Radiotherapy

Hello,

I am in my last week of Radiotherapy now. I have had 10 sessions which means only 5 more to go. Yay! It is pretty boring, I am having it at either Guy's or St Thomas' up in London and it is a pain doing the travelling.
When my appointments first came through they were great, about 11:30am or so every day and all at the same place. The first day when Ash and I went up there they gave me a revised schedule and the appointments were all over the place. Times and location. I whinged a bit and they changed it for me but it was still not great and now it seems like every time I go up there they change another appointment. To be fair, they have been fairly accommodating but it means I have had to pay more for my travel as some of the appointments are before 9:30am which means getting full priced travel. It's a bit annoying and especially before Christmas when I'd rather be spending money on presents for people!
In terms of money, we are doing OK. I have just learnt not to look at things any more. An example of this was this weekend when we were in the Cotswolds (fab weekend) and were looking round the shops, some of them I didn't even bother going in and some I went in but didn't really look at anything. There's just no point when you know you can't afford it. Luckily for me Ash bought me a fab sheepswool scarf and some really funky glove/mittens this weekend - I needed them - it was FREEZING!

We went to Boughton-on-the-Water with Ash's mum and her husband and his sister, her partner and their baby. We stayed in a really lovely (and reasonable) B&B. They were very welcoming at the B&B and left a bottle of sherry and one of port in the lounge for the guests. There was just us lot and one other couple staying there and between us we managed to polish off the bottle of port in one evening! The sherry stayed - yuk! It's horrible stuff!


Sunday morning it was -2!


Boughton-on-the-Water


The B&B (It was called Strathspey)

I've been pretty tired with all the travelling up and down to London. It's a shame the appointments weren't the same time every day as that would have been a nice routine. I have managed to catch up with some people though and had some fab days out. I've done:
The National Gallery & Lunch with Nicky
The V&A & Breakfast with Mum
The London Dungeons & Lunch with Lindsay and Hazeley
and there's more next week.....!

I am planning on going back to work just before Christmas for four days then it is two weeks off (have to take holiday for that) over the festive season and back to work on the 5th January.

I think I won't be having surgery until probably late January/early February as it will take some time for my skin to recover from the Radio. It is already starting to turn a little red and be a bit painful (like sunburn). According to the Radiologists it is still looking pretty good although I will be 'cooking' for another month or so after I've finished the treatment.

On the plus side - I'm almost completely ready for Christmas this year as I've had time to do everything - it's brilliant!

Lots of love

Liz
xxx

Better and Worse

Hello,

I know it has been a while and I have been meaning to write for a bit. I had a planning appointment for my Radiotherapy last month.
Ash and I had to go to St Thomas’ Hospital in London (where I used to have lectures when I was training).
It is not a bad journey but it is always cold and windy there as it is right by the river. The hospital itself was really grubby and dirty in the public areas. I am assured that it is clean on the wards. The signage was really bad too and we got a bit lost but still managed to arrive in time.
We were down in the basement (lots of people have assured me that this is normal for Radiotherapy!) surrounded by old people.
They told me what was going to happen, they gave me a CT scan and tattooed me in three places, 1 under each arm and 1 in the centre of my chest. It is just a small blue dot that looks like a freckle. Hopefully when I have a boob again it will be hidden by my cleavage.

The appointment was pretty quick, I have to give them that and I got to see Dr Sawyer who I was seeing at Bromley during the chemo.

Afterwards Ash and I had a wander, got some lunch and went to the Tate Modern.

With that done I expected to be starting Radiotherapy 10 working days after the appointment (3 Nov) but I hadn’t received a letter and when I phoned them they said it would be 25 Nov. I think this is because we are going away to Centre Parcs and I had to write the dates in so that the holiday didn’t clash with the treatment. Unfortunately I didn’t put in the dates of when we are going to Boughton-on-the-Water as I thought the Radio would be over by then and now that is going to clash instead.

In the meantime I am going to be at work, I have some project work to do making documents and charts and things. At least I will be getting paid.

We have had a rough few weeks really. We have both suffered with a horrible head cold for a couple of weeks. Ash came off his bike and fell down the stairs in one day and was all bruised and achy. AND to top it all off he was told that he had the job he applied for and when he phoned up to say where is the paperwork for it, he was told that he didn’t have the job. It is all very complicated and I won’t say too much at this stage as we are probably going to challenge the decision but it was a BAD week for us. Reflected in the fact that we both gained weight that week.

We seem to have come through that a little bit. We had a mini trip away as I was bridesmaid for my friend Rachel and we had to travel to County Durham for the wedding. I have never been so far north in this country! We had a lovely time, met some fantastic people and it was great to be away from here for a while.

I have recovered well from the surgery and had the tissue expander filled up by mr D in clinic. It was a weird sensation and seeing it get bigger before my eyes was very strange! It has all healed nicely and I have asked to have the next surgery in January so that I am not recovering over Christmas again and so that I can do Crisis this year. This will be my last year I think, it is all changing and our centre will not be there next year and it is likely that there will not be a night shift so it made sense to make this the last year. It will also mean that I have been involved in Crisis for 10 years and a decade of charity work seems like a lot to me. That said, I will have to look for a new project once my involvement in Crisis is ended. I can’t imagine NOT doing some form of charity work now.

I don’t think there is much else to report right now. There are a couple of things that might come to something (a meeting tomorrow with HR about my sickness and a new job application for Ashley).

I will keep you posted

Lots of love

Liz
xxx

An Update

Hello,



This is weird because I am writing this blog into a Word document before I post it. This is because I have transferred the blog to a printable document so that it can be printed and given to those people who do not have a computer (apparently there are a few out there, although how someone can cope without internet is beyond me!!!).



I came back to work (where I am now – OBVIOUSLY doing work!) last week on Thursday and Friday and had two lovely days catching up with friends and colleagues and “re-orientating” myself to the unit. That means I drank a lot of coffee and chatted to people.



There was some good things to come out of it though. I spoke to the woman in Payroll who was sorting out my sick pay etc and she was really helpful. She said that they had overpaid me to the tune of £1,200.00. Great, another debt for me to repay. What had happened is that the sick returns are all done in arrears and so they kept paying me regardless.

Basically as of the end of August I am on no pay whatsoever, just Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) (which is about £74 a week). Since I have come back to work I will get paid next month for the hours I have done and if I don’t work full time hours the rest will be made up by SSP. It’s all a bit complicated, I’m glad I don’t work in Payroll.

They will be taking £400 a month from my pay cheque to repay the overpayment. Boo! It will be tight still but we’ll manage.

All in all it was good news – in as much as I will be getting paid enough money to save us from being totally broke.



We also had some more good news because Ashley has a job interview on Thursday for a job that will be nearly twice as much as his salary now. Fingers and toes are all crossed for that one.



We had a good weekend, we’ve got a bit more of the flat sorted out although it is still a mess with stuff everywhere! We haven’t found a place for everything yet which is quite frustrating.

Winne the cat is getting on well and we are going to keep him. Him and Dora are getting on quite well now although they are not the best of friends.



On Sunday we went hiking with my whole immediate family (that makes 9 of us). It was a beautiful day and we stopped at the pub in Brasted for a crafty pint. We did 6 miles and when we got back we were so tired we were in bed by 9pm!



Fat club update – I lost another 1lb last week – slowly but surely for me! Ash lost 6lb and was Slimmer of the Week! He is like the star pupil and is doing really well. As he was the only man there last week all the women were giving him dirty looks as no-one else had lost nearly that amount hee hee. It’s OK though because the group leader loves him (he has that effect on women of a certain age!).



Best sign off now as I think I am actually going to have to do some work today.



Love to you all



Liz

xxx

Back to Work!

Hi folks,

I had surgery on Friday (19th Sept) to put in the tissue expander. It was just day case which was nice (shame they don't do it in the Day Surgery yet though, then my friends could have looked after me!). I went in at 07:30am and had to wait until 12:30pm for my op!!!!! Mr Desai came round and drew all over me and I looked like a dressmaker's doll with dotted lines everywhere. He measures across my chest, to align the boobs I guess.

As usual I didn't mind the anaesthetic bit, they gave me some Midazolam which is a lovely drug that just makes you a bit floaty before they gave me the actual 'put you to sleep' one when I totally conked out in a matter of seconds!

I went in to Surgical Admissions (the old ENT ward) and afterwards was transferred to Surgical 7. I remember waking up in recovery and Sheree from work was there which was nice - a friendly face! I struggled to keep my eyes open though.
And indeed for the rest of the day I struggled with talking/eyes open stuff! I just wanted to sleep. Ashley's Dad's wife Lynn came in to see me as she works in the hospital and then later Ash came in too and stayed with me, The nurse looking after me was a bit dippy and wasn't sure whether I was supposed to be going home or not. Well I WAS! There was no way I was staying overnight, what a waste of a bed for one thing - I was fine to go home. Mum came and picked us up although I had to get Ashley to push me in a chair to the car as I still felt a bit wobbly.

Got home - straight to bed and up late on Saturday. Felt a bit light headed still on Saturday but it wore off eventually. Actually felt a bit like a hangover - well it was - an anaesthetic hangover.

Saturday Ashley also told me some bad news - he had had a phone call from work on the Friday informing me that I have been overpaid and that I would not being getting my wages on Wednesday but would just be on Statutory Sick Pay. That means I will be getting about £250 a month. Not nearly enough to live on - not enough to even pay my HALF of the rent, let alone all the other bills. So that was a bit of a blow and a pain as there was nothing we could do about it over the weekend apart from worry.
In reality what it means it that instead of having 4-6 weeks recovery from this operation, I am going to have to go back to work this week. That's a bit pants but if that's how it's got to be then that's how it's got to be. I would have gone back the last few weeks but the unit had moved because of building works and I had no where to actually go.
Anyway, I don't mind too much but now I am going to have to work hard because every penny counts. At least I am not feeling quite so tired as before, the chemo has really worn off now.

So much so in fact that Ash and I did a six mile hike last week! We walked from Orpington all the way up to Biggin Hill to have dinner at his Dad's. It was a really good walk and I didn't stop or slow down too much so I am definitely getting better!

We also have new - we have a new cat at the moment. He is called Winnie and is OLD, anywhere from about 17-20. He needs rehoming as his present owner is moving back to New Zealand. We are trialling him out with Dora as we are not sure how they will get on. They have been hissing and growling a bit at each other but no fur flying as yet. He is pretty chilled out actually, it's just about whether she will accept him.

That's all for now, I'm going to get dressed now and then my friend Gemma is coming over for the day.

Lots of love
Liz
xxx

Ballooning Pictures (in backwards order!)

A Normal Life

Hello,

A little update to let you all know that I am doing well - the hair is growing back in full force now and I had my first hair cut last week from Emma as I was starting to look a bit messy around the ears!

Good news! Emma (Ashley's sister) gave birth to her first child on Sunday so we had a cuddle. It was a boy, 9.6lb, no name yet! He is lovely, as we didn't know what he was before the birth we haven't been able to buy anything but now we can go and buy funky clothes and toys for him etc. Congratulations Emma and Steve!!!!!

I am still working away at the eBAying. It is getting more exciting as we have more visibility online now so more people are seeing and buying (and spending more) on our stuff! It keeps me out of trouble which is the main thing and I am getting out of the house most days instead of mooching about in my dressing gown.

I do miss being at work in the hospital and can't wait to get back to my friends and colleagues although I am not looking forward to the exhaustion of work again. I will get a phased return i.e. I will be broken back in slowly. But that is only for 6 weeks and then it's back to normal. Apparently it takes about a year to return to full fitness after an illness like cancer. I can't NOT go back to work so I think it is one of those situations where I will have to be really aware of how I feel and make sure I don't overdo it. I have a tendency to push myself and have a real problem saying 'no' to people so I will have to REALLY watch myself.

First week of Slimming World went well - I lost 3lb which is OK. I have relaxed into it a bit this week and am actually quite enjoying the challenge of doing more cooking and trying to make our favourite dinners more healthy! Ashley is doing it too now, officially. He joined up last week but luckily there was ONE other man there so they could give each other moral support! He doesn't have very much weight to lose. Also as he is now cycling to work on his new shiny bike he is doing the exercise program. He is so going to get more certificates and stickers and things than me!!!!!!!!! The challenge is on!
One little note about the new bike - it's MASSIVE! I tried to get on it and had to go up about 3 stairs before I could even attempt to get my leg over - and then my feet didn't touch the pedals properly!

Check out the hair!



Lots of love

Liz
xxx

The In-Between Time

Hello,

It's been a while this time hasn't it!?

Well, I've been recovering from the last bout of chemo and just trying to get my life back on track a bit now. I am still feeling very tired at times but my energy is returning gradually and two weeks after the last chemo pill I am already feeling better.

I haven't really been doing much, working for a friend putting LOTS of things on eBay (more tiring than it sounds and dangerous when I browse.....!).

I joined Slimming World on Thursday (I have done it before) in order to lose some weight. Well, it was a shock when I got on the scales I can tell you! It is so wrong to weigh more than your boyfriend!
Anyway, Ash said he'll do it with me as we both need to change our eating habits although he's not too happy that Crunchy Nut Cornflakes aren't a free food.

I have been catching up with people a bit more and it was brilliant to FINALLY catch up with Sarah who I haven't seen since she got back from Oz (6ish weeks ago!).

The allotment has calmed down a bit now. Our big harvesting time was around that last chemo which was a pain but we got HUNDREDS of runner beans (some of you will know, as you've been/bean eating them!)
We have also had quite a good crop of tomatoes. A shame since my mum gave us the plants but she lost all her crop due to blight. We had some potatoes and lots of courgettes too, some spring onions and a few red onions.
We lost our broccoli in the space of about 2 days to pigeons - next time we'll put them under a net. Our carrots and parsnips didn't so well at all although the marigolds that I planted around the carrots as a sacrificial plant have done brilliantly!
We've dug up that bed now and are preparing to clear it all for the winter unless we decide to put in a late crop.
What we'll probably do is just leave it and start again next year with a few different crops and some that we know will do well - runners definitely!

We went blackberrying the other day - something I haven't done in donkey's years - and got a bit scratched but picked some lovely berries to make a pie (non-Slimming World - oh well!)

The other thing I suppose I should mention is that Ashley and I have just passed our 1 year anniversary! It's seems to have gone very quickly but also it seems like we've been together forever. We're seriously considering the possibility of moving to Cornwall next year to live as we can afford to buy a house down there and we love it - it's a much more outdoor lifestyle.

So that's my update, I'll be going in for surgery on the 19th September and there'll be news of a new arrival when I write again. Uncle Ashley is getting excited because he'll have a baby to squodge!

Please take a minute to have a look at the info below about prescription charges. As you all know we have been through a financially difficult year and this doesn't help.....

Lots of love to you all and thank you for your continued support

Lizxxxxxxxx

Help us to show the Government it is wrong for people with cancer to pay prescriptions charges for life saving treatment.

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Macmillan believes prescription charges are a tax on illness and should be abolished in England.

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Please forward this onto your friends so that they can join the campaign too.

If you would like to join Macmillan’s network of campaigners and get updates on our campaigns visit http://www.macmillan.org.uk/campaigns and submit your email address.

Your support is invaluable to us and people affected by cancer.

Many thanks

Ronan Haughton
Macmillan Campaigns Officer