Hit it again.....chemo 7

Well this week has been a rollercoaster of emotions, elation, hope, disappointment and resignation all in one big blur. To cut to the chase I went to the hospital yesterday and had a long discussion with the chief cancer wizards about my case. Since the team at Aberdeen had looked at my PET scans and given them the all clear they had been checked by the top experts in Guys hospital in London and by the team in Edinburgh. Taking everything into consideration like the spread of the original disease and the residual size of the main tumor (now 1.5cm down from 4.5cm) and the scan uptake levels in the other nodes, etc they collectively concluded that I should go on with treatment to make sure we had got every last cell of the cancer. On a ten point risk scale I was a three if I had been one or two that could have been the end of the treatment. This means I am setting up for chemo 7 on Tuesday and will have at probably two more months of treatment (two chemos and one radiotherapy probably but we are still debating the last part).

This was the expected outcome really as I mentioned before, but I had sort of let my hopes drift up towards not needing any more treatment at all, which, had my risk score been lower, was a 50% possibility. So I am a little disappointed, but I do see the good sense of making sure we get it all this time rather than have to deal with it later, and I am well pleased that the disease is responding so well to the treatment so I have to just grin and bear it.

Since the clear scan announcement I have been having a jolly time, Lee and I took the kids away for the weekend to a really nice hotel with a super restaurant, lots of good walks and overlooking the sea on the west coast of Scotland. We walked on beaches, climbed small hills and watched boats going through the lochs. One evening we sat and watched a spectular sunset from the hotel roof for two hours with the kids practicing their dancing steps as we sipped brandies and celebrated.

On Monday morning me (and my antiseptic wipes) drove over to Stirling where some colleagues from the USA were visiting for a meeting and I was able (mostly) to pretend to be all right again for a week, which was a lot of fun, but exhausing. Along the way quite a bit of wine was consumed in the evenings and old stories shared among friends. I also got my 10 year service award in the course of the meeting which was fun. Earlier I had finally managed to get to see my friend Nick's factory and he paid for our curry dinner in exchange for my "consultation" fee and we had a jolly time arguing about the economic benefits of immigration (me on the positive side Nick increasingly impersonating Victor Meldrew as the grumpy right wing faction).

My mid treatment "celebration" week continues tonight when we head out to some Edinbugh friends house for dinner, and tomorrow night when I have my friends from Dumfries for dinner and then the next day we (at least the boys) are going on a 4*4 driving experience in Fife. Hopefully we will not roll the landrovers ! On Sunday night it will be funny in the house as Poppy is away for the week on her first school trip (outdoor pursuits in up north lets hope the weather warms up) and Holly is at a sleepover with friends - Lee and I may head out to the cinema for the first time together in years. She is toying with the idea of setting up a small business on the side if she can get the funding and approval which I think is a great idea.

Sunday morning will see me start the bone marrow boosting self injections once again so by Monday I will be back in the zone of sore bones, Eassic tea, supplements and meditation to try to get ready chemo 7 and another couple of months of treatment. If all goes well, and everything is looking good at the moment this is really sweep up or scavaging treatment, I should be finished treatment at the end of July giving me August to recuperate and be back to "normal" around mid September. Fingers crossed but we are well on the way now.

Sorry for the week off the blog for those of you who enjoy reading it and keeping up to date but it was nice to pretend to be well again for the week and we did not have internet connections in the different hotels. A challenge for me will be to work out where to focus my post chemo cleaning energy so, one criterion is to keep it away from Lee so it may be that I can get the new carpets and seats fitted to the MG before our clubs big show at Thirlastaine castle on the 4rd, hopefully I will not be too sleepy and the weather will be good !

Cheers for now

Gerry