Wow- July to November is a long time. And quite a lot has happened in that time; both good and bad.
I'll get the not so good out of the way first. More chemo has been required, with Avastin (though technically I suppose that part is good as funding is now cut- thank you Tory Party). It would be a lie to say I have found this lot a walk in the park. I haven't. My appetite has been up and down like a yoyo (though I did lose most of the stone I put on with the last lot!) I have been given fortijuce but the Cancer Centre Nutritionist (lovely lady) to help me through the bad days. I have been given morphine to cope with the acheyness in the legs and around the tumour. Paracetomol is a bad idea as it masks a temperature.
Which leads me to the next issue. I have been in A&E about 5, maybe 6 times in the last couple of months. Luckily only one of them was more than a few hours; two nights as I was neutropenic (although I'll be honest, a day in bed watching 'Once Upon a Time' on my kindle wasn't an entirely bad thing.). My suspicion is that I had a lurking UTI that was suppressed by anti-biotics until the last time I went. Unfortunately, this happened the minute my In Laws arrived for a visit. The hospital found the infection and sent me home with more specialised ABs which, although I felt not great for the next few days, meant I have felt better than I have in a while.
However, last Sunday I had another spike (which I now realise was due to the big wooly jumper I was wearing). I phoned the in-patient Oncology ward and spoke to one of the lovely nurses who looked after me when I was in there last year. She asked me many questions and said she thought I was ok, but she would phone me in half an hour to see if it had gone down, which it had. Then I thought to take the jumper off. On Monday however, I had got myself into such a state that my mum took me into the chemo ward two hours early for my pre-chemo blood test just so I could get checked over and feel better. The Nurses were lovely, so reassuring. They did say to go home and they would phone if the blood test showed anything but I burst into tears and said I wanted to wait, Which I did. And it was fine- chemo commenced. The following day, talking to one of the nurses, I decided to try out her meditation session to help with the anxiety which is one of the most difficult things for me to deal with. So fingers crossed that will help.
Well that's all the bad stuff (I think). This summer has had some great moments- four weddings attended. Two of these were in Yorkshire. The second one, we made a bit of a holiday of as it was my In Laws' wedding anniversary as well. We were able to surprise them at their surprise party which was awesome. It was also fun to sneakily hide out at my Brother-in-Law and Sister-in-Laws house. We stayed for ten days which was awesome!
I was also able to see some of my Uni friends at one wedding which was fabulous. So nice to catch u and have a laugh!
We have also had our house decorated. The horrible York Stone Fireplace is gone, as is the dodgy wardrobe in the bedroom. It is so nice to have a home how you want it (new sofas and everything!) although the decision making was difficult as I find it quite stressful.
We have done a couple of Comic Cons too, which were awesome fun. One of them we even dressed up (I was Tonks from Harry Potter, Hubs was The Penguin as played by Burgess Meredith). I love a Geek Out and they were a brilliant distraction. Brilliant to feel like a person rather than a patient.
Another fab thing- I have been asked to be Maid of Honour next year for a wonderful friend I made in hospital last year. We have been something of a support system to each other since and, despite being younger, she gets all Mumma Bear on me. She is truely one of the blessings that I have had since my diagnosis.
That's not to say other people haven't been. My Hubs and Mum have a tag team going so I'm not left on my own- which I don't like at the moment. I have some lovely friends just on the other end of the phone or on Facebook ready with a supportive word or just a distraction when I need it. I am lucky!
And now we're in the run up to Christmas (yes we are- sorry not sorry) and I am again in my regressive state wanting to watch Christmas films and can't wait to put the tree up. In a couple of weeks time, we are going to Hogwarts in the Snow with my In Laws and Brother-in-Law and Sister-in-Law and I can't wait. My sister in law and I regularly message each other about how excited we are! Fun Times.
I think that's probably enough of my rambling for now. Until next time, peeps! xxx
