Lumos Maxima

Well life has certainly been full on, shall we say, since my last blog.  I shall get all the medical stuff out of the way first.  A couple of weeks before Christmas, we discovered that the chemo was finally working and had shrunk the tumour, although not to an operable size according to Guys.  Still, it was going in the right direction.  So I resumed chemo on New Years Eve after having six weeks break, which really helped recover a little bit- thanks to the head Chemo Nurse for insisting!!  This round I managed a lot better; aside from messed up sleeping patterns and constant tiredness.  My Oncologist let me reduce my anti sickness steroids which improved the sleep situation.  

So had my six chemos and MRI scan (thank goodness for diazapam) then four days after the last one which was a week ago on friday, I had a call from one of the nurses at Guys and St Thomas's (while having lunch with friends) asking me to go up for a examination under anesthetic on thursday, then suggested I go up the following day as I am a good couple of hours away.  This meant moving the Oncology appointment I had on the Wednesday afternoon to first thing Wednesday morning.  Sorted.  Tuesday night, however, involved another trip to A&E with a temp spike, on which I blame the horrific cold going around.  They sent me home with antibiotics as bloods were ok and I was going to the Cancer Centre the following morning anyway.  

Again, I have to praise the staff at the Cancer Center for their care and sympathy.  Despite preparing a Mad Hatter's Tea Party for Nutrition Week, they checked my temperature, reassured me and were generally lovely.  As was my Oncologist who said that it still hadn't shrunk enough but to see what this examination by the Surgeon said.  

So I dragged myself up to London, pretty much sleeping the whole way, and got seen by one of the specialist nurses who wanted to put me in the hospital hotel.  I got upset and pointed out I'd been in A&E so she immediately went to work to get me a bed on the ward.   Again, all the staff I encountered were lovely and so helpful.  

I had the procedure done first thing the following morning and requested to stay in another night as I couldn't face the trains.  The Surgeon (whom I had met at an outpatient's appointment in feb) came to see me and said that despite the size he reckons it's operable, and not to have any more chemo!!  Yay!!   So finally we are getting there. Obviously then I had a meltdown when left to myself just as a result of everything that had happened in the previous 48 hours.  So the operation will be in a few weeks time and hopefully the so and so will be OUT!!

It does sound like the last few months have been all trials and tribulations- they haven't.  Just before Christmas we did Hogwarts in the Snow with my In Laws.  And I was one of the best days ever!  We had such a laugh and it was so Christmassy I almost couldn't cope.  (I now can't watch The Prisoner of Azkaban without hearing my Sister in law's impression of Lenny Henry's character in it).  We spent Christmas with my family which was lovely, and New Year (after chemo) with my best friend.

We've had a trip Up North for my Father in Law's birthday (lots of cocktails- yay!), a couple of days in London as an early birthday treat for me where we stayed in the same hotel as last year and saw Bend it like Beckham.

So all in all it has been an emotional time but fingers crossed we are nearly there now.  There is, again, light at the end of the tunnel (hence the blog title; watching Harry Potter as I write!)  Hopefully 2016 will see the end of it all!!