It never rains, but it pours

Think of the happy times

This post is dedicated to Pat, my auntie, my mum's sister and nan's daughter, who sadly passed away yesterday.

Mum found out last Thursday, when she got back from the hospital after I'd had my biopsy, that her sister had had a massive stroke and that it was so severe there was no way back from it.  For it to happen so quickly is heartbreaking.

My dad told me last night that she had lost her life and my uncle and cousins were with her when it happened. The only saving grace is that she did not suffer.

Honestly, what more can be thrown at us??

Anyone who came to mum's tea and cakes morning in July last year to raise money for the Breast Unit will have met Pat, who was looking after the table sale.

It's so hard, we are all so emotionally drained at the moment and mum is emotionally numb.  The week before she had to tell my nan that her granddaughter had incurable cancer and then a week later she had to tell her that her daughter was sadly about to die.

Obviously nan was really upset and mum has reminded her to remember the happy times.  And that's what I've been doing this past week while waiting for news of her condition. 

My heart goes out to all our family. xx

Pat, me, nanny (92) and mum (Juney) in July 2016

Radiotherapy

This morning I went for my radiotherapy marking up.  

The new oncology centre at Worcester is really lovely - not a term you would be expecting to use, but it's light and airy and calming. Previously attending radiotherapy at Cheltenham was awful and had such a crowded and cramped waiting room etc.

My appointment was 9.30am and I was seen straight away.  The radiographer was so lovely.  She talked through what would happen and we discussed my previous marking up and she said they have procedures to ensure my other 'dots' are ignored so as not to confuse where the radiotherapy needs to be aimed this time.  

For the radiotherapy I will be in one position, lying on my back, and the linear accelerator (the name of the type of machine that provides the radiotherapy) moves around my body to get the radiation to both my chest and then spine. 

The side effects of the treatment were discussed again, difficulty swallowing/sore throat, tiredness, soreness in the area, nausea etc, which she said would peak a couple of days after the final treatment and then tail off.  She also said that radio should certainly help with the pain I was feeling.  I told her how bad my back was and she said that Dr Churn (my radiographer) would look at the CT scans taken today to see if there is any indication of what's causing it or whether it is simply radial pain - I certainly hope it's the latter and not more cancer spread!!

My radiotherapy will start next Friday (27 Jan) and then I will have a treatment each day the following Monday to Thursday, so five in total.  

After discussing that she took me to the CT area and into the patient changing area.  Boobs out again.  The CT scanner and room was a lot nicer than the one in the main hospital (probably because it's only 12 months old).  She told me the position I would be put in today is the position I will be in when I have my radiotherapy treatment so I needed to tell them if I was comfortable or in any pain.  Thankfully this CT scanner had a thick mattress on it, which was much better than the metal bed scanner in the main hospital.  I put my head in, what seemed like, a polystyrene head rest and then there was another one under my knees.

Lying down though was a killer.  My sternum was so painful.  I managed to get 'comfortable' (well, as much as can be expected) and then she had to line me up under the laser beams (reach for the lasers) by moving me around slightly.  

They then measured me with a special ruler and put tape across my chest and boob and marked me up like a target.

X marks the spot... The bruise above is from my biopsy last week

I then had to have the CT scan so they can ensure I have been 'lined up' correctly. They went out of the room and I closed my eyes.  They put some sort of music on when I was in there....it was like chilled house music.  I was loving it. Hed Kandi choons.  

The CT scanner is like a huge doughnut that you travel through on a bed (I've probably not explained that before).  All of a sudden it 'whirs' into life, then the bed moves you backwards and forwards into it and takes lots of x-ray images which then build up into a picture of my insides.

It literally took about five minutes in total and I was done.

Getting off the bed again was painful, but I headed home for a brew and then went into work for a couple of hours.

Next stop, oncologist on Monday morning....  

Have a great weekend everyone. xx