Author: Avril

I had my eighteenth infusion of Perjeta/Herceptin antibodies towards the end of February; it was the last one, 18 of 18. I have been having these three-weekly very routine infusions for almost exactly a year and while I’m very happy not to have any more regular appointments I was sad to say goodbye to all the lovely, kind and very supportive staff at St Martha’s Oncology Unit, Mount Alvernia Hospital. I expressed my gratitude to them and kept saying, “You’ve been great, but I never want to come back!”

Actually, I still have to have the bisphosphonates infusions every six months for three years, but compared to what I’ve been through those are a doddle. The bisphosphonates help to strengthen my bones to counteract a side effect of my continuing daily medication, Letrozole tablets.

I’m posting a bit later than promised because I wanted to wait for the result of a further MUGA scan, the one that checks the heart for any left ventricle damage that can be a side effect of the Perjeta/Herceptin antibodies treatment. I finally got the result yesterday and thankfully it was satisfactory; my heart function is pretty much the same as it was at the last scan three months ago

During my last antibodies session I received a visit from my Consultant Clinical Oncologist and the Breast Cancer Support Nurse and they said they were delighted that I had coped so well with all the treatment. I asked the Consultant some questions about the continuing side effects and he said it will probably take about three months for the antibodies to be clear of my system. Hopefully then I will be able to dispense with the antihistamines and quinine because I will be free of the itchy skin and leg cramps. Also I am hoping that normal feeling will return to my toes and finger tips as I have suffered some peripheral neuropathy (otherwise known as numbness!). 

I have an appointment in May for the minor surgery needed to remove my Port-a-Cath but with everything that’s going on at the moment I’m thinking of delaying it by a few months. Actually, it wouldn’t matter if I kept it, some people choose never to have it removed.

The next appointment with my Consultant Oncoplastic Breast and Skin Cancer Surgeon will be on 2nd June and it’ll be a tense moment for me as the antibodies will be more or less out of my system and it will be my own body’s defences (plus the daily Letrozole) that I will be relying on to stop a recurrence. 

Then I am due to see my Consultant Clinical Oncologist on 3rd September, hopefully for the last time, and it’ll be annual checks and a mammogram from there onwards. 

Normally Amy comes to visit me during my treatment (I think just for the free coffee and biscuits) but at the last antibodies session the unit wasn’t busy so I was finished in record time. Instead, Amy said she would meet me at our house. When I got home, what a welcome I received, not only from Amy but from Mark and Barney too!

Lots of balloons, champagne, a banner, flowers and an amazing home-baked cake (it was so good I honestly thought she had bought it!). Also four amazing cards, one from each of our children and their families. I had no idea you could get cards like this! What a lucky person I am; such support from all the family. 

I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to follow my progress through this blog and to get in touch with me. It has meant such a lot to Colin and me.

I would also like to thank Colin for all his caring support and understanding. He has often had to be chief cook and bottle washer! I am so grateful for his blog editing skills and for sourcing all the photos shown here. 

Thanks too to Amy who has been just amazing with all the visits, cards and organising various intermediate celebrations at the completion of each stage. Of course, all of our offspring have been incredibly supportive for which I am so thankful, but Amy happens to live closest, just ten minutes away.

So I think that’s it for now although I may post again after my next appointment. Otherwise, the blog will be available for a while but at some point in the future it’ll go offline and hopefully will never be needed again!

I am writing this at Mount Alvernia Hospital while having my regular and now very routine three-weekly antibodies infusion (Perjeta and Herceptin). Only three more sessions after this one. Where has the time gone?

We spent a lovely month in Cyprus with unusually warm sunny days for the time of year. When we arrived there on 10th November the daytime temperatures were in the high 20’s Celsius but it cooled down gradually to the low 20’s Celsius in the week before we left. During our stay we had a couple of electrical storms and some overnight rain but the sun always returned quickly to warm us. Very different to the cold, grey and wet in the UK but unfortunately the pool was way too cold (16 to 18 Celsius) for either of us two softies to swim.

We arrived back from Cyprus last Monday (9th December) and the following day I had an appointment with my Consultant Oncoplastic Breast and Skin Cancer Surgeon. He examined me and asked how I had been since I last saw him six months ago. I explained that I had been feeling discomfort and tenderness in my right breast, which was worrying me, and he said this was most likely due to the three weeks of daily radiotherapy I had received in July. He suggested massaging the area with Ibuprofen gel but no more than five days in a row; then just to use a moisturising lotion.

I also mentioned that both my feet had been feeling like I was walking on small pebbles and that the tendons in my toes felt very taut. He explained that this was undoubtedly caused by the Taxol chemotherapy in the first half of the year and that it was a common side effect. It may improve with time or maybe not, the nerve damage could be permanent.

It wasn’t of much comfort when the Consultant told me that he was also suffering some pain at the moment having fallen down a hole recently – he had cuts on his hands and bruises too, poor man. Of course I know all about silly accidents like that and I was able to empathise!

I thought I would have another mammogram this time, but the Consultant said it was too soon after surgery. I will have one during my next visit in six months’ time, on 2nd June 2020; after that he will be seeing me annually each June for the next five years to assess how things are going.

I am happy to report that the itchy skin I have suffered since May seems to have stopped being an issue. I am still taking daily antihistamines so whether or not it is the general build-up of the drugs which has caused it to stop I don’t know. Whatever it is I am very thankful!

Unless there is anything to report in the meantime, I will post again after my last antibodies treatment on 21st February.

Thank you as always for following my blog and we both hope everyone has a wonderful time over the festive season – We wish you all a Merry Christmas followed by a happy and healthy 2020.

I said in my last blog post in August that I probably wouldn’t post again until February 2020 but lots of people have asked me how I am doing, so I thought I’d let you have a short update. 

It’s hard to believe that it’s twelve months almost to the day since I was first diagnosed with breast cancer.  I was told that I should write-off a little over a year for my treatment, which seemed like a very long time, but I can’t believe how quickly it’s passed. 

I still have about fifteen weeks to go until the three-weekly antibodies treatment (Perjeta and Herceptin) is complete in mid-February, followed by the removal of my Port-a-Cath; after that it will be bisphosphonates (see later) and annual scans and checks. 

I had another routine MUGA heart scan recently (the antibodies treatment can adversely affect the left ventricle of the heart) and although the results weren’t quite as good as last time, they were within acceptable limits. 

Last Friday I had my usual antibodies treatment and also the first dose of the bisphosphonates to help maintain the strength of my bones; this is a 15 minute infusion which I will have every six months for three years. 

I have kept very well over the summer although I have still been plagued by itchy skin and rashes which come and go. I was also getting very bad leg cramps which was affecting my sleep (and Colin’s!) so I was prescribed quinine tablets which have helped. There is a small amount of quinine in tonic water, but of course I would want to drink gin with it, which isn’t necessarily good for me!

In case you wondered, my right breast is still rather blue from the dye that was used during my surgery!

We had a wonderful seven weeks in Cyprus with friends and family visiting. Our time there seemed to be over in a flash despite me having to come back to the UK twice for treatment. 

Since returning from Cyprus we have been to Scotland for my dear Auntie Babs’ funeral, she was 89 and the last of that generation in my family.  She will be sorely missed. 

A few weeks afterwards we spent two days in Chester which (for my non-UK readers) is a lovely walled city, originally a Roman fort and founded in 79 AD. 

We are now looking forward to another month in Cyprus starting next weekend although I will have to return to the UK briefly in the middle of our stay for another treatment session.  

I have a further review with my Consultant Oncoplastic Breast and Skin Cancer Surgeon on 10th December – he will check on my progress and I’ll have a mammogram so I will update here again after that. 

I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful autumn colours despite all the rain in the UK!

It’s been quite a long time since I last posted here, but there’s been very little to say!

My daily radiotherapy treatment started as scheduled on 8th July. Each morning a taxi arrived to take me to Mount Alvernia Hospital. Usually I was home again by taxi within about 90 minutes, the radiotherapy itself having taken far less time than the journeys there and back through the morning traffic.

I lay comfortably while the radiotherapy machine quickly scanned the right breast area to pinpoint the exact target, then a high dose of radiation was administered to a very small area, taking only a minute or so.

I was told that the radiotherapy has a cumulative effect, meaning that I wouldn’t feel anything for a week or two. The main side effect is inflamed skin, a bit like sunburn, and I was given medicated dressings to put on the sensitive parts.

I am glad I only had three weeks of radiotherapy as my boob is very red after it, a nice contrast to the now fading blue I had before. The skin has also now started to peel, again just like sunburn!

The three weeks of treatment passed very quickly because it was a busy time for us. Carrie, Phil, Isla and Callum were over from Chicago for a large part of the time, which involved days out, barbecues in and lots of catching up. We had a wonderful time together and this helped to take my mind off all the other stuff going on. 

I was also told that I would feel increasingly tired during the period of radiotherapy but actually it was hard to tell exactly what was causing it – the treatment or our young guests!

For a couple of days the radiotherapy machine was out of action, so the treatment slipped back by a day and I had to travel about an hour to Maidstone, Kent (again by taxi) the following day instead, but apart from that it was very routine.

So I’m feeling pretty normal now and my antibodies treatment (Perjeta and Herceptin) continues every three weeks. The only real side effect I am suffering is incredibly itchy arms, so I’m taking antihistamine pills and applying antihistamine cream along with regular ice packs. It helps only a bit, unfortunately.

The itchiness seems to be a little worse in hot weather so I’m really hoping that it calms down very soon as we’re off to Cyprus this coming Tuesday.

This time it’s an extended trip, 13th August to 3rd October; but of course I’ll be returning twice for my three-weekly treatments 29th – 31st August and 17th – 20th September while Colin will stay out there for the whole time.

Somebody’s got to do it I suppose!

As before I’ll only post here if there’s anything unexpected to report and hopefully there’ll be nothing of that sort. So I’m hoping my next post will be on St Valentine’s Day, 14th February 2020, when I will have finished my treatment completely!

“No news is good news”

Thanks again for all your lovely messages and support!

My apologies for the delay in posting an update – life seems to have been very busy, which is a good thing.

Last week I received a very nice letter from the Consultant I saw first back in November last year, who is now semi-retired. He has continued to follow my progress and was very pleased to read my histology results. He said that only about 25-30% of patients who receive chemotherapy up-front like I did get an “all-clear” at the end, so I should feel very secure about the future.  

We met with the Consultant Clinical Oncologist and the Breast Cancer Support Nurse in the afternoon of Thursday 20th June. Unfortunately, earlier that day, while applying makeup, I accidentally stabbed my right eye with an eye liner pencil and pierced the white, which immediately bled!  I felt pretty stupid about it and I didn’t tell Colin until we got to the hospital for my appointment!  It wasn’t sore, just rather alarming. 

After seeking general advice about my self-inflicted eye injury(!) I asked about the results from the two scans I’d had the week before.

My MUGA heart scan result was much the same as last time, meaning that there has been little or no adverse effect from the continuing three-weekly Herceptin infusions.

The bone density scan result showed osteopenia of the femur (I already had a pre-condition) and my spine is just slightly into the osteoporosis spectrum. So, no surprises; and there is now a baseline for future monitoring.

You may remember that the bone scan was done because Herceptin treatment can reduce bone density so I am to have infusions of bisphosphonates. These infusions will be at a frequency of once every six months for three years, but they take just fifteen minutes each time. I don’t yet know when that regimen will start. 

The Consultant Clinical Oncologist also gave me the first prescription for the Letrazole tablets which I am to take daily for at least five years and maybe for up to ten. He went through the possible side effects (which I mentioned in my last post) but said that I may not get any of them, or if I do they might just settle down given time.  I have now been taking the tablets for a week and haven’t noticed anything so far – long may that continue!  

So, immediately following the appointment with the Consultant Clinical Oncologist I phoned our local optometrist for a triage appointment. Fortunately I hadn’t done any serious damage to my eye although it was very red and bloody. That was just over a week ago and I am happy to say that with regular use of antiseptic eye drops it has now completely healed and my eye is back to normal. What a silly thing to do! 

To celebrate being cancer-free and to mark my birthday (belated, from April) we went to The Ivy the same evening for a lovely meal with Mark and Amy. Red eye and all!

Now back to the subject of this blog… the next stage for me is radiotherapy.

Until about six months ago they used to put permanent marks on the skin to make the machine setup quicker and more accurate – that would have been my first tattoo!. Now they scan the area to build up a 3D map of the body to use each time for targeting the beam. It will just be for my breast; my lymph nodes don’t need this treatment.

I went for the radiotherapy scan on Thursday 27th June. There was a lot of form filling; a detailed description of the radiotherapy treatment to come and finally a CT Scan.

The first of the fifteen radiotherapy sessions will be on Monday 8th July, then it will be every weekday for 3 weeks until 26th July. A “free” return taxi ride from home will be provided for me each day. Not free at all of course, it’s undoubtedly included in the overall treatment cost which our medical insurance company will be paying.

Each daily radiotherapy session will take about thirty minutes in all, but only fifteen minutes for the actual treatment, the rest is getting ready and setting up. Apparently my skin may become red and sore – much like sunburn – and it’s likely I will become more tired, especially towards the end of the three weeks.

I was advised not to use any cosmetic products that contain metallic ingredients, particularly aluminium. Typically these are anti-perspirants and highly pigmented eye shadows and eye-liner – I didn’t even know there was aluminium in them!  

After my last radiotherapy session I will see the Consultant Clinical Oncologist again to assess any reactions to the treatment.

So there you have it. It’s almost 4 weeks since my lumpectomy. I still have a blue boob and am a little tender but all the wounds have healed really well and I don’t seem to have any fluid build-up which is for many people quite common. I have generally been feeling pretty well… just a bit of a rash on my face and itchy forearms which is most likely to be a side effect of the Taxol, even though that treatment finished 8 weeks ago. The time seems to have passed so quickly. 

I will post again after the end of my radiotherapy treatment, so around the last weekend in July.  It seems like summer is here at last, so if you’re in the UK get out and enjoy the wonderful weather!

Thank you again for keeping in touch and for the many cards and lovely messages I have received, they are so much appreciated.

I realise that the title of this post sounds like something I might have written on a student’s academic report when I was teaching at Guildford College, but please read on!

After my lumpectomy procedure last Monday I am happy to say that I have not really been in any pain although I have had a little discomfort around my right armpit (from where the three lymph nodes were removed).

I have been carrying out the physical exercises I was given and Colin and I have been quite active with gentle local walks around RHS Wisley and the National Trust property, Hatchlands Park. I have been quite tired each day but have paced myself carefully and taken regular naps.

Yesterday we saw the Consultant Oncoplastic Breast and Skin Cancer Surgeon who gave me the result of the biopsy of the breast tissue:

“The tissue that was removed was found to be “pathologically inactive”. In other words, no remaining cancer could be found; the tumour has been completely eradicated by the chemotherapy treatment”

I was absolutely delighted and (to say the least) very relieved that there is no need for a further procedure to remove more tissue. Indeed, the Consultant doesn’t need to see me for another six months, which takes us all the way to December. Also I do not need to have another mammogram until then.

Of course the planned radiotherapy treatment will still go ahead in a few weeks’ time, daily for three weeks. Belt and braces, just to be sure.

Also, the three-weekly antibodies treatment (Perjeta and Herceptin) will continue until next February as originally planned. This is protective treatment.

After giving me the wonderful news, the Consultant then removed all the surgery dressings and he was very pleased to see that the cuts have started to heal quickly.

He told me to stand in front of a full length mirror to see how my right boob looked compared to the left one. I was amazed to see that despite the surgery they looked pretty much the same as each other (well, as much as they ever were!) apart from the right one still being a quite vivid shade of blue from the dye he used. It will probably stay that colour for up to six months which is going to be very weird!

So again, no need for any further surgery to correct “the look”.

Apparently the type of cancer I had was slightly “oestrogen positive” and there are drugs which I will take for up to ten years to prevent a reoccurrence. I will start on Letrazole, which may have some short term side effects, such as hot flushes (oh joy!) aching limbs and digestive issues. It’s most likely that these side effects will abate after a month or so but, if not, there are alternative drugs available to try (such as Tamoxifen or Arimidex) until I find one that suits me.

For many years I have had osteopenia (a bone condition that can lead to osteoporosis) and since one of the long-term side effects of the continuing drugs regime is a reduction in bone density, I went to the Imaging Department for a bone density scan to set a baseline for future monitoring.

I am also due to have my next heart scan since you may recall that the antibodies treatment can adversely affect this vital organ. It’s called a multi-gated acquisition (MUGA) scan and it creates video images of the lower chambers of the heart to check whether they are pumping blood properly. It shows any abnormalities in the size of the chambers (the ventricles) and in the movement of blood through the heart.

Hopefully the result of the MUGA scan will be normal.

So there you have it, everything’s looking much more positive and the forthcoming treatment should be pretty routine, if lengthy. We are starting to plan for the future again.

As always, I will only post here if there is anything significant to say… I might be getting better but please don’t stop your lovely messages of support!

Hi everyone!

It’s been a long time since I last posted and I have been mostly pretty good over the last month. 

My final chemotherapy session was on 26th April and it was fairly routine – apart from the nurse having trouble accessing a vein; then on the second attempt bursting the vein as she took the needle out. To try and stop the leak of blood she kept rubbing over the area which hurt like mad and left me with a huge bruise. Then it all started again because they then discovered that two vials of blood were needed instead of the usual one!

My Breast Cancer Support Nurse called in to see me during the morning so that gave me a further opportunity to ask numerous questions about the procedure on 3rd June. It will probably take about an hour and a half, three hours including recovery time. I will have a wire and a radioactive fluid inserted in the morning followed by a scan a couple of hours later. The surgeon will put in a blue dye at the start of the procedure which will help him to locate the sentinel nodes in my armpit. I will stay in overnight and recovery will take about two weeks during which time I won’t be able to drive or lift anything heavy (so Colin’s not much looking forward to that!). 

Amy arrived in the afternoon with her final card and she stayed until Geoff and Janet arrived with a huge box of chocs and a bottle of Prosecco which was lovely. So the day passed very quickly. 

It was a busy weekend as Rob and Camila arrived on Saturday afternoon from Edinburgh and then we had Colin’s 65th birthday lunch at The Onslow Arms, Clandon on Sunday 28th. Eleven family members including our granddaughter Georgie. It was a lovely celebration. 

Over that weekend I had my usual bouts of the runs and felt tired but I was still able to enjoy all the events. 

I had an ex-work colleagues’ lunch on 1st May which was lovely and then a very early start the following day for our 07.40 flight to Cyprus. 

We had a lovely thirteen days in Cyprus catching up with friends and getting the villa ready for the summer. We bought our new outside furniture and ordered new internal blinds for the villa which were fitted before we left for home. We also took a day trip to Limassol to look at external blinds for the pergola followed by lunch and a walk along the promenade. So a very productive (but still restful) time. 

I kept well throughout our Cyprus trip although there were a few bouts of the “runs”. I had a nap most afternoons which helped to alleviate the tiredness.

We got home early evening on Wednesday 15th May and the following day, Thursday, I had an antibodies session (Perjeta and Herceptin) at Mount Alvernia Hospital which was routine and took just over four hours. 

The next day, Friday, I was feeling well under par. We were having Georgie for the weekend so Colin drove the hundred or so miles round-trip to Hither Green to collect her from pre-school while I had a nap. I was feeling a little better by Saturday so we took Georgie to RHS Wisley for a picnic; however, I got very tired again by the afternoon.

I finally realised that I was still coming down from a steroid “high” after Friday’s treatment. 

Thankfully, by Sunday I was feeling a lot better and was able to enjoy lunch with Simon, Tom and Georgie in Hither Green. Then another lunch with David & Jackie on Monday at Côte in Guildford which was lovely. 

So many nice lunches, but I’m not putting on any weight. Every cloud has a silver lining as they say!

Yesterday I met with the Consultant Oncoplastic Breast and Skin Cancer Surgeon who examined me again and could still feel no trace of the tumour. He confirmed the date for the procedure, 3rd June, and the pre-surgery assessment on 30th May. 

The Consultant drew a diagram showing what he intended to do; where the cuts would be and what the scar would look like. He also said that I may need reconstructive surgery of the other breast to make them both look the same, this would be reviewed much later on though. The result of the breast tissue biopsy will take about two weeks. 

Today we are off to Bonnie Scotland to see my Aunt Babs who is 89 years old and lives in Clydebank where I was born and raised. Clydebank is famous for the many ships that were built in the John Brown Shipyard (Lusitania, HMS Hood, HMS Repulse, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Elizabeth 2) and for its Singer Sewing Machine factory – both sadly now completely flattened. At the weekend we are going to Edinburgh to stay with Rob and Camila. 

So I am looking forward to all that and am happy to say I have been feeling very well this week and haven’t had to take any Imodium (the diarrhoea medication) for almost 2 weeks – HOORAY! 

I hope you all have a fun Spring/Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend. Colin will post briefly on the blog once my surgery is over.

I haven’t posted for a few weeks because I told you that unless there was something significant to report, I wouldn’t say anything!

It’s been mixed…

I have had one horrible week of feeling nauseous plus the dreaded “runs” closely followed by a perfectly fine week – no nausea and no “runs”!

On 9th April, during the horrible week, I celebrated my 71st birthday – a much lower key event than the big seven-oh last year. Colin and I went out for an unhealthily large breakfast brunch, followed by a visit to The Lightbox, a local museum and art gallery which we enjoyed.

We also had a reservation for dinner that evening with Amy and Mark at “The Ivy” in Guildford but we decided to postpone it because I wasn’t feeling very well towards the end of the day (in case you wondered, that was down to the chemotherapy side effects, not the big breakfast I’d eaten earlier!).

I had a physiotherapy appointment on Thursday 11th April and they were very pleased with the movement I am now achieving with my ankle. They said I could gradually start to dispense with the support stirrup but they gave me much harder exercises to do, which I must admit I am struggling with. I still wear the stirrup if my ankle starts to ache but I have managed a few days not wearing it at all. I am looking forward to re-joining my “Walking for Health” group each Friday once my chemo is finished; the walk is normally only three miles long and one hour in duration, but I might have to go into training for that.

At the end of last week I managed to catch a cold which has turned into a chesty cough – there’s a lot of it about at the moment and Amy decided to have one too to keep me company.  I have also been feeling rather tired and listless – on one day recently I slept for most of the afternoon, something I have never done before. I really couldn’t be bothered to do anything. Christine told me she’d had many “can’t be bothered” days during her chemotherapy treatment. I suppose I’ve been suffering more because of the cumulative effect of the weekly chemo sessions.

Colin has been away again in Cyprus for just 6 days and I am happy to say that we are delighted with our newly-completed pergola which will provide lots of shade for me later in the year. Of course, so far I have only seen photographs of it!

I was told a few months ago that my Consultant Oncological Surgeon was retiring and on Tuesday 16th April I met with his protégé and replacement whose official title is “Consultant Oncoplastic Breast and Skin Cancer Surgeon”. My immediate impression of him was excellent. He was very knowledgeable and informative; he inspires confidence and he has a very pleasant and friendly manner.

He said that he wanted to review all my ultrasound scans and mammograms, then speak to the radiographers and he will then be able to make a plan for the lumpectomy procedure which will take place on Monday 3rd June. He operates each Monday at Mount Alvernia Hospital and normally the procedure would take place four weeks after chemotherapy finishes; however, 27th May is the U.K. Spring Bank Holiday so it has to be a week later than I’d hoped for.  

He explained all about the procedure he was considering and gave me some very useful, if rather scary leaflets to read. To summarise, he will insert wires into the breast tissue, remove the shrunken and hopefully now inactive dumbbell-shaped tumour, with a margin, and this tissue will be sent for analysis. That should be enough, but if the margin is insufficient then further surgery may be required a couple of weeks after the first.

The same sort of technique will be used on the lymph nodes in my armpit; he will take out a few nodes and then the tissue can be tested quickly and more nodes will be removed if necessary while I am still under the anaesthetic, on the same day.

I asked about the follow-up radiotherapy which is likely to start four weeks after the procedure, normally every day for three weeks. The plan is flexible depending on the outcome of the surgery so it could be extended to four weeks and/or it could take place every other day – I won’t know until we get to that point.

Today, Thursday 18 April was another very early start for us and a long 08:30 to 17:00 session as I was due to have the three-weekly targeted therapy, Perjeta and Herceptin (monoclonal antibodies) as well as the usual chemotherapy drug, Taxol. This session was the fifteenth of sixteen chemo sessions so only one more to go, then it’s “just” the monoclonal antibodies every three weeks until February 2020.

Anyway, it was routine – nothing much to say except that we had a visit from Elaine and a lovely breakfast and lunch to break the monotony! Oh… and also I had a very relaxing reflexology session given by a former student of mine at Guildford College.

Finally, we have been able to book flights to Cyprus for a couple of weeks of relaxation departing 2nd May and we’ll be back home in plenty of time for my surgery. Importantly, we also now know that Br***t has been delayed, meaning that the reciprocal medical arrangements under my European Health Insurance Card remain available, just in case.

We can’t wait to go, plus you’ll get a long rest from reading my blog!

A very Happy Easter and love to all; and thanks as always for your many lovely messages of support, I couldn’t do it without you!

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.

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.

I didn’t post after last Friday’s chemo session because there really wasn’t anything to report except that two nurses tried to draw blood via my Port-a-Cath but failed completely and eventually they had to use a cannula in the back of my hand again. The odd thing is that saline and the chemo drugs go into the port normally, but nothing will come out! Apart from that it was just a routine session.

Colin accompanied me as usual, but left once the blood tests had been done and before my reflexology volunteer got going on my feet – he hates feet! I had our friend Elaine for company instead and so spent two hours nattering.

Colin drove over to Simon & Kate’s in Hither Green to collect our granddaughter Georgie who was staying with us for the weekend and then he returned with Georgie later to collect me once the session was over.

Despite all the chemo drugs so far, I am still relatively free of side-effects. I was a bit tired over the weekend, but most likely that was the result of having an almost four-year-old to look after!

On Sunday morning, while Colin was showering, I crossed the road to the grassy area opposite our house accompanied by Georgie and some bubble mixture. We both had a wonderful time chasing the bubbles… until I put my foot down a small hole and twisted my ankle.

I hobbled back home with Georgie (Colin was mad that I hadn’t taken my phone with me) and looked at the damage. My ankle was looking very swollen and sore and so we decided that Colin would drive me to the local Accident & Emergency Department and leave me there to wait while he drove Georgie back home as originally planned.

To cut a long story short, an X-ray showed a Weber fracture, type A (see Wikipedia article) the least serious classification, but still very painful. I have a “boot” to wear, not a plaster cast, for up to six weeks; hopefully though, once the bone begins to heal and the ligaments recover I will be able to walk, with some care, without its support.

More than anything, the real pain is that I was looking forward to meeting up with my friends Lindsay and Meriel in Chester this week, travelling there by train, so that trip had to be deferred.

Today we visited the British Red Cross locally to collect a wheelchair on loan. Colin has told me not to get used to being wheeled around but we plan to try and keep as active as possible in the circumstances.

The next chemo session is of course this Friday and I will only post if there’s anything significant to say following that.

After Colin posted last Friday my elevated temperature quickly returned to normal and I felt fine again by late evening. The quick recovery indicated that it was not caused by an infection but by a reaction to either the Perjeta or Herceptin, neither of which I had been given before.

Today I had my delayed Taxol chemotherapy infusion. It all went satisfactorily and assuming I remain well enough and that my blood test results are not significantly different, the next session of Taxol will take place as planned this Friday, 22nd February.

To protect against a similar adverse reaction in three weeks’ time, I will be given an antihistamine dose before the Perjeta/Herceptin.

So for now my treatment plan continues to be on schedule.

Thanks as always for all your messages of encouragement!

Today I had the first of twelve, weekly chemotherapy sessions using Taxol, a different “cocktail” to the first four, three-weekly sessions.

I was given a room with a bed this time instead of a reclining chair (the treatment rooms are allocated randomly) and that made things a bit congested – equipment and furniture everywhere!  Margaret, my lovely Kenyan nurse who was with me for my very first session was back from an extended visit to her family in the Masai Mara and she will be with me every week from here onwards.

My Consultant Clinical Oncologist came to see me with the Breast Cancer Support Nurse and they talked me through:

• the administration and potential side-effects of Taxol (paclitaxel);
• the added monoclonal antibodies treatment, starting next week, alongside the Taxol;
• the expected pathway for roughly the next 6 months of treatment.

The Taxol treatment is milder than EC as it is administered more frequently but in smaller quantities. It requires different premeds and is an infusion lasting one hour, with the cold cap for only one hour following, instead of 1 1/2 hours. 

I was advised to protect my toenails and fingernails with nail varnish as this chemo cocktail can lift the nail bed and it has been shown that dark nail varnish helps to block this. That shouldn’t be a problem!

The most common side effect of Taxol is a tingling feeling in the fingers and toes – peripheral neuropathy – I can cope with that.

The monoclonal antibodies rarely cause any side-effects, but they want to keep me under observation for six hours next week just to be sure. We will be going to the hospital to start at 08:30 next week. It’s going to be a long day!

Besides helping to minimise hair loss, I was told that the cold cap also protects new hair growth which is probably already coming through (it’s not very apparent yet, unfortunately!). So it’s still worth having it.

Instead of getting a take-away bag of medication, there is just one anti-nausea drug to take tonight and tomorrow. My white blood cell count has actually increased since last time, so Colin is disappointed because he was becoming an expert at giving me the Saturday injection! 

Everything looks like it’s going to be a bit more protracted than we thought it would be at first, so our travel plans are still on hold.

My surgery will be scheduled about 4-6 weeks after the end of my chemotherapy so maybe it’ll happen around the last week of May.  Hopefully that’ll still be a lumpectomy rather than a full mastectomy; they won’t know until they analyse the excised breast tissue to achieve a clear margin. Radiotherapy may be 4-6 weeks after that, probably every day for 4 weeks.

I’m staying positive with the good progress so far. With only a week to go to the next chemo session I’m hoping that I won’t suffer any side-effects and that it’ll be plain sailing for a while. I may not post on the blog every week unless there’s anything significant to report, so please assume all is well unless you hear otherwise.

As always your emails, calls and messages are very welcome and encouraging!

The side-effects of my chemotherapy have definitely become more pronounced over recent weeks with the first three treatments acting cumulatively. I have felt much more tired; experienced more muscle aches; and my breathlessness has continued. 

On the bright side, for the moment anyway, my hair loss seems to have stopped; however I suppose the less you have left, the less there is to fall out!

Today was my fourth chemo session and I was particularly interested to hear what my red-cell level was as it is slight anaemia that has caused my breathlessness. In fact the level was about the same as last time so I did not need the blood transfusion which had been a possibility.  

This was the last chemo comprising EC (Epirubicin and Cyclophosphamide). It all went pretty routinely although I felt a little nauseous early on… ironically just after the administration of the anti-nausea pre-meds. 

Also the cold cap was much more uncomfortable than before, undoubtedly because I have less hair to insulate my scalp.

So nothing much to report at the moment. 

In three weeks’ time, on 8th February, I start the first of twelve weekly sessions of Taxol (its generic name is paclitaxel) and soon after that the monoclonal antibody treatment commences alongside the Taxol. The different chemo drugs all carry side-effects so we’ll have to see how things go once that treatment starts.

Every week I get a carry-home pack of meds to take during the first few days after chemo, including an injection to help with my white blood cell level.

We were astounded to discover that the injection, containing just 6ml of Longquex costs an amazing £700 and the main anti-nausea tablets cost £40 each! Once again we are so thankful that our private medical insurance is footing the bill!

Happy New Year everyone, we hope 2019 will be healthy, happy and prosperous for you all.

The side effects from my last chemotherapy session on 28th December have been a little more pronounced than before, probably because the chemical cocktail has a cumulative effect. Over the last week I have felt more tired and I have also experienced muscle aches much of the time. I have been able to cope with all this pretty well and I’m lucky that I have suffered far less than many other people undergoing the same treatment. 

This morning I had my second review appointment with my Consultant Surgical Oncologist. After a physical examination, he looked at the mammogram images of my right boob. He showed us the changes from when the initial mammogram was taken on 7th November against last Friday’s mammogram (4th January). 

It was amazing to see how the tumour has reduced in size and its density has reduced too. It has actually shrunk by 39% from 41mm to 25mm after only three chemo sessions; quite dramatic in fact. 

He is very pleased with my progress.

We discussed my ongoing treatment and I asked why the cocktail of drugs will change after the next session from ET (Epirubicin and Cyclophosphamide) to Taxol. Apparently it is “to spread the bets”! 

Put simply, the drugs work in different ways to each other and by using them both in the same treatment plan there is more chance that every trace of cancerous growth will be eradicated. That’s also why I will be having radiotherapy after the lumpectomy surgery in early May – he said it was to “sanitise” the whole area and limit the chances of the cancer returning.

I mentioned to him that I have felt a little breathless of late and also that my resting heart rate seems to be much higher now than in the past (thank-you FitBit!). He said I am probably a little anaemic and he then looked more closely at my blood test results. If my red blood cell count falls much more, he will consider giving me a blood transfusion to top them up. 

His wise advice was that to avoid tiredness and breathlessness I need to reduce my rushing around from 500 million miles an hour to only 400 million miles an hour!  

The next appointment for a mammogram and ultrasound scan is in the first week of March after which he will see me again to review what we all hope will be further good progress.

So all in all I am feeling positive about how well the treatment is going. The next chemo session is set for 18th January and I will post again after that unless there’s anything else to report in the meantime.