This week started with the first May Bank Holiday and a welcome rest after the challenging trip to Belgium. It also gave me a chance to catch up with the grandkids, who missed out on our usual Saturday routine visit. It was a short visit, of a couple of hours,
This week began with Chemo session No. 3, so half way through the planned known treatment plan. Nothing out of the ordinary and made some adjustments to make the session more comfortable, based on the experiences of the first 2, which did help this one. The usual slight light-headedness kicked
The side effects continued, mainly the hands and skin peeling, which had improved by the end of the week, thankfully. The overall impact of overdoing the DIY the previous Saturday, was a reminder that I am suffering from a terminal illness and one that is impacting my physical state. Not
The irritable hands were the main issue at the beginning of this week. A call to the helpline put me on the right path to obtain some off the shelf moisturising cream. That made a notable difference and certainly reduced the irritation. Easter Monday arrived with heavy rain and our
This week began with my second chemo session. Based on the side effects of the first one, I was very apprehensive about this second session starting. The administering of the chemo itself is painless, although the surroundings can be uncomfortable. The chairs are not the best, for comfort and the
This week started with a continuation of the cold impact, which did not really begin to decline until the tail end of the week. The hand rash continued, but diminished daily, which was a relief, both physically and psychologically. The next notable side effect was the loss of many of
This week started okay, on the Monday, but that was the only ‘normal’ day. The cold that had begun the week before, arrived full force on the Tuesday and carried on for the rest of the week and beyond. Although it felt like a normal cold, It is not easy
So this week begun with the next, undeniable, key stage, the first chemo treatment. The procedure itself was straightforward, without discomfort or pain and took about 1 hour, with 20 minute pre-setup and checks. Again, the suite where the treatment was administered was busy and a further visual reminder of
The week began with an appointment at Canterbury hospital, to have the initial blood tests, ahead of the chemo treatments starting. As part of that, I received the appointments list to cover March, April and May. That covers the majority of the blood tests, targeted treatment (additional hormone tablets?) and
Busy ‘normal’ week, but also more medical aspects, is what this week has seen. Firstly, following on from last week’s trip, we celebrated our actual anniversary date on Monday, with the kids and grandkids there for a meal. Was a ‘school night’, so nothing too excessive, but nice to
Important Milestone Dates Focus: Over the past few days, Sandra and I went away to Brugges for the weekend to celebrate our upcoming 35th wedding anniversary, which is on the 27th of February. Back in early December, just after the first consultant conducted a physical examination and he confirmed that
Week 195: w/ending 19th Feb Facts and Figures Focus! One of the key aspects that has been shocking to me (and my wife) is the quantity of people attending cancer treatment specialists. Visiting one of those in the past couple of weeks was a true eye-opener, with the quantity