Tag: Lung mets

Chemotherapy

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Morning all,

Apologies for not updating last night but I was shattered by the time I got home from Clatterbridge.

I went to see Dr Ali yesterday to discuss my next options. Basically if I have surgery, they would have to do one lung, wait for that to heal and then operate on the second one. In the meantime there could be other cancerous cells lurking that may come to life, therefore he feels we should attack it in the first instance with chemotherapy.

I have two options:
1. standard chemotherapy – I would go once every three weeks for the chemo and I would repeat this six times.
2. trail – basically I could opt for a clinical trial which is being run by cancer research. If I opt for this I will be added to a database and the computer randomly picks if you will go on the standard chemo or a chemo which is usually used third line. Your results are then used for research purposes whichever chemo you end up having.

As my tumours are resectable it may eliminate me from option of the trial, so I am waiting to hear from them today or tomorrow. If I am eliminated I will have standard chemotherapy.

What does chemo do?
Basically the chemo will kill off any lurking cancerous cells in my body. It should either stop the three tumours on my lungs from growing any bigger or shrink them. I will then need to have these three removed surgically as the chemo will not get rid of them.
After two/three sessions I will be rescanned to see how the treatment is working. If the cancer isn’t responding to the treatment then Dr Ali will move me to another one.

It’s all very complicated and a lot to take in but I believe I’m in good hands. As Dr Ali said, there are a lot of positives to draw on and I am focussing on these.

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Results….

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Just wanted to add a quick note to say that the scans on my leg were clear!!! The reason I was called back for a second MRI was because I had inflammation on one off my muscles-this is because it’s compensating for the ones that I have lost.

Today’s result is obviously fantastic news and means I can focus all of my energy on getting rid of the lung mets. I am at Clatterbridge tomorrow to meet the Doctor who will be taking care of me 🙂

Thanks to the Scottish McTickles for staying at ours, entertaining us and taking us to the hospital today.

And a BIG thank you for all your messages and support through what has been the most difficult week of my life.

More scans

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I went for an MRI yesterday at Liverpool. For those of you who have never had one of these, it’s the noisiest machine ever. Noisier than building works outside your hotel when on holiday…! The kind radiology man asked me what radio station I wanted in my noise cancelling headphones so I told him I wanted Capital FM. I lay there patiently and on came…classical fm. I couldn’t help but giggle! During my giggles I knocked the alarm….. Quite comical…

During the scan, they came and asked me if I had injured my right leg, I politely reminded them that I had two muscles removed. Needless to say this unnerved me slightly so after the scan I asked what kind of injury they wanted to know about, and said that they wanted to know if I had a strain or a bang. Odd.

This morning I received a call from the MRI department to say Mr Chandra wants me to have a few more scans. He needs to see some more sequences higher up my leg as they didn’t get high enough. I am obviously worried.  I will be going back for the scan on Sunday so I can get the results on Monday. Thanks to the Scottish McTickles for offering to take me there (well when I say offered, I mean I asked:) )

I’m going to try to enjoy the weekend and the rugby – I’m already on the vino!

A big thanks to Vicki G for my gorgeous card and gift. It really means a lot xx
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Enjoy your weekend folks

PET scan

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I had a PET scan today. (No jokes folks!!!) PET scanners are so expensive that they are only found in larger hospitals and they are not used to diagnose Cancer in the first instance, MRI and CT’s are used primarily. I’m lucky that I was given one within 24 hours of seeing Dr Chandra yesterday.

So what is it?
PET is a full body scan to detect certain cancers and will show 3D imaging of my body. (Pretty amazing stuff I’d say!). Before the scan I had to have tests, blood sugar, height & weight etc then I was moved to an isolation room where I was injected with a radioactive radiotracer in my hand. I then had to sit for an hour, in the dark, on my own, being quiet…for those of you that don’t know me, that was torturous!

I was scanned from my head to just below my knee, then I had to turn around while they did the rest of my legs. This amazing machine costs £1.8 million and doesn’t cover anyone over 5ft4 hee hee. It took over and hour and when I finished I was pleased to see my lovely clinical nurse waiting for me. I had a little weep but she instantly made me feel better.

The PET CT scanner at Liverpool
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Mental Torture
How do you take your mind off it?
Well that’s a difficult question to answer. The big C is constantly on my mind and no matter what I do, and it will never go away. I was genuinely expecting to get my first year all clear on 14th October so this has really knocked me sideways, and is mentally torturing me more than last years diagnosis. What’s making it even worse is that I can’t touch it….last year my tumour was visible and I could feel it – this is so much worse as I know it’s eating away at my lungs and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.

Waiting for the scan results and treatment plan is also killing me – again for those who haven’t actually met me I’m probably the most impatient person the planet has ever seen…..! I will be keeping myself busy, in fact, tomorrow we are resurrecting ‘Cake Club’ at Chouxchouxbedoo on Newton High Street. I am determined to enjoy my food while I still can!

Goodnight peeps xxx