Getting there….

I know I haven’t been on here or a few weeks so thought I’d do a quick update.

While I was having radiotherapy the nurses told me to ensure my scar was treated with Aqueous Cream on a daily basis to reduce the risk of burns on my leg. I never thought to put the cream on the back of my leg and with four days to go, I really started to feel the effects of treatment at the rear. My leg turned red and was tender to touch.

After radiotherapy finished the burns were just horrendous. My skin was charred and so painful I couldn’t even sit down. I ended up being in bed most of the time as this was the only place I could get comfortable. Poor John was almost kicked in the face on a daily basis when he was applying cream to the area!! I used all methods of healing that had been provided; mepilore pads, intrasite dressings, numerous creams and painkillers. After ten days or so I started to see an improvement and the skin started to fall off- it was still sore but I was more mobile. As the skin fell off, my scar turned from a thick, ugly red line to a neat, skinny white line. It looks and feels so much better!!!

I was worried about the burns as we had booked a short break to Amsterdam and I really thought we’d have to cancel …….but we made it!! We had a fantastic few days away but the realisation of how hard holidays abroad are when you have a disability really hit home. Buildings in Amsterdam are so small and the toilets are often up/down stairs. And the stairs are usually very thin and hard to manoeuvre! We love the city and will definitely go back (for a third time!!) when I’m fully recovered.

Well am back at work now which is fab….won’t bore you with that now and will update next week.

G’nite!
Xx

20130220-223219.jpg

Radiotherapy in numbers… #Sarcoma #Cancer

5s numbers

 

After:

  • 30 days
  • 2700 miles
  • 180 trips on 3 different motorways
  • 300 litres of fuel
  • 2400 minutes travelling time
  • 58 arguments about Johns driving
  • 4 times John took the wrong turnoff (at the same point from M53-M56)
  • 21.5 hours appointment waiting time
  • 785 minutes appointment time
  • The machine broke while I was on it twice
  • 180 beams of radiation
  • 1230 seconds of radiation

…it is finally over!  No more Radiotherapy for me!

Am off out tonight with family and friends to celebrate the end of this journey and the start of the next (cancer free) one…!!

Single figures….

Old Friends
Yesterday on my way to my session I bumped into Hannah. Hannah was in the next bed to me in Broadgreen after having a soft tissue sarcoma removed, also in her leg. She only has three treatments left – I don’t know how we have got this far into our session without bumping into each other! Was lovely to see her doing so well and will see her again later in the month when we go for our first of our 12 weekly check ups.

Normality…for my sanity
I will be returning to work on 18th February. Can’t wait to get back to routine and normality because I am bored and there is a risk to my sanity if I have to stay off work any longer….!!

I had my 21st treatment today….that means I only have 9 sessions remaining. Woop freaking woop!

20130117-194107.jpg

Take it easy and be careful if the snow hits us tonight!

Another recruit to Team Mcclozzer

We have another recruit into Team Mcclozzer. My uncle – Kev “under the table” McNicholas is giving up alcohol in January in support of Clatterbridge.

His page is here:
https://www.justgiving.com/Kev-McNicholas

Here we are drinking in Wembley August 2010. This photo was taken approx 5 hours before he was…under the table!

Kev 1

The team are doing fantastic and I am so proud that they are doing this for such a wonderful cause. My treatment is going well and I am glad that I am going here for it, the staff are amazing and I know that they appreciate every penny that is donated to the centre.

Thanks for your support.

Need a beer??

My amazing man (John ‘Sambucca’ McCloskey) is giving up alcohol for January, now for those of you that know him, this is a big deal!!

In return for not being a drunken bum, he is asking that you sponsor him for charity.
Click this link to see his page: John McCloskeys Draythlon Page

He has even managed to recruit another three nutters to undertake this challenge…. My wonderful friend Bev ‘Baby Guiness’ Hope, my amazing Uncle Paul ‘lager’ McNicholas and Aunty Helen ‘Red Wine’ McNicholas.

To view their pages click this link: Team Mcclozzer page

Charity
The team are raising money for the Clatterbridge Cancer Charity. They have chosen this charity as this is where I am currently receiving treatment. This charity is the only source of charity funding for the hospital. There’s is more information on the teams pages.

good luck Team Mcclozzer

Meet The Team…
John ‘Sambucca’ McCloskey

20130102-213300.jpg

Bev ‘Baby Guiness’ Hope

20130102-213337.jpg

Paul ‘lager’ McNicholas

20130102-213414.jpg

Helen ‘Red Wine’ McNicholas

20130102-213443.jpg

The Neverending appointments….

image

Day two of radiotherapy complete. First impressions : organised chaos!

The staff are lovely and are wonderful but the delays so far are just awful.  2.5 hours on day one and 1 hour today.  This means lots of waiting time in a not so nice place!

A nurse has told me to contact them each day before I leave to see if there are any delays. I will definitely do this as it is completely soul destroying sat in the waiting room.

The treatment itself is quick and painless. More time is spent getting me in the exact position than the actual radiation.  I am in the room for 25 minutes and of that 45 seconds is radiation! I am the only patient receiving treatment on my leg at the moment so it takes slightly longer to get me into position each day, but this should get quicker as the days go on.

We have stayed at the most gorgeous little hotel which is only a mile from the hospital. Thank God we decided to stay over as the appointment times this week are sporadic. From next week they are at the same time each day which is easier for us.

Thanks for reading!