So it’s Thursday morning and off I toddle to get a ct scan prior to having some radiotherapy on my neck as there was some concern that I had some bone damage from a scan i had done a month previously caused my blood cancer might cause me some serious issues. Unfortunately it also showed something new and they insisted I have an MRI scan to have a better image, it took so long to arrange I ended spending the night in hospital. Next day I eventually got a appointment for 9am for the MRI and then I got a appointment at a different hospital at 6 pm, I ended up waiting until 8.30pm to get my radiotherapy which actually took 10 minutes. As you can imagine I am worn out. All the staff were kind and very apologetic but I think it shows how slow everything in the nhs is becoming under the stress of ever increasing workloads. I’m glad I stuck it out though as hopefully it will reduce my reliance on morphine based pain killers and I will be more present in my own life as my disease progresses over the coming weeks. It just demonstrates how you need to be alert to problems that need addressing as the lead times in resolving issues can be difficult and time consuming.
Hi everyone, well I finally completed all my radiotherapy on my back and can now relax back into a more normal pattern of living. The only reason I agreed to have it was to reduce the risk of a hospital admission and to full-fill my desire to have my end of life care at home/ hospice, It’s such a fine balancing act and I must admit I felt conflicted about doing it. I think what’s it taught me is the whole process is not straightforward and you need as much support and good council as you can get.
However I did get to visit a maggies centre for the first time which was located in the grounds of the hospital, it was warm and welcoming on a horrible cold and rainy day. I live smack in the middle of the two nearest centres about 40 Minutes drive each way. I think we are going to need more places like this in the future to support patients living extended periods of time on life extending treatments with uncertain outcomes and as more cancers become long term chronic illnesses with the emotional pressures that will come with it. I found this article which I thought summed things up quite well, I decided to post it in end of life as it might be upsetting to some in the incurables but it should be interesting to both groups depending on where they are at in their treatment cycle.
I hope you are all doing as well as you can be, this weather is very debilitating when all we want to do is get out and about if we can for some fresh air.
, very good article...thanks.
And if you want, i send you some sun, it's 35 degrees here today 
Pet
