Last Friday was blood test and clinic day. All in all this went rather smoothly, or so I thought, but that may be down to the fact that the whole computer system at the hospital was down!!
As it turned out, it was not a smooth as I had hoped, as I got a call on Tuesday morning to say that my blood test results had been lost, probably thanks to the computers being down on Friday!! This meant that I had to rush down to the hospital to get more blood taken before my scheduled chemo that afternoon. However, with the time it would take to test the blood, have my chemo prescribed by a doctor, based on the blood test results, and then the drug made up, there would not have been enough time for my 4 and a half hours of treatment on Tuesday afternoon after all!! Grrrr
With it being a bank holiday week (the chemo day unit doesn't open on bank holidays), the rest of the week was fully booked on the unit as they tried to fit 5 days worth of treatment into 4 days. However, they did manage to fit me in for my chemo and mouse treatment on Wednesday - it only took 8 hours this time!! I was hooked up with condom bottle 6 and on my way home by 6pm! I just can't believe that this is the last chemo before the operation. I am really looking forward to not being sensitive to the cold and getting some energy back again - I've not been bouncing back fully over the last couple of chemo cycles, so it's been a bit frustrating!
At the moment I am still not sure whether I am going to have another mouse treatment in a fortnight - this will be decided at clinic next week - so I may have to put up with my lovely dry skin / spotty face for a while longer. I just hope that it's all cleared up by the time I go to Spain in mid June as I'm meant to keep out of the sun with this side effect - not been a problem here in London recently!! Speaking of my rash, I have been given some new cream to help treat it - so far it seems to be helping keeping it moisturised, but I am not sure whether it is any more effective that my own moisturisers, but at least it is free!! The only slightly concerning thing about the cream is that the second ingredient on the list is urea!!! Eekk! I just hope that it is synthetic! ;-) It does mean that the cream has been renamed wee cream in my flat!
OK, well I think that's all the cancer related news I have, so what else is going on?
I have been trying not to get too square eyes watching TV all the time, so I have been trying to keep up with my reading. I have just finished reading The Help on my kindle. I think this is a very good book - 5 star - and reminded me of reading To Kill a Mockingbird, which I really should read again as it's been years since I last read that (note to self - pick up my copy from mum and dad's next time I am back home). I also watched the movie adaptation of The Help, and whilst it was different to the book in places, I thought it was very well done and also deserves 5 stars. I am now trying to work my way through Life over Cancer - a book on an integrated approach to cancer treatment, which is a very interesting book on nutrition, complementary therapies and stress management along with conventional medical treatments. I think if nothing else, I am going to come out of this cancer adventure more informed, if not healthier, than before I started this journey.
My new juicer and blender have arrived and have taken over my kitchen, much to Sarah's annoyance I think. I also got some recipe books with them so I am hoping to have some fun messing around in the kitchen this weekend! My lovely friend Aisling brought me over some juices that she'd made me last week, so I am using them as inspiration. I just hope my attempts turn out as nice as hers!
I had a lovely reflexology session during my chemo session on Wednesday, and it really made me want to go for a proper massage, so I will be hoping to book one for before my operation. There is apparently a very good therapist that works just up the road, so I hope to take advantage of that convenience. I hope also to get back to my yoga classes, although I am loving my one on one sessions - thank you Clare!
Anyway, I think you've probably all read enough of my random ramblings for now, so I'm going to sign off for now.
Take care folks and have a great weekend!
xxxxx
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