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.