What a Relief!

What with the delights of modern technology I had to wait a little longer for my scan results than I had expected, but I got them this morning. The results are good, the scan is 'clear' but not completely negative, the radiologist remarked that he doesn't think there is any active Hodgkin's presents...However there are always quirks! There are some areas of uptake which the radiologist referred to as 'brown fat'. Apparently some people, not many, have these active areas of brown fat which can show up on PET scans. Other indications that the cancer has gone are that there are no active areas in the lymph nodes or in the area that was a concern on the chest x-ray. My consultant also remarked that my lymph nodes had reduced in size from my last CT scan...all good signs.

I also had another bit of good news over the past few days...I entered the lymphoma association's photography competition 'Look at Life Differently' and although my photo wasn't in the top twelve entries they want to use my photograph on the back of their calender! This is it below. To see the winning entries click here.

It is funny how things happen, On Monday I changed my 'count down to last chemo' at the bottom of my page to 2 weeks, a day early! From today it really is two weeks...roll on the 11th September now!

Thanks Dr for buggering up my Weekend!

Well as with all good things they do come to an end! Chemotherapy didn't quite go as planned today. Went in as normal, saw my consultant and then waited for him to review my chest x-ray which I have at the beginning of every cycle. We waited and waited, then the Dr came back and said that he had just noticed a radiologists remark on the previous cycles chest x-ray, I don't understand all the medical jargon but basically an enlarged lymph node in the right side of my chest - possibly an indication that things aren't as stable as they seem. My Dr did say that he couldn't see any difference between the chest x-rays but he isn't a radiologist. So wanted to get it checked out. Chemotherapy was cancelled for the day and I am scheduled in for an emergency PET scan on Thursday. If the result comes back negative which he suspects, then I will have chemo on Friday...which buggers up my beer festival weekend. If it comes back and shows something then we have to revert to plan B.

Not The News I Had Hoped For - Bummer!

My Doctor rang on Thursday with my scan results, he said my scan results were positive, the main bulk of the cancer was now negative and he was really pleased with it, but there was a small area of pet positivity in the left side of my neck. The consequences of this being that he wants to give me eight cycles of ABVD now not six which I had hoped for. He did say that 8 cycles is the standard for Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Got off the phone and was very upset, 8 cycles felt like such a blow. So I hadn't reached the half way point yesterday after all. What with now having to have eight cycles and a port; tied to handcuffs for a while longer then!

PET Scan

Had to get up early Tuesday to go to my PET scan, wasn't allowed breakfast so that made getting ready all the more easy! The PET scanning unit was a relatively new department in the hospital. Had to answer a few questions before they took me through, just went over some details and they checked I was healthy enough for the PET scan. Then I was taken through to the scanning bays, had to go on my own because they don’t like you to mix with people as you are radioactive!
Had to get changed into a gown (attractive), be weighed and measured and then I was taken to a bay. Had my blood sugar levels checked and then was given the injection of radioactive stuff that was in a metal syringe!

I then had to sit for an hour and a half and try to relax so the radioactive stuff could work around my body! I had to remain as still as possible in order to get a reliable reading as possible. The time actually didn’t go too slowly as I had plenty of magazines to read. When the time was up the nurse came to get me, had to empty my bladder and then it was off to the scanning room. The scanner looks really similar to a CT scanner, it is a large tube like structure with a bed coming out of it that moves in and out, it is quite spacious so I didn't feel claustrophobic. It was a bit cold so they got some blankets to wrap around me once I was lying on the scanner. Had to have my arms above my head and was told to shut my eyes because of the bright lights in the scanner. They did a CT scan first and then the PET scan. The PET scan lasted 28 minutes, at first it felt like a life time, but once I relaxed it didn’t seem to take to long and before I knew it they were lowering me out the machine, I was opening my eyes and trying to adjust to the bright lights! Some music to listen too would have made the time go faster, but you can't have everything!

Saw my consultant afterwards and he did the usual chest checks and said he was happy to proceed with chemotherapy tomorrow. He said he would ring with results of the scan when he knew. Started to feel a bit sick while I was talking to him.

The car journey home wasn't fun, started to feel very sick and had to stop several times, must have been the radiation they gave me. Spent the whole evening feeling queasy.

Chemotherapy didn't go as straight forward as usual on Wednesday, they had real trouble getting my cannula in. It took two nurses, numerous attempts and a lot of patience before it was in! They said this was a real concern as my veins weren't likely to put up with this much more and they wouldn't get any better if we persisted. That is when the nurse suggested I have a port fitted. As soon as she mentioned it all sorts of thoughts started running through my head, 'I don't want something permanently under my skin', 'its alien'. The nurse sat and told me more about it and also showed me another lady who had one, it was very inconspicuous but still felt wrong to me. To be honest though it is the best option, can't have another day like today, not only did it take ages to find a suitable vein, the number of attempts had made my arm sore and the chemotherapy had to be administered really really slowly cause the veins were irritated and it was painful. The first time chemotherapy has been a real struggle. Came away feeling quite dishearted as I would have to go back next week to have this port fitted, should have been more chuffed at possibly completeing the half way point.

ABVD Cycle 4 - Day 1 - DONE! (not soon enough!)

Babies and BBQ's

Wednesday I spent the morning with Charlene and baby Freddie - went to the park and everything, Freddy can't fail to put a smile on your face - he is just such a dude. And then on Friday I met baby Rowan, just a few week old! He was so cute and we didn't hear a sound from him throughout the meal!

Saturday night had a BBQ with some mates - not to be repeated, had a bit of a dodgy stomach after that one and was sick the next day - nice!!! Obviously BBQ food is another food I have to avoid, along with takeaways, soft cheese, pate and sushi! Can't wait to have a take out curry and go for Chinese once this is all over!

Spoke to my Dr and he said he suspected strongly it was the BBQ food - BBQ's are the most common cause of food poisoning apparently and he advised I have lots of milk, apparently it is good for stomach bugs! Not the best preparation for my PET scan on Tuesday.