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Is this the year of lasts......
There have been several poignant moments this year which have lead me to think it will be the last time that I will have that moment. It started actually before this year began and that was at Christmas. I usually find Christmas so difficult as I want everything to be perfect and make myself ill with worry, this time was different; we had an amazing Christmas but I wasn’t stressing and I felt really well. Between Christmas and New Year our friends came up and...
It's been nearly 2 years since we lost Daniel and the pain is just as raw. The funeral has passed and there have been many charity fundraisers in his name since he left, but lately I've been starting to feel as though I need something more with which to remember him. Since I was only a friend I don't really know what the family did with his ashes and it doesn't feel right to ask, but that means that I don't have anywhere I can go when I want to feel close to him.
So I've decided...
So an amazing weekend trip to Chicago to knock off one of my husband's big bucket list items turned into a trip to A&E for me and then some horribly shocking news.
The day after we got back from Chicago I started to get a horrendous pain in my right side. I struggled on for a day and could no longer stand it so I drove myself to A&E at my local hospital ( Note for future...dont drive yourself if you can help it - my poor car was there for days!)
The doctors originally thought...
We all have them, even when we’re fit, healthy people but when you have cancer, the bad days are evil. Having leukaemia has not only invaded my body but my whole life.
At first the bad days were easy to handle.. I could talk my brain into believing that everything was going to be ok.. that there was life after cancer. I honestly, maybe stupidly thought I would get through this and go back to my old life .. my job, my friends, my social life BUT one by one that life was cruelly snatched from...
I have now completed 4 sessions of Radiotherapy at St James in Leeds. What a Unit and what amazing staff. The first session was obviously daunting but the initial consultation was very reassuring. I was reassured about the relaxation on certain products for showering. I had already chosen chemical free and very kind shower gels and shampoo. Also a friend makes her own skin cream which is so pure and has been lovely to apply on my scar.
What has really helped is my volunteer drivers to Leeds. Close...
Between the MRI Full spinal check on the 3rd April, and my Pelvic scan on the 11th May, My Oncologist laid out my "Curative" (Love that term) pathway.
I started on Bicalutamide 50mg tablets on the 8th April for 28 days, this medicine masks (hides) testosterone, so the PCa cant see it and prostate cancer cannot grow and spread without testosterone. The tablets were to prepare my body for Decapeptyl 11.25mg IM Injection on the 23rd April. The Bicalutamide prevents a "cancer flare" of accelerated...
So after my life shattering diagnosis of Gleason 4:5 T2c, what next?
on 23rd March I went for a Full body Bone Scan. I arrived and was directed to the "Nuclear Medicine" department, worryingly down in the basement! I had a radioactive marker injected, that shows up cancer metastasis in the bones.
26th March and in yet another machine for a Full body CT scan
Both these scans were looking for metastasis in my whole body. I was glad to have them both done, showed my Oncologist was being thorough...
Going to the doctors with a stiff neck on the 26th January 2018
My wife nagged me to get a PSA test while I was there, as my 71 year old brother had been diagnosed with Gleason 3:3 PCa 14 months earler and had gone private to get Brachytherapy, as his Oncologist wanted him on "Active Watch".
Well on 30th January the surgery phoned me to come in next day to see my GP, I already knew they didn't phone you to come in for a coffee and a chat!
My result was a PSA of 38. Took a while for...
It’s just one of those days which I want to last forever - I have just finished my third cycle of chemotherapy and enjoying a little normality.
I am sat reading with the patio doors wide open, the sun shining, a few fluffy clouds dotted here and there in the sky and a gentle breeze coming through taking the heat out of the sun. There is very little noise apart from the birds and the odd splash of a duck on the water.
Today has helped me to relax and regather myself for my next cycle - it has...
My instant thought was this has to be a sign..to get an appointment to see my favourite haematologist at Kings hospital on the eve of my diagnosis last year. With all the crap I’d gone through with my ruptured appendix, major surgery, etc this past few months and not being able to have my chemo injections because of it... I need some good news.
She explained that considering what I’ve been through my bloods seemed to be holding their own, still not in the range required to be healthy...
