Month: March 2019

Colin said last time that the next post would be when there was something significant to report, so there’s been a bit of a gap. I’m pleased to say that during this time everything has been fairly routine.

Over the last 3 weeks it’s again been fortunate that I’ve been pretty good on the whole; well, apart from the few days starting Sunday 17th March when Colin left for a brief trip to Cyprus to supervise our builders – typical – I had a horrible bout of ‘the runs’.

I stayed in bed until early afternoon on the Monday and then Nurse Amy arrived with Barney (my personal therapy dog) to keep me company and to attend to my every need. 

Since then I have been fine.

Being able to drive again has made a huge difference and our friends have been spoiling me with visits and lunches, so the brief time that Colin has been away has passed really quickly.

Carrie arrived from the USA last Thursday morning so Amy and I had a nice day and evening catching up with her Chicago news. 

That day, I also went for a physiotherapy appointment at Royal Surrey County Hospital to help with the healing of my ankle and I was given more exercises to do. The physiotherapist was pleased with the movement I have regained and over the next couple of weeks I can start walking without the stirrup to build up strength.

Yesterday was a long day of chemotherapy (Taxol) and antibodies (Perjeta and Herceptin). My blood test results were satisfactory but I was again prescribed the Lonquex injection as my take-away medication to boost my neutrophils, the important white blood cells that protect against infection.

Carrie and Amy were good company and supplied me with copious amounts of hot beverages and biscuits throughout the day!

Unlike the first time I had the antibody infusions, I didn’t suffer any adverse reactions, so hopefully next time the day’s treatment will be much quicker.

I was also visited by my designated Breast Cancer Nurse who will speak to the Consultant Surgeon Oncologist to arrange an appointment. She said that after the fourteenth of my sixteen chemo sessions (this week was the twelfth) they will be able to firm-up dates for the surgery and determine a timetable for the next steps. There will also be another ultrasound scan and a heart scan in a few weeks’ time.

The Breast Cancer Nurse also sounded very positive when I asked about the possibility of a trip to Cyprus at the beginning of May after my weekly chemo has finished, but of course much will depend on how I am doing – I am very hopeful that I’ll be fine, but first the UK Government needs to sort out Br**it so that I can be sure my European Health Insurance Card will still be valid for treatment there if needed.

This weekend it is Mothers’ Day in the UK and I have had a lovely weekend of treats. The girls took me for lunch at The Ivy on Saturday, followed by a performance of “Calendar Girls” at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking, on Saturday night. Colin got back from Cyprus while we were at the theatre and tomorrow we’re going for lunch at Amy & Mark’s nearby.

So I am still feeling very positive and happy that I have just four more chemo sessions to go.

Again, I will only post if anything significant happens.

It’s been a busy time for us both and so there’s quite a lot to say – sorry!

After the chemotherapy session on Friday 1st March, Avril was due a further mammogram and an ultrasound scan the next week. On Thursday we went to Mount Alvernia Hospital at the crack of dawn (for us) for an 08:00 start.

By 08:45 we were on our way home again with the amazing news that the new scan looked exactly the same as the last routine mammogram she’d had in April 2016. Her tumour could not be seen at all and the chemo so far has worked incredibly well. Even her lymph nodes looked normal again.

Of course we’re not out of the woods just yet because that doesn’t necessarily mean there are no rogue cancer cells still lurking, just that they’re not visible; however you may recall that when the treatment started her tumour had a size of 41mm and it was clearly visible on the first scans so it’s very encouraging progress.

The chemotherapy and immunotherapy will still continue exactly as originally planned, followed by surgery. It’s fortunate that marker coils were inserted at the start of the treatment because otherwise the surgeon wouldn’t know where to start!

The day after the scans, Friday, we set our alarm again and were back at Mount Alvernia Hospital at 08:15. The second early start meant that not only did we get a parking space for the day but we also got a very nice breakfast!

It was another really long and tiring (for which read boring) day. Once again no blood samples could be extracted from the Port-a-Cath for the start-of-day tests so a cannula was used again. The blood results showed that her neutrophils level had dipped below the desirable minimum, which meant that her immune system was weaker than it should be. While the Consultant Clinical Oncologist agreed that the chemotherapy could still proceed it meant that, same as before, I had to administer a Saturday evening Lonquex injection in her lower stomach to help boost her white blood cells.

Since this was the day for another three-weekly infusion of the monoclonal antibodies (Herceptin and Perjeta), she was given additional pre-meds to avoid a repeat of the adverse reaction she had the first time – a significantly elevated body temperature. 

Fortunately, the whole day went smoothly apart from just a slightly elevated temperature. The now rather dull routine was relieved by a welcome series of visitors… Alan & Sheena, Valerie and finally Amy.

We eventually got home at 19:45 for a healthy measure of gin (for me) and a not-so-healthy pizza for us both. Twelve hours in total out of the house.

Over last weekend and for the first part of this week Avril has had a few more side-effects than before. She has been noticeably more tired and has suffered for several days with aches and pains in her muscles and bones. It appears that this could be the result of the Lonquex injection I gave her on Saturday evening to boost her neutrophils as muscle pain is listed as the number one side-effect of the drug. Also, she experienced similar issues before, although to a lesser extent. So she’s been uncomfortable at times but it’s something she’s been able to cope with using mild painkillers.

Apart from the foregoing, she’s also had an itchy rash which she’s tried very hard not to scratch (mostly successfully) and has also suffered a diarrhoea/constipation “yo-yo” which has been rather challenging at times! 

Today Avril saw her Consultant Surgical Oncologist to review the ultrasound scan and mammogram results from last week and he confirmed that he was very pleased with the excellent results. While cautioning that there could still be some cancerous cells present, he said that with such a dramatic reduction in the visible symptoms it was a reasonable assumption that there would be little or no active cancer remaining; and most importantly that also means the longer-term prognosis is pretty good too. 

He explained a bit more about the proposed surgery which will take place about 4 weeks after the end of the chemotherapy (so probably around the middle to end of May) and which in the light of the results would be a lumpectomy. He said a marker wire would first be inserted and then about 25g of breast tissue would be removed, with a margin of healthy cells. The removed tissue is likely to be fibrous dead cancer cells and samples will be analysed within a few days to check. If there’s not enough margin, it might be necessary to have a second procedure. 

During the initial breast surgery some lymph nodes will be removed at the same time. Unlike the breast tissue, the lymph nodes can be tested very quickly and the results will be available while Avril is still in the recovery area; so if necessary she will immediately be returned to the the Operating Theatre for more nodes to be removed.

The surgery should have a good cosmetic outcome and will most likely be treated as a “day case” or possibly overnight.  A month afterwards she will start radiotherapy treatment lasting three to four weeks.

Avril’s ankle is beginning to improve with the swelling looking much less pronounced, although it’s still painful at times. She attended the Fracture Clinic at our local Royal Surrey County Hospital on Monday and they were pleased with progress. Soon she will be able to wear a lightweight “stirrup” instead of the Darth Vader boot and, having been given the doctor’s blessing, this means that she will be able to drive again, which is a great relief.

The next chemotherapy session is just two days away, so unless there’s anything significant to report there won’t be another blog post for a couple of weeks. I sense your relief!

Thank you to my many well-wishers who commiserated with me following my Weber fracture of the ankle, on top of everything else!

Amy & Carrie and their families (including dogs) sent me a very unusual but delicious First Aid Kit and Thomas & Harry sent some lovely flowers to their “Nana Avril” to cheer me up. Quite a few people have told me I’m just seeking attention!

I am happy to report that the swelling is subsiding and I’m developing amazing arm muscles hauling myself up and down the stairs of our 3-storey townhouse! I am also getting to grips with walking with crutches. Colin is getting plenty of exercise waiting on me hand and foot (pun intended) and pushing me around in the wheelchair we borrowed from the British Red Cross.

I have a follow-up appointment at the fracture clinic on 11th March to check how the bone is healing.

I know I said that I wouldn’t post about this week’s chemo session unless there was something significant to report, but a lot of people have asked me how it went, so here goes…

I am now half way through my chemotherapy treatment with just 8 more sessions to go – Fridays seem to come around much quicker than they did when I was working! I am very lucky still, not to have suffered many side effects; a few more this week than last, but nothing too awful.

Yesterday’s chemo session took a long time, 6 1/2 hours, as I had to wait for a cold cap to become available; they only have four and they’re in great demand at the moment. Also the Oncology Department was quite short-staffed, but as always everybody there was attentive and smiling.

Again, they were unable to get any blood from the Port-a-Cath so they had to use a vein in my arm for the blood sample. At least they expected that there would be the same problem with the port, so they quickly and smoothly switched to the alternative.

I have another mammogram and ultrasound scan this Thursday so of course I’m hoping the news will be good.

Next Friday I will be receiving the monoclonal antibodies (Herceptin and Perjeta) as well as the Taxol but this time it’ll be a normal dose instead of the big “loading dose” I had last time so hopefully there’ll not be a bad reaction again.

I see my Consultant Surgical Oncologist the following Wednesday 13th March and I will post a further update after that.

Thank you all for your continuing support and good wishes.