Saturday, 18 May 2013
Wowzers, nearly a month has gone by and
so much has happened. The only way is to speed you through. I'll do
my best to concentrate on the highlights and keep it swift but there
have been quite a few.
So on the 26th April, the day I last wrote, I was joined for lunch by two school friends. One who lives in New Zealand and was over here for her Dad's funeral. We moaned about the distance before agreeing that we'd actually seen more of each other this year than if she'd lived down the road. Funny how that happens. We take the people who live closest to us for granted, often not seeing them from one month to the next.
That evening I had a date with my husband. We went out for supper, bought for us by someone very kind. Then to the South Bank to see Mathew E White. A very tall American with a guitar and a large band. He/they were fantastic and we enjoyed the evening immensely. My favourite part of the whole date was when the young female hipster working in the cloakroom commented that she loved my hair style!!!! I have HAIR. It is very short, but it is there - so much so that someone actually thought it was a Style!
The week of the 29th contained; My Father's birthday which we celebrated with a little supper. A visit from the Irish twin and his happy brood who brought me purple pansies and a fun afternoon. A lunch with two more school friends and their youngest children - one of them very new. Another failed attempt at a radiotherapy planning session followed by another draining of the seroma and a weekend in IBIZA! Yes you read that right.
I decided at the very last minute to join my Mum, her friend and My sister for 3 days of sun. The official reason for the fleeting visit was a wicked 40th birthday party on the Saturday afternoon and night. We made the most of our jaunt and rented a great little apartment on the northern most tip of the island. It was dirt cheap and instantly felt like home. The sea was warm(ish), the sun was hot, the food was lovely and we had a proper laugh. We hired two tiny little bright yellow cars and zoomed around in the pine covered mountains. It was lush.Unfortunately whilst there I managed to incubate a nasty chest infection.
On our return I was thrown into family mode. My Granny who is now 88 and still fabulous came to stay in Tunbridge Wells with her friend. I managed to squeeze some lovely meals with them around a week of hospital appointments. On Wednesday 8th May I had four appointments and a lunch date. One of the appointments was to show a lady the results of my operations. She has recently been diagnosed and was undecided about which reconstruction path to take. She was thrilled with my results and has now opted to have exactly the same surgery. Its nice to be in a position to help someone who is embarking on this roller coaster. I met one of my Dear friend's new baby and also had my three weekly Herceptin.
In the evening, after my busy day, the chest infection came to a bit of a head. I ran a huge fever all night and only avoided being admitted to A&E on the promise of hospital the next morning. I was booked in at St Thomas's for my third attempt at radiotherapy planning. Finally it happened, I was measured, marked and tattooed. I was also prescribed a 10 day course of antibiotics for the chest infection and given the rather depressing news that my blood count was still far too low from the chemo (after 2 months) to fight such an infection alone.
Friday 10th May. I spent the day at home, trying to give my body the chance to start fighting the infection. I actually felt much better than I had in well over a week but my chest still sounded a bit rough. Just before bed my husband noticed a dark red stain-rash all across the new boob. After a hurried call to Guys we were instructed to go to St Thomas's A&E asap. Bear in mind it was now past mid-night and we were at least an hours drive away. All grand-parents were away so we had to draft in the support of friends to take over the children and off we went.
After 12 hours in A&E no-one was any the wiser. It was agreed that my bloods were too low to fight infection but I was already on a very strong course of antibiotics for my chest. It was also agreed that I had some pneumonia in my right lung but xrays were clear enough for me to be discharged. The redness was still a mystery. All the Doctors could agree was that it wasn't an infection and even if it was the antibiotics would cover it. I was sent home with an appointment for Monday morning.
On Sunday 12th my husband flew to China for a business trip. On Monday I went to hospital for a breast surgeon's opinion on the red boob. By now it was very dark red. Like a mass of broken capillaries. With purple bruising and yellow around the outside. Neither of the senior breast surgeons at Guys have ever seen anything like it. They agree it is some sort of bruising but don't know what has caused it. I'm to go back on Monday (20th) for another look.
Husband returned from China on Thursday. 24 hours later than expected due to fog in Shanghai. My week has been spent Mothering and trying to recover from this lingering chest infection. In between the school runs, house work, meals, clubs, playdates and sleepovers I have visited my GP (my chest and a mole on my ear) visited the Dentist (eldest daughter, filling) and visited an Aunt.
From a diary point of view, that pretty much brings us up to date. There are a couple of more medical bits and bobs I should mention. The pain on the back of my arm has all but gone. It started to ease in Ibiza and has been getting slowly better day by day. The numbness is the same but I don't notice it any more. The cording under my armpit is still there but the movement of my arm has greatly improved. The seroma has settled but the scar and general appearance of my armpit is still fairly ugly.
My chest infection is much better. Still very slightly breathless and wheezy but not bubbly any more. I finish my antibiotics tomorrow. The redness on my boob is still awful. I'm looking forward to seeing what they say about it on Monday. I have been given my dates for radiotherapy. It starts on Wednesday. I will have to have it every week day for 5 weeks and it finishes on the 27th June. I have a heart scan on Tuesday to see if my heart is coping with the damaging effects of the Herceptin.
I have had a fairly low couple of weeks in the middle of the month. Partly down to the realisation that I am not recovering from each phase of treatment as quickly as I'd like to be. It is very frustrating to feel ill and or in pain for so long. I have also had a run of family and friends being diagnosed with various cancers. One would be too many but 3 in the last month or so, with others undergoing tests feels deeply unfair. I hope that in some way I can be of help to them with my new knowledge and experience.
On a much more positive note I now have 10 Angels joining me on the 10 mile pink ribbon walk around Leeds castle on the 8th June. We are raising money for Breast Cancer Care. I will be overjoyed if I can complete 10 miles, especially as I haven't been able to walk with my sore chest and I will be in the middle of my radiotherapy. I know now though that if I struggle, I have 20 hands and 20 feet to help me.
Carlie's Angels http://www.justgiving.com/teams/CarliesAngels
Also, in other news, My Sister-in-law - the brilliant one who came with me to get my hair cut amongst other things is doing a TRIATHLON!!!!! for Macmillan. Please also check out her page, she wrote nice things about me on it! http://www.justgiving.com/Hannah-Elise-Buckley
So on the 26th April, the day I last wrote, I was joined for lunch by two school friends. One who lives in New Zealand and was over here for her Dad's funeral. We moaned about the distance before agreeing that we'd actually seen more of each other this year than if she'd lived down the road. Funny how that happens. We take the people who live closest to us for granted, often not seeing them from one month to the next.
That evening I had a date with my husband. We went out for supper, bought for us by someone very kind. Then to the South Bank to see Mathew E White. A very tall American with a guitar and a large band. He/they were fantastic and we enjoyed the evening immensely. My favourite part of the whole date was when the young female hipster working in the cloakroom commented that she loved my hair style!!!! I have HAIR. It is very short, but it is there - so much so that someone actually thought it was a Style!
The week of the 29th contained; My Father's birthday which we celebrated with a little supper. A visit from the Irish twin and his happy brood who brought me purple pansies and a fun afternoon. A lunch with two more school friends and their youngest children - one of them very new. Another failed attempt at a radiotherapy planning session followed by another draining of the seroma and a weekend in IBIZA! Yes you read that right.
I decided at the very last minute to join my Mum, her friend and My sister for 3 days of sun. The official reason for the fleeting visit was a wicked 40th birthday party on the Saturday afternoon and night. We made the most of our jaunt and rented a great little apartment on the northern most tip of the island. It was dirt cheap and instantly felt like home. The sea was warm(ish), the sun was hot, the food was lovely and we had a proper laugh. We hired two tiny little bright yellow cars and zoomed around in the pine covered mountains. It was lush.Unfortunately whilst there I managed to incubate a nasty chest infection.
On our return I was thrown into family mode. My Granny who is now 88 and still fabulous came to stay in Tunbridge Wells with her friend. I managed to squeeze some lovely meals with them around a week of hospital appointments. On Wednesday 8th May I had four appointments and a lunch date. One of the appointments was to show a lady the results of my operations. She has recently been diagnosed and was undecided about which reconstruction path to take. She was thrilled with my results and has now opted to have exactly the same surgery. Its nice to be in a position to help someone who is embarking on this roller coaster. I met one of my Dear friend's new baby and also had my three weekly Herceptin.
In the evening, after my busy day, the chest infection came to a bit of a head. I ran a huge fever all night and only avoided being admitted to A&E on the promise of hospital the next morning. I was booked in at St Thomas's for my third attempt at radiotherapy planning. Finally it happened, I was measured, marked and tattooed. I was also prescribed a 10 day course of antibiotics for the chest infection and given the rather depressing news that my blood count was still far too low from the chemo (after 2 months) to fight such an infection alone.
Friday 10th May. I spent the day at home, trying to give my body the chance to start fighting the infection. I actually felt much better than I had in well over a week but my chest still sounded a bit rough. Just before bed my husband noticed a dark red stain-rash all across the new boob. After a hurried call to Guys we were instructed to go to St Thomas's A&E asap. Bear in mind it was now past mid-night and we were at least an hours drive away. All grand-parents were away so we had to draft in the support of friends to take over the children and off we went.
After 12 hours in A&E no-one was any the wiser. It was agreed that my bloods were too low to fight infection but I was already on a very strong course of antibiotics for my chest. It was also agreed that I had some pneumonia in my right lung but xrays were clear enough for me to be discharged. The redness was still a mystery. All the Doctors could agree was that it wasn't an infection and even if it was the antibiotics would cover it. I was sent home with an appointment for Monday morning.
On Sunday 12th my husband flew to China for a business trip. On Monday I went to hospital for a breast surgeon's opinion on the red boob. By now it was very dark red. Like a mass of broken capillaries. With purple bruising and yellow around the outside. Neither of the senior breast surgeons at Guys have ever seen anything like it. They agree it is some sort of bruising but don't know what has caused it. I'm to go back on Monday (20th) for another look.
Husband returned from China on Thursday. 24 hours later than expected due to fog in Shanghai. My week has been spent Mothering and trying to recover from this lingering chest infection. In between the school runs, house work, meals, clubs, playdates and sleepovers I have visited my GP (my chest and a mole on my ear) visited the Dentist (eldest daughter, filling) and visited an Aunt.
From a diary point of view, that pretty much brings us up to date. There are a couple of more medical bits and bobs I should mention. The pain on the back of my arm has all but gone. It started to ease in Ibiza and has been getting slowly better day by day. The numbness is the same but I don't notice it any more. The cording under my armpit is still there but the movement of my arm has greatly improved. The seroma has settled but the scar and general appearance of my armpit is still fairly ugly.
My chest infection is much better. Still very slightly breathless and wheezy but not bubbly any more. I finish my antibiotics tomorrow. The redness on my boob is still awful. I'm looking forward to seeing what they say about it on Monday. I have been given my dates for radiotherapy. It starts on Wednesday. I will have to have it every week day for 5 weeks and it finishes on the 27th June. I have a heart scan on Tuesday to see if my heart is coping with the damaging effects of the Herceptin.
I have had a fairly low couple of weeks in the middle of the month. Partly down to the realisation that I am not recovering from each phase of treatment as quickly as I'd like to be. It is very frustrating to feel ill and or in pain for so long. I have also had a run of family and friends being diagnosed with various cancers. One would be too many but 3 in the last month or so, with others undergoing tests feels deeply unfair. I hope that in some way I can be of help to them with my new knowledge and experience.
On a much more positive note I now have 10 Angels joining me on the 10 mile pink ribbon walk around Leeds castle on the 8th June. We are raising money for Breast Cancer Care. I will be overjoyed if I can complete 10 miles, especially as I haven't been able to walk with my sore chest and I will be in the middle of my radiotherapy. I know now though that if I struggle, I have 20 hands and 20 feet to help me.
Carlie's Angels http://www.justgiving.com/teams/CarliesAngels
Also, in other news, My Sister-in-law - the brilliant one who came with me to get my hair cut amongst other things is doing a TRIATHLON!!!!! for Macmillan. Please also check out her page, she wrote nice things about me on it! http://www.justgiving.com/Hannah-Elise-Buckley
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