Monday 29th June 2009

Hi All,

Sorry for the lack of a post until now - I've had a busy week and weekend.

It is now past my bedtime thanks to an epic Andy Murray match at Wimbledon. I really thought he was going to lose it in true British tradition, but good on him for coming through. Still not sure he can win it, but it's definitely more interesting whilst there is still a Brit in it, so let's see how far he can get!

I guess you've figured out already by the lack of a post that I didn't start the chemo last week, but instead started today.

I've been into Huddersfield hospital this morning as an outpatient and met my oncologist again, followed by a chest X-Ray to see if the lung tumours show up on that. Then I went up to the ward and sat in a chair for 5 hours (not easy when you've got a bum as bony as mine at the moment!) whilst I had various infusions. Started with 30 minutes of saline, followed by 3 hours of Taxol (had a kip during that bit) - another 30 minutes of saline, then a 10 minute super-fast infusion of the Carboplatin. As I said before, no PICC line this time, just a cannula in the back of the hand, and a relatively easy process all round.

I felt fine during the infusion, and I've felt fine since I came out so far, but the side effects will start to develop over the next week or so, so we'll wait and see.

I've come home with a mountain of tablets and potions for nausea and mouth ulcers, so I'm on a complex regime for a while, with some 4x a day, some 2x a day, some 1x and one "reducing" so starts 3x then reduces to 2x and finally 1x. Lots to keep track of! :(

Great to see the chaps from my former work (SCT International) on Saturday - good to catch up as we missed our annual reunion in December. And good to have another rehearsal with the band yesterday. Tiring as usual, but good for the spirits. I had a really low day on Friday (physically, not mentally), so it was good to have a couple of upbeat days in the sunshine to follow.

No more daylight fox sightings, but he (they?) are definitely coming overnight to gobble up the leftovers Vanda is leaving out. We even had a hedgepig helping himself the other evening too, so quite a menagerie building up, what with the sighting of rabbits in my "woodland" too!

Better go to bed now, but I'll be trying to post more frequently now that I've started the chemo. Exciting week to come, what with the chemo and another [shorter] trip to London on Thursday/Friday. I've kept up the 5-star theme, you'll be glad to know, and I'm only staying at the Ritz on Thursday night (hark at him!). Not sure its my sort of place (jacket and tie in the bar and restaurant for example), but worth doing once I suppose, and not actually as ridiculously expensive as I thought!

See you soon,

Col x