10 days post-radiotherapy

Hello all! 

Can you believe it’s been 10 days since my last radiotherapy session! 

There are a few things to report

• I don’t need to use my clutches at the moment (useless I’ll be walking a lot)
• The skin around my hip seems to be fairing quite well
• Internally though, I am currently taking antibiotics for a urine infection & it may have started up my IBS again (had a quite badly for a few years but it seemed to disappear after having children). This means I, now, have a lovely new batch of drugs to take alongside my usual ones. 

This is this morning’s drugs before breakfast 

This includes Letrozole, sertraline, Adcal D3 caplets, trimethoprim & buscopan. Hopefully, after a few weeks & plenty of rest, things should go back to normal.

Right, I’m off for my morning cuppa. Speak to all soon! 😄

No Pain, no gain

Sorry it’s been awhile and sorry that I seem to start most of my posts like this.

The results from my recent scans have come back to say there has been no further spread, which is always welcome news, however it didn’t explain why I am having pain in what is supposed to be my good hip. My CA-15 (tumour marker but also shows other things) keeps going up and down, so my oncologist suggested a weeks course of radiotherapy for pain relief and to blast anything that might be thinking my right hip would make a good home.

This was all a few weeks ago so after a preparation scan and a little holiday to Suffolk, I am now 2 out of 5 treatments of radiotherapy down and feeling it! Due to the hubby’s work commitments and my 2 little monkeys, strong pain relief is out of the question. I am relying on Nurofen joint pain and crutches (could have  done with them last time however they weren’t available from the hospital. Got myself a really cool pair that are pink with a pretty flower pattern, but I’m digressing slightly).

My cool crutches

The one thing that surprised me was that changes in self-care when having radiotherapy. For instance, when I had it a couple of years ago, we were told to liberally apply aqueous cream however now I am to only use Simple shower gel when washing and no cream until after the treatment has finished as it can create too much of a barrier and the therapy could be less effective.

Here is a link for anyone who is interested in finding out more about radiotherapy for pain relief (http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancers-in-general/treatment/radiotherapy/symptoms/radiotherapy-for-bone-pain)

So that’s me all up to date and included one of the many photos from my holiday 

 

 

Busy old week

The past week has been quite busy.

I have started the next module of my photography degree (& the required reading😩)

I have also had my 3 weekly top up of herceptin & perjeta. A cold has joined in the fun so I’m feeling quite drained at the moment (all in time for Tom to start his 5 working days). 

I saw the oncology nurse this week & due to some pains in my legs, I’m going to have my routine CT scan & an MRI scan next week to rule out anything horrible. 

Good points this week include- breakfast with my best friend, reading “Dream a little Dream” by Giovanna Fletcher, preparing for Evie’s birthday & discovering that, not only Evie, but now Connor is shaping up to be an excellent artist! 😄🎨

Food for Thought

When you usually see cancer, it is in adverts or leaflets. It is censored and made to look comfortable for its viewers. The article below is about a series of images that depict real people living with very real cancer. So are funny and some aren’t but this is the reality. I’ve even included one of my old photos to this post

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36461223

Hair and Race for Life!

So yesterday was a fairly busy day.

Firstly I had a hair appointment, which I was very excited about as I could actually choose the style (what I had been going for before or a bob cut). It is lovely to be able to have the option, usually I just have it styled to help grow it out so I opted for a bob cut. It’s still a little short in place but as soon as the hairdresser put in the fringe, it looked perfect and I am so happy with it. I also captured some photos to show you all.

Secondly, I completed my 3rd Race for Life with my friend Kate and her daughter Megan. To say I was nervous, was an understatement, I was petrified! My idea to train and prepare myself went out of the window so I was really unprepared. However, we managed to get round in 49 minutes (Megan in 35 mins) and 24 hours later, I’m still here. My legs are really aching though and I was so tired I had to have a nap. So here is a photo of us just before we started (there is a photo as we crossed the finish line but it is not glamorous)

Well, that’s all to update at the moment. I’m off to get my 5th assignment ready to send off (hopefully this evening)

x

Round up of the week

So in the vain of wanting to update my blog more, I thought I would share with you what I have been up to this week & its been a busy one!

It’s been half term for Evie so firstly there has been the task of entertaining her (fortunately Connor still goes to nursery but its a bit more flexible in the holidays)

So the week started off with an impromptu BBQ at my dad’s house (taking full advantage of the glorious sunshine on the bank holiday). Tuesday my mum in law had the children for the day (bliss but it means I have to play catch up with food shopping & coursework) & I had the nurse out to take bloods ready for treatment on Thursday. The bloods were taken without any problem & the nurse even told me that he had bumped into my old oncologist, who had been asking how I was. It really struck a chord with me to think that even a year after she stopped working at the hospital she still thinks of her old patients (see, the NHS isn’t all bad).

Wednesday was the mummy/daughter day I had planned over 6 weeks ago. I took Evie to Emma Bridgewater in Stoke to see how it’s all made and to paint some things for us as souvenirs. I found it absolutely fascinating to see the whole process of how its made (& now understand why it isn’t cheap!). I think Evie’s favourite part was the painting as she couldn’t wait to get started once she had chosen a plate.

I even painted some mugs myself (why should Evie have all the fun?)

Thursday was our busiest day though. After dropping Connor off at nursery, it was off to take some photos for my coursework and a little bit of shopping so Tom could do some more work in the hall and landing (he’s nearly finished decorating then it’s time for me to do the finishing touches). At 11:30am the nurse arrived and it was time to get hooked up and jabbed (yep it was all four treatments-lucky me). Although I should enjoy the nurse coming & having the opportunity to sit and just watch tv, I had other things on my mind. Firstly, packing! Yes Tom & I were going away for the evening and the monkeys were having a sleepover at my dad’s house. When I originally booked it, I wasn’t due treatment this week however since I was ill last week it had to be postponed. So once treatment was over, we were off!

For Christmas, my dad had given us a gift experience of a nights stay at Ruthin Castle. It was a beautiful castle with so much history (including Tudor- my favourite). We had a lovely 3 course meal last night & a good nosey around (it was funny sneaking around and we found the mediaeval banqueting hall!). This morning after breakfast we took a lovely stroll around the grounds before heading home. It was a lovely end to the week.

So it’s back to work on my assignment this weekend. I’m hoping to finish it all this week, ready to start the next module.

x

Times are changing…

Some of you may notice a couple of little changes to my blog.

After a lot of thought (& a little status on Facebook), I’ve decided to change my blog. I haven’t been updating you all on the cancer stuff as, to be honest, there isn’t anything new to update you all on. The are positives and negatives to this. The positive being, I am fighting the cancer and there have been no developments or progression. The negative is that I haven’t been able to write on my blog.

It’s funny really, I started this blog with the local radio station & I was really nervous about writing as I thought I would be rubbish at it & wouldn’t know what to write. However, I love it!

Therefore, I will now be blogging about my life (it can seem pretty crazy at times). I’ll update you on things I have been up to, adventures, funny anecdotes (hopefully I’ll have some), a bit of cancer stuff & anything else I think you might like to hear about. This way I can write a bit more & share with you the everyday goings on of someone with cancer.

So here goes!

Hopefully you will all enjoy seeing where this goes

x

Told you I’d put up a fight!

So today Timehop had another reminder for me.

It was such a blow for me that day, my idea that morning was to see the oncologist who would tell me everything was going to plan and that my chemo would rid me of my cancer. However, as usual for me, it didn’t quite go that way. I was sat down, the doctor gave a huge sigh and said that this was the part of the job she hated. My cancer had spread and was, therefore, incurable. She promised me it could be managed and although she has since left my hospital, her promise has been kept. At the time, my only wish was to see my little girls first day at school and enjoy life more as I had no idea how long I would last (sorry a bit depressing)

But here I am 2 years later, with no further spread, after my chemo kicked the s**t out of it and reduced the mass on my pelvis, spine and hip to just a small amount on my pelvis and hip.

So I guess I’d better make some aims for the next 2 years!

1. My sisters wedding and subsequent hen do’s (one of which I am allowed to plan)
2. My little boy’s first day of school
3. A big family holiday (we are more in the habit of weekends away then proper holidays, but this ends now)
4. Carry on enjoying life (this will include wacky weekends away, meeting celebs and some other weird and wonderful things that crop up along the way)

So, to end I thought I’d share a photo from our first adventure of the year, Alton Towers (and Cbeebies Land).

Results, results, results!

So as I am sure you are all aware, I have recently had a mammogram, CT scan & an echocardiogram.

I received my letter in the post the other week regarding my mammogram & was happy to see the magical words “your recent mammogram shows no worrying features”. Honestly, I felt like framing it! It is one less thing to worry about & it is complete for another year. This is not to say I won’t still be checking myself but it does offer reassurance. 

Secondly, yesterday I had my CT scan & echocardiogram results. The echo scan has come back normal which means I can continue with the Herceptin for another 3 months when I will need another scan. My CT scan has also come back ok, there is some debate over a vertebrae but my oncologist thinks it could possibly be scar tissue & isn’t majorly concerned. 

So with my scans out of the way for a little while, today is was back to my regular treatment of Herceptin & Perjeta (can you believe it’s been 3 weeks since the last one!). Fortunately, all went well & I will just be feeling a little tired for the next couple of days 

Half way through the week

Well, Wednesday is drawing to a close. I’ve completed 4 of my 6 appointments for the week and my cold is finally starting to clear off.

So here is a round up of the week so far

Monday- Nurse- taking bloods ready for treatment on Wednesday

Breast Consultant- beginning to look at reconstruction or some sort of surgery                                                               but this is dependant on the oncologist

Tuesday- Day off

Wednesday- Oncology Nurse- Check up and arrange CT scan and Echocardiogram, she has                                                             also ok’d surgery but has to double check with the                                                                               oncologist and we discussed me taking Flaxseed (apparently                                                             it can help suppress cancer cells if you take 1-2tsp a day so                                                               I’ve ordered some to be delivered tomorrow)

Nurse- Herceptin and Perjeta- 3 weekly top up, this usually takes around 3                                                hours (including observation period)