering! The top reading, usually about 120, remained stubbornly below 100.

Anyway as you can see from the photo they eventually succeeded in finding a very good vein which withstood all the variety and length of the intravenus action. You can also see evidence of some of the failed attempts. And also my dark red nail varnish, which is also on my toe nails. Apparently there is good evidence that dark red/ black varnish protects the nail beds from chemo damage (ridging and flaking)!

All in all a successful day though a long one. Geoff worked and drank a series of coffees; we talked, attempted the crossword and ate lunch; I drank a lot of water, did a sudoku, placed my Sainsburys order, listened to good old Leonard Cohen (thanks Chiff) and enjoyed my kindle. We had a nice garden view and, besides nurses and a pharmicist, saw no-one else. 'Our' nurse, Sonya, is very pleasant and efficient. We'd met her on Monday for our briefing and she continued today talking us through things and giving helpful hints, as well as telling us about herself and family. I imagine we'll know her quite well by September.

I could feel the strong vibes from all of you, and was comforted and grateful and hugely encouraged.  

Starting date!

I'm 'meeting the team' at the Bath Clinic on Claverton Down on Monday and then starting the chemo next Wednesday, the 17th at 10.30am. The first session could last 6 hours!! TG for my kindle! And I'm hoping all of you lovely people will be sending strong healthy vibes and prayers. I really want this treatment to stun my tumours so I can enjoy a well period. I'm preparing my 'bucket list' and expect to have some time to achieve some of these things which include a goddaughter's wedding in Florence in the spring and a visit to southern Spain as we've never been to Seville or the Alhambra! Shocking!

We're having a quiet day today, enjoying a walk to the canal in the sun and some pottering in the garden. The last few days have been full of fun. Thursday we visited my sister Loretta and husband Graham down on the Devon/Dorset border, a gorgeous part of the country. We caught up with each other's news, had steak dinner in their local and inspected their garden plans and Graham's pride and joy, already erected, a wooden garden observatory, with a roll back roof. Geoff had his first first good look at Jupiter and the craters of the moon.

On Friday morning on the way home Geoff dropped me at our friend Pat's house where she gave me lunch and then drove me to the Wig Lady's place, just south of Swindon. We had loads of fun looking at catalogues, examining swatches of colour and trying on wigs. Lynda is such a kind, sensible lady with lots of useful advice. She has ordered me 5 different wigs to choose from. The things you learn: real hair wigs are heavier and of course have to be styled; artificial wigs just need to be washed and the style bounces back! But you must NEVER open a hot oven in a 'acrylic' wig...

Then home for the cream tea Pat had prepared and brought with her. Yum! I think she's in league with Geoff about feeding me up.

Simon and Ruth came down on Saturday and set to work to help with some heavy chores, like getting the remains of the old washing line out of the ground and setting up the new one. Geoff had hurt his neck trying the job on his own and is in quite a lot of pain, poor thing. Lots of useful jobs were covered by this healthy energetic pair and then in the evening they took us out to a Michelin star pub for dinner, really superb. We'll go back again I think to celebrate...

Sunday we succumbed to the local Garden Centre, enjoying its many delights including lunch. As I write, Geoff is out in his veg patch planting and I must go out and water. 

Not much of a choice!

Well, we saw the oncologist, Dr Tanya Tillett, last evening and found her clear and helpful. We had lots of questions which she was pleased to answer. So I'm now going to give you a quick run down on my situation (if you're feeling squeamish...) Apparently my primary cancer is in the gall bladder, with the liver tumour secondary. This kind of cancer is almost always picked up too late as there are no obvious symptoms until it starts to spread. The oncologist said no surgeon nowadays would act on this cancer as it would just jump and spread, even into the surgical incision to enter the area, which would never heal. People who had surgery did not do as well as those who don't. This group of organs (including the pancreas) are contained in a kind of 'bucket' formed by the peritoneum.

So only 2 choices, palliative care which I didn't like the sound of but I guess will come later especially if the chemo is not working, and chemotherapy. You won't be surprised to hear I opted for the pro-active chemo! This will take the form of 6 x 3 week cycles: weeks 1&2 I will spend a half day each week being pumped with 2 chemicals and the third week will be a recovery week when the doctor will do scans and see how I and my tumours are doing. She says we can stop at any time and that her main concern is keeping me well and comfortable for as long as possible, not insisting on painful and futile procedures. There's a 24 hour helpline and all sorts of support. I'll meet the team next week and maybe even start then.

The best outcome would be if the chemo works and stuns the cancer cells, stopping the spread, reducing the size of the liver tumour and getting rid of the discomfort, tiredness and persistent temperature problem!!! In other words normality!

We won't think too much about the worst case scenario but we will make contact with local Macmillan cancer support centre so they know what the situation is and can give advice and support when needed. We are preparing for the worst but are living in hope that the chemo will work. Dr Tillett was quite clear that everyone is different and no-one really knows how each person will react.

Sorry for such a bleak post. I still can't really believe I'm talking about myself. I still have a lot to do and don't want to die yet. 

Family weekend

We've had a great May bank holiday weekend, with quite a lot of sunshine and some good walks. Phil came on Friday morning and we spent a couple of jolly shopping hours in Marlborough (clothes shop capital of Wiltshire), finishing with tea at Polly's tea rooms, which still has good cakes even if the girls no longer wear frilly dresses!

Saturday morning she helped me sort out one of the wardrobes, enabling me to get rid of a lot of evening bling which even in health I an unlikely to wear again. In the afternoon we walked across the fields to the canal, passing very close to a roe deer sitting quietly in a field ditch. We wondered if he was injured but he'd gone the following day. Later we had a more lethal visitor to our garden, sitting hopefully on the fence trying unsuccessfully to find a way to get its beak on our fish!

Sunday Chrissie and Beth came laden with Farmers Market goodies such as interesting pies (Penguin Pie?), cheese and a chicken which they roasted. Then, because Beth had never watched Flash Gordon all the way through, we indulged ourselves in some family nostalgia, joining in with the dialogue and wallowing in that superb Queen musical sound track.

Today we went for a lovely 'bluebell walk' in some local woods and then had a pub lunch in The Barge Inn which used to be famous for its crop circle room. All the Croppies used to visit to find the most recent and spectacular crop circle report and discuss their alien experiences....Only the ceiling painting remains now...

As you can tell, I am not really unwell at the moment. I struggle with my temperature, especially in the night, I get very tired and I find sitting upright for too long uncomfortable as my internal organs can be squished, but I am able to carry on with life as much as possible.

We are seeing the Oncologist in Bath tomorrow (Tuesday) evening and then we might have some idea of what the future holds! Very many thanks for all the messages of love and support. I am moved and grateful but as yet I don't really know what I am going to need in the way of support. I really have no idea! But I will let you know, but I think it will be a steep learning curve, not one I would have chosen.