Friday was spent mostly asleep and feeling bit 'bleurgh' and wondering if I'd make it out to my friends' 40th on Sat - about 10 friends are 40 this year/month and organised a big 'do' at a converted barn with a band (my friends band from Cardiff but I didn't know they'd booked them until Dom in the band emailed me last week to see what I was doing this weekend!) and a DJ, who is a friend of our who's been DJ-ing since we were teens, and a 'rodeo sheep' ride and a bouncy castle... The very fabulous Mars drove me there - as I've been a bit peeky, and Mars had to drive back to Hull today (Sunday), we thought we'd pop along for a couple of hours and be home early.
I saw people I haven't seen for ages, some of them for 20 years! Dom's band (tribute Blondie band!) were fab, and our DJ was brilliant, and I did vodka, and dancing (with lots of rests in between!) and laughing and catching up and took pics and all of a sudden it was 1 am and me and Mars were agreeing to go back to Em's mums place (she had vacated it for the night) where there would be more music and revelry, just for a cuppa and home - erm....... we got back to mine at 4 , ahem!
I took 2 cocodomols immediately - but however many aches I was due to have, were all so very worth it because it was such an amazing night! Had so much love from everyone, and we all just chatted as though we saw each other all the time, and I did a silly dance with Tim and a bum-bumping shuffle with Nick and shimmied a lot with Mars and Ems and Ems and Claire and Claire (yeh the mums round here in the 70's had some favourite monikers obviously) and it was just what the doctor ordered - well, my doctor may not have exactly recommended it, but I am declaring it as an Alternative Therapy *grins*
I love my friends xxx
Sunday, 30 October 2011
Thursday, 27 October 2011
peering out from the fog
Well, the temperature has returned to normal, I'm getting to used to that ''freezing-then-boiling'' routine now!
Had a nice day, managed to light the fire, been curled up in front of it all day. Also started the day cautiously with toast, by 4pm had soup , whoohoo!
Had a call about going in to Usk House on the 8th to get assessed for my complementary therapies, yay :)) And a lady from there called me to ask if I wanted to see if I could claim any DLA whilst poorly...? She said she had seen my notes and could possibly get something due to the fibromyalgia which is probably exacerbated by the lymphoma ... ?? She did say that people with cancer find it difficult to claim, as the DSS (or whatever they're called) often say it's not the cancer, if it's not an obviously debilitating one, that's causing any ill effects, but the chemo/RT etc. Cheeky bastards!! Anyway, I won't rant on because I'm simply gobsmacked, whilst at the same time, not surprised, if that makes sense!
Bit headachy and sleepy so off to get some cocodomol .....
Had a nice day, managed to light the fire, been curled up in front of it all day. Also started the day cautiously with toast, by 4pm had soup , whoohoo!
Had a call about going in to Usk House on the 8th to get assessed for my complementary therapies, yay :)) And a lady from there called me to ask if I wanted to see if I could claim any DLA whilst poorly...? She said she had seen my notes and could possibly get something due to the fibromyalgia which is probably exacerbated by the lymphoma ... ?? She did say that people with cancer find it difficult to claim, as the DSS (or whatever they're called) often say it's not the cancer, if it's not an obviously debilitating one, that's causing any ill effects, but the chemo/RT etc. Cheeky bastards!! Anyway, I won't rant on because I'm simply gobsmacked, whilst at the same time, not surprised, if that makes sense!
Bit headachy and sleepy so off to get some cocodomol .....
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
icky & sleepy
Oh here we are, chemo number 6. Possibly 6 more left, but will find that out after chemo number 8 when I have a CT scan to see if lumpy is still shrinking. Doc says however many chemos I have, I'll get a NHS bonus of some radiotherapy at the end. If plan A doesn't keep working and lumpy stops shrinking, we'll be back to considering plan B, going in to be blasted intensively, but she thinks plan A is going well so far.
Started yawning before even got home from hospital today, and collapsed on sofa whilst mum and stepdad pootled about doing chores and trying to talk to me and trying to tempt me with fish pie and not getting very far as was too woozy and vague. D was dropped off by Liz at 5, mum took her away at about 6, by which time I was feeling pretty crappy so that was good timing. Had time for a couple of cwtchs first :)
Felt the chill starting, and quite nauseous for a bit, so shoved heating on (too feeble to light fire) and huge fluffy dressing gown and woolly blanket and dozed off on sofa for a while... woke up feeling hot and thirsty, so ripped dressing gown and blanket off and rank orange juice an date sliced up tomatoes and cucumber and a slice of cheddar but think over did it with the cheddar.
So, possibly 6 more of these eh? Best plough on and get those positive thoughts up a gear... :)
Started yawning before even got home from hospital today, and collapsed on sofa whilst mum and stepdad pootled about doing chores and trying to talk to me and trying to tempt me with fish pie and not getting very far as was too woozy and vague. D was dropped off by Liz at 5, mum took her away at about 6, by which time I was feeling pretty crappy so that was good timing. Had time for a couple of cwtchs first :)
Felt the chill starting, and quite nauseous for a bit, so shoved heating on (too feeble to light fire) and huge fluffy dressing gown and woolly blanket and dozed off on sofa for a while... woke up feeling hot and thirsty, so ripped dressing gown and blanket off and rank orange juice an date sliced up tomatoes and cucumber and a slice of cheddar but think over did it with the cheddar.
So, possibly 6 more of these eh? Best plough on and get those positive thoughts up a gear... :)
Sunday, 23 October 2011
Spot the error
Today, I had a lie-in until almost 1pm!!! Oh my goodness that felt good! :)
I thought I'd have a quick coffee and banana then pop out quickly to the shops for things we were short of... so.... I drove to the local village, only 1 and a half miles, to buy milk loo rolls and bread, got back in the car, tried to drive off, but off side tyre completely flat?! So had to call my rescue recovery fellas as my spare was also buggered (moral of the story...?) so whilst waiting went and had coffee with P who had nearly finished work, then got to sit in a big truck which took my poorly car to that garage That Fixes Things Quikly and my little 10 minute trip out to spend a fiver took me 2 hours and cost £105... hurumph!
On getting home, cheered us all up by doing chicken roast (mum had dropped off a chicken yesterday) and warming up mum's home made apple pie :) I didn't fancy pie yet so tucked into the choc/raspberry/chilli pud which Em brought round yesterday - wow! taste sensation :)
P is coming into town tomorrow to do shopping so as I'm working, we'll meet for lunch, yay!
The ducks are tucked up, D had her PJs on, time for bedtime story then curl up on sofa with blanky methinks............
I thought I'd have a quick coffee and banana then pop out quickly to the shops for things we were short of... so.... I drove to the local village, only 1 and a half miles, to buy milk loo rolls and bread, got back in the car, tried to drive off, but off side tyre completely flat?! So had to call my rescue recovery fellas as my spare was also buggered (moral of the story...?) so whilst waiting went and had coffee with P who had nearly finished work, then got to sit in a big truck which took my poorly car to that garage That Fixes Things Quikly and my little 10 minute trip out to spend a fiver took me 2 hours and cost £105... hurumph!
On getting home, cheered us all up by doing chicken roast (mum had dropped off a chicken yesterday) and warming up mum's home made apple pie :) I didn't fancy pie yet so tucked into the choc/raspberry/chilli pud which Em brought round yesterday - wow! taste sensation :)
P is coming into town tomorrow to do shopping so as I'm working, we'll meet for lunch, yay!
The ducks are tucked up, D had her PJs on, time for bedtime story then curl up on sofa with blanky methinks............
Saturday, 22 October 2011
Feeling the lurve
Thursday night brought tipsy declarations from P ... I did a mini survey of friends and asked, do people say what they really feel when tipsy or not? The vast majority said yes, people do. So, I'm still smiling ;)
Had a wonderful lie-in today, followed by my gorgeous 13 year old bringing me a cuppa in bed before heading off to Cardiff to do the cool things that 13 year olds do in cities on weekends... :) She returned sober by the way ;) As I lay in bed th elovely Lynne called so had good catch up with her too.
VERY excited to day as Em who is currently living in Sri Lanka but over for a few weeks was coming to visit...one of my best friends (of which I am lucky to have many!) but as she's hardly in the UK it was fab to see her in person. She managed to be Super Woman as she brought lunch, cooked it, washed up, cleaned and rearranged my kitchen AND managed to hug me too lol!
I managed to give her a surprise too - as Em and Em M and lots of other friends are all 40 this year and having huge gathering/party/celebration etc next weekend... as I was waiting for her, Dom emailed me (photographer/musician/kinda journalist friend lives in Cardiff) to ask what I was doing next Sat night - I thought, oh no, he's coming down from Cardiff and I won't be here! I told him I was off to a party. He asked where - off, I thought, as he doesn't know the area well - told him - he announces his band are playing there and he was going to take me a pretend roadie so I could get a night out and chat to him, but I'm going anyway and he's thrilled!! I was amazed and very happy too! So I said to Em - that band you booked, I know them! Hah, small world :) So, next Sat, my fab friend Mars and her lovely hubby will be down from Hull and are kindly driving me to party, then we get to see people we don't see often and some of them, not seen for 20 years! - and get to hang out with my friend's band! Hoorah :)
D was dropped off at 4 and talked Em's head off and made us laugh ... then after Em left we drive off to *sssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh* pick up B's birthday pressie - new guitar!! and then pick up B from train.
All day I have felt non-nauseous - hoorah! And no bad back ache - double hoorah! Also had pot-belly stove lit all day and evening and it's toastie warm :)
A good day xxx
Had a wonderful lie-in today, followed by my gorgeous 13 year old bringing me a cuppa in bed before heading off to Cardiff to do the cool things that 13 year olds do in cities on weekends... :) She returned sober by the way ;) As I lay in bed th elovely Lynne called so had good catch up with her too.
VERY excited to day as Em who is currently living in Sri Lanka but over for a few weeks was coming to visit...one of my best friends (of which I am lucky to have many!) but as she's hardly in the UK it was fab to see her in person. She managed to be Super Woman as she brought lunch, cooked it, washed up, cleaned and rearranged my kitchen AND managed to hug me too lol!
I managed to give her a surprise too - as Em and Em M and lots of other friends are all 40 this year and having huge gathering/party/celebration etc next weekend... as I was waiting for her, Dom emailed me (photographer/musician/kinda journalist friend lives in Cardiff) to ask what I was doing next Sat night - I thought, oh no, he's coming down from Cardiff and I won't be here! I told him I was off to a party. He asked where - off, I thought, as he doesn't know the area well - told him - he announces his band are playing there and he was going to take me a pretend roadie so I could get a night out and chat to him, but I'm going anyway and he's thrilled!! I was amazed and very happy too! So I said to Em - that band you booked, I know them! Hah, small world :) So, next Sat, my fab friend Mars and her lovely hubby will be down from Hull and are kindly driving me to party, then we get to see people we don't see often and some of them, not seen for 20 years! - and get to hang out with my friend's band! Hoorah :)
D was dropped off at 4 and talked Em's head off and made us laugh ... then after Em left we drive off to *sssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh* pick up B's birthday pressie - new guitar!! and then pick up B from train.
All day I have felt non-nauseous - hoorah! And no bad back ache - double hoorah! Also had pot-belly stove lit all day and evening and it's toastie warm :)
A good day xxx
Small lurgys, big lie-ins
Wednesday night saw D having her turn at the bug that's been going round her school, so Thursday morning she spent curled up on granny's sofa and I took half a day off and cwtched up with D on our sofa in the afternoon.
Then later on we were told there was no water at the school that day and unlikely to be any there Friday - but today I did have LOTS to do at work so good ol' granny came to the rescue, which is particularly fab because tonight is D's regular sleep-over night at granny's too. But the lurgy had gone and my queasy moments had disappeared too, so we both managed a good day today :)
As D was away, I ventured out for a whole one and a half hours to see Jo and Nick, whilst awaiting my free range 13 year old teen, B, to finish at 'youth club'. Had a fab catch up and Jo had baked us some cakes to take home :) B showed up slightly off balance, this was due, apparently, to the gang sharing some strongbow. . Hmmmm, having been through free range teen M already, I feel slightly better prepred to deal with it this time, plus better at taking the p**s out of them too ;)
So, bed now, to fully appreciate my lie-in tomorrow morning!
Nos da xxxxx
Then later on we were told there was no water at the school that day and unlikely to be any there Friday - but today I did have LOTS to do at work so good ol' granny came to the rescue, which is particularly fab because tonight is D's regular sleep-over night at granny's too. But the lurgy had gone and my queasy moments had disappeared too, so we both managed a good day today :)
As D was away, I ventured out for a whole one and a half hours to see Jo and Nick, whilst awaiting my free range 13 year old teen, B, to finish at 'youth club'. Had a fab catch up and Jo had baked us some cakes to take home :) B showed up slightly off balance, this was due, apparently, to the gang sharing some strongbow. . Hmmmm, having been through free range teen M already, I feel slightly better prepred to deal with it this time, plus better at taking the p**s out of them too ;)
So, bed now, to fully appreciate my lie-in tomorrow morning!
Nos da xxxxx
Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Results day, sort of...?
I saw some fit firemen in the firestation gym, which momentarily distracted me from the training course... then I dashed off to get the hospital for my Boob Tube Flush and the results.
The consultant told me that the PET scan showed the lumps had disappeared apart from the one on the right hand side, so the chemo is working but I need more treatments ... so I will have 3b next week and then likely to need 4a and b too - at their team meeting on Friday they will discuss radiotherapy. But then she threw in this little gem - one option, rather than current chemo and radiotherapy, would be to go in as an in-patient for 5 days for intense chemo... she said it's not known yet, until discussed, if this would give a better long term prognosis than sticking with original plan, plus the side effects and any risk of infections would be more severe.
That stopped me in my tracks I have to admit.
I said that I didn't want to do the 5 day thing unless it was a matter of life or death. She said it wouldn't be. I also said that what would I do with my kids whilst I was in hospital? I said my mother would offer, but that she was 67 with a bad hip, one lung and uses a nebuliser, my stepdad is 72, and my 6 year old wouldn't sleep.... the consultant said my views for treatment were as valid as anything else and she would tell the team on Friday what I had told her. She said I would be less likely to die from the side effects of plan A than plan B?!
So I'm feeling a bit weird. The chemo is working, but I'll need 8 not 6 chemo's and the consultant thinks dropping a 5 day stay into the conversation is fine - why that suggestion? Is the lump a serious lump, too stubborn? Or does she think an intense blast would be better??
So I should be really pleased but I feel a bit confused and there's nothing more she can tell me until next Wednesday.
So, I dunno ... hoorah for lots of lumps having gone, and , erm, um, oh, for the rest!
Here's to kicking it's arse even harder and shifting any remaining naughty lumps ASAP! :)
The consultant told me that the PET scan showed the lumps had disappeared apart from the one on the right hand side, so the chemo is working but I need more treatments ... so I will have 3b next week and then likely to need 4a and b too - at their team meeting on Friday they will discuss radiotherapy. But then she threw in this little gem - one option, rather than current chemo and radiotherapy, would be to go in as an in-patient for 5 days for intense chemo... she said it's not known yet, until discussed, if this would give a better long term prognosis than sticking with original plan, plus the side effects and any risk of infections would be more severe.
That stopped me in my tracks I have to admit.
I said that I didn't want to do the 5 day thing unless it was a matter of life or death. She said it wouldn't be. I also said that what would I do with my kids whilst I was in hospital? I said my mother would offer, but that she was 67 with a bad hip, one lung and uses a nebuliser, my stepdad is 72, and my 6 year old wouldn't sleep.... the consultant said my views for treatment were as valid as anything else and she would tell the team on Friday what I had told her. She said I would be less likely to die from the side effects of plan A than plan B?!
So I'm feeling a bit weird. The chemo is working, but I'll need 8 not 6 chemo's and the consultant thinks dropping a 5 day stay into the conversation is fine - why that suggestion? Is the lump a serious lump, too stubborn? Or does she think an intense blast would be better??
So I should be really pleased but I feel a bit confused and there's nothing more she can tell me until next Wednesday.
So, I dunno ... hoorah for lots of lumps having gone, and , erm, um, oh, for the rest!
Here's to kicking it's arse even harder and shifting any remaining naughty lumps ASAP! :)
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