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Some very welcome news 🎉
I met with my oncologist today and he advised me that last week’s MRI shows the tumour has shrunk from 30mm to 17mm — this is such amazingly good news and, quite honestly, a very welcome morale booster. 🙌 Apparently, my case was even discussed at the weekly team meeting because I’ve been experiencing the…
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Cancer stole my identity
It is now over three months since my diagnosis of an aggressive form of breast cancer, and I had no idea how short a time it would take for this horrible disease to change my life and rob me of my identity. For over twenty years I have been Finance Director and part owner of…
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Missing magnesium and fingerprints
Last week was supposed to be my “good week”, being the phase in the chemo cycle when things are meant to be settling down and I’m supposed to get a few days to feel a little more like myself before the merry-go-round starts again. Except, somewhere around Wednesday, I started feeling progressively ‘not quite right’……
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You couldn’t make it up…
Anyone who knows me will know how passionate I am about our NHS. I appreciate that it has its shortcomings, but overall, I believe it is something to value, cherish and be proud of. This week, however, once things started to unravel, it became an unstoppable tsunami of bureaucratic errors. It all started on Monday,…
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The hair-loss dolly
I’ve long believed that children learn through play and, perhaps even more importantly, through each other. But sometimes life throws up things that are rather difficult to explain to little people. Like why Nanna Nat suddenly has very little hair. Our granddaughter is only two-and-a-half, so “Nanna Nat is having cancer treatment and it’s making…
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Another bump in the road
Just when I thought I was beginning to understand the rhythm of chemotherapy, the weekend had other ideas. Having sailed through round two of my targetted treatments without any major dramas, I rather optimistically assumed I was on the home straight for a “good” and “positive” cycle. Instead, Saturday was spent clocking up six hours…
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A third of the way through!
I had my second round of chemotherapy yesterday and, thankfully, everything went very smoothly. My matching teal ensemble of a £2 headscarf and a favourite necklace teamed with my positivity vest was complimented by the nurses and even a fellow patient. I laughed and said, “This is the only chance I get to go out…
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“Round 2: Ding! Ding!”
Yes, I know I’ve said in my previous post “Lost for Words” how I dislike the ‘fight’ and ‘battle’ analogies but unfortunately as I start typing this new post in the wee small hours of the morning, I can’t think a more appropriate title. Last Friday I popped into the hospital day unit to have…
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Hair today, gone tomorrow
I think everyone knows that one of the most common side effects of chemotherapy is hair loss. But knowing something is going to happen and actually experiencing it are two very different things. I was walking past Rochester Cathedral earlier this week when I saw a little boy, probably about four or five years old,…
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Lost for words
Since my diagnosis I’ve discovered that cancer doesn’t just come with side effects. It also comes with a script. Almost everyone reaches for the same handful of phrases. They’re not meant to hurt. They’re usually an attempt to fill an awkward silence, offer comfort, or make sense of something that feels really frightening. Sometimes, though,…
