Progress Report

This is to let you know that Mandy went to theatre at 9.15 this morning. I know she was very scared but she handled the situation brilliantly, and I am so so proud of her. How can one little lady have so much courage, I just do't know, especially in view of the fact that she always asks me to pick up any spiders in the house I have just been told at 2pm that she is still in plastic surgery but is ok. This means that there is no likely prospect of further news for at least another 2 hours and probably longer. In the meantime she will eventually be pleased to learn that I have weeded the patio. 

Holding Steady

This is just to let you all know that my lovely wife is holding steady. Some anxious moments yesterday, and now its 1:49 in the morning and she is still up being busy. Maybe that is okay for now, it is good to get really tired and then have a better sleep right now. Tomorrow is Friday and that means the op should finally be happening and that has to be a good thing.

I'm Back!

Firstly please, forgive me for such a long post but I really would appreciate it if you would read it to the end as it has not been an easy task to do and has taken far more time to write than it takes to read!

Well it's been almost six years since my last post on this blog and I honestly thought it would probably be my last! Even though over time things start to fade and become distant memories, memories that once upon a time were so huge they consumed your every waking thought. Over time you begin to feel safer and bit by bit, slowly at first you start to pick up the pieces of your life that was, at one time so ordinary, just the day to day normal stuff we all do all of the time because, you just want to be NORMAL again!  When something like this affects your life and turns your whole world upside down, you may after some time start to feel more comfortable again with your everyday living, although somewhere lurking it is still there, buried in the back of your mind and every now and then something may happen.

You  may hear a piece of music, see something on TV, maybe an advertisement, you may hear of someone else's diagnosis or you may get a slight pain, that at one time you wouldn't have even given a second thought to and you tell yourself  "It will be ok, it'll be nothing, everything will be fine, stop worrying!" Then you carry on happily appreciating all you have and thinking how lucky you are! You celebrate your life and feel thankful for all the lovely people you have around you to share these wonderful times with. You feel a great sense of enjoyment in being able to share your happiness with others.

I guess by now you have probably realised the reason why I would now be writing a new post after all this time. Most of you will already know the answer. Unfortunately on 25th February 2015, after being almost six years cancer free! I was diagnosed with a recurrence of breast cancer! From that point forward everything changes. Plans are put on hold. "Normal" living is put on hold! Priorities change and hospital appointments, along with tests, scans, biopsies and results pretty much take over your almost every thought and your day to day living. All this happens while you try your best to carry on as "normally" as you possibly can with family, work and home.

It has been a long, two months from diagnosis and I personally think I have been quite strong and coped reasonably well although, over more recent weeks, I have struggled; more so over the last couple of weeks as certain events have just proved a bit too much for me to deal with. I am so grateful to everyone around for their kind support family, friends, colleagues and also to the great support and understanding of Nick's colleagues and employers at The Tenet Group. Nick as ever is always there for me every step of the way. He is pretty amazing, always by my side with his never ending unconditional love for me! Nick is the most special, kind and exceptionally wonderful, thoughtful person anyone could meet and I feel so proud to have him for my husband and soul mate.


The truth is it would have been easier for everyone reading if I had of started this particular post a couple of months ago! That way maybe it would have been several smaller posts over a period of time rather than one long post as it is now turning out to be. ( I hope this will not put readers off and I will do my best to write shorter posts in the future. ) I really just feel there was so much to say to help you understand part of how I have felt. It has been extremely difficult for me to get this initial post written. It has also been a very mentally painful and emotional challenge having to tell family, friends and colleagues. The tremendous pressure emotionally that it puts you under, simply because you don't want to upset the people you love and care about, worrying about the effects your news will have on all those around you.

Heartfelt thanks to those who managed to read this far x x

My intention is to write further posts ( shorter ones, so don't worry,)  to enable family, friends, colleagues etc. as a means of keeping informed when at times it may be difficult for us to have to repeat things over and over, which can become emotionally difficult.

My make over

This Photo was taken just as I started my radiotherapy. During my chemotherapy treatment there have been a few snaps taken of me with varying amounts of hair. I thought it would be a nice idea to have a nice photo of me without hair so arranged a makeover session with a company called www.theimagemill.co.uk 

Castleton & Breast Cancer Haven

On 25th June Castleton Primary School very kindly organised a Pink Day to raise money for Breast Cancer Haven, Leeds. A great effort was made by all and everyone got into the spirit of things by dressing up in pink, they all looked so good ......... maybe our school uniform should be pink! :) Each class organised something, from baking and selling buns with pink icing, selling ice - cream, to having a pink pamper and having their nails painted pink! Parents were invited into the schools community room and treated to a Pink Afternoon Tea which included freshly baked scones with strawberries and cream! Great fun was had by all and they raised a wonderful £248.21 Well Done Castleton. Thank you.

 

 

Race for life

A massive amount of thanks to everyone who sponsored my sister and I. Together with all your help we managed to raise over £350 for Cancer Research doing the race for life at Temple Newsam last Saturday.We had a great time, the atmosphere was brilliant and we completed the course in just under an hour. Thank you Michelle for joining me in the race for life.Thank you again to each and everyone of you who showed your support in sponsoring us, it was very much appreciated.

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Hooray! All done! cooked and roasted and ready for the summer!

Well I did it, I finally reached the end. I had my last treatment yesterday. It's hard to believe that it's all finished. It has been such a long journey and at times there has been some difficult hurdles to overcome but with Nick constantly by my side I feel sure that he has made this period in my life so much easier to deal with than if I had still been on my own. 

He is truly a very amazing person who's never ending love, huge amount of understanding and patience has kept me feeling so loved and cared for at a time when I have most needed it. I feel very honored to have him as my husband and appreciate all he does and has done for me especially over the last eight months. 

During this time Nick has not only continued with a full time job but has come home from work and done jobs around the house and helped to get meals. He has also studied for exams and used up most of his weekends working hard on our garden project and all the time taking care of me and never once complaining, Nick is positively remarkable! And I am a very lucky lady!

I have had so much care and support from so many people. The blogsite has really been a particularly great source of support for me and I appreciate very much the time and effort which people have taken to read my ramblings. I value all the messages that I have received from you all, it has been lovely to see how much people care and this has had a very positive effect on me and has undoubtedly helped me along the road to recovery. :)

Nearly there!

Radiotherapy is going well, I now have had 17 sessions and with only 3 more left to go the end is finally in sight! I am feeling extremely tired, a bit tender and sore and over the last couple of days have been feeling sick too. I find it quite difficult to concentrate for long to the point of only being able to read a couple of pages of a book at a time, even then it's difficult to then remember what I've just read. I am looking forward to next week, when the daily trips to the hospital will come to an end and I will be able to begin to get back to normal :)

Good News

I'm pleased to share my excellent news with everyone. Yesterday I had a phone call from the consultant at the hospital to tell me that they had received the radiologists report about my liver and it was such a relief to be told that what had shown up was benign. Only 7 more radiotherapy sessions left! Yey!! :)

Another day at the hospital

Another day, another appointment. I returned to hospital today for an appointment to see the consultant. The doctor examined me and said it all seems to be going fine! I mentioned that I had been worried about what he had said about my liver last time and that I thought that was why I was coming back to see him today. He said he had forgotten and that he still had not had the report back. So now we have to wait for him to get the report back but he says he doesn't think there is any need to worry as he feels sure it will be a cyst. So I am trying to keep my thoughts on a positive note.

I am now just over half way through my radiotherapy sessions having had my 11th one today, 9 more to go! Radiotherapy seems to be going well although I am just beginning to turn a little pinker and a little tender around the area of my treatment, the doctor has warned me that it will probably get worse and last for sometime after my treatment is finished. 

I have been taking the Tamoxifen for 2 weeks now and that all seems to be going ok too. I have only managed to forget one tablet, which the doctor said would be alright.