Dare I say things seem to be going well! Rich is coming up to his last chemo at the local hospital and has so far managed to have them all on schedule. His bloods have recovered well inbetween treatments and I am sure his positivity and relaxed attitude has helped with this.
When we chatted to the Dr on Monday we discussed the Intrathecal (spinal) chemo and up till now we assumed that it would be just the one but he has told us that it will be 4 treatments, each a week apart. This fills me with absolute dread and im sure it does him too. Its going to be a very tough month as we have to travel to Cardiff for the treatment which is a good 2-2.5 hour drive each way which I am going to have to tackle not having much experience of driving on motorways, never mind round a city like Cardiff. Also we will have to go in his car as it is a miracle if mine makes it up our drive in one piece. Driving his car makes me nervous, more so when he is in the passenger seat giving me "advice".
There is a MASSIVE round a bout outside the hospital which scared the living daylights out of me when i was a passenger, how on earth am I going to cope driving round it? This is probably not a big deal and im probably worrying about nothing but the panic is slowly setting in. I must however remember that this is nothing, totally trivial compared to the worry that Rich will be experiencing at the thought of having a needle in his spine! Of course as usual he has not really said much about it but I know him and I know he will be stewing about it and before the first one he will be working himself up inside.
On a plus note, the end is in sight. It does not mean that the nightmare is nearly over, that will be in a few years when he gets the all clear, that is the day I look forward to the most. I cant even imagine how it will feel, or even how we will feel on that day. I wonder if life will change again or if the cancer has put us into a new direction in life?
I am back to the gym tomorrow morning with my big bro. The training for the 5K is going well, as is the sponsorship! I cannot believe in a week I have almost raised £600! The messages of support have been overwhelming and if im feeling a bit fed up and unmotivated I sit and have a read and it gives me the kick up the arse i need to get up and get going again, so to those of you who have visited http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/allyrunsforrich and sponsored me, a big thanks from the bottom of my heart, you people rock!
I do have some exciting news! The local paper contacted me this week and want to use our story to launch their Race For Life coverage. I think it is the perfect opportunity to raise awareness of Lymphoma and get the message across that its not only people who smoke or old people or unfit/unhealthy people who have cancer. Lymphoma is the biggest cause of cancer in the under 30's yet most people dont know that yet they all know that smoking causes cancer!
Im not sure how Rich feels about being in the newspaper, he is a very quiet and naturally shy person but he has said himself that if it helps someone out there then it will be worth it.
I will post the article nearer the time.
