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The latest, September 2022

Well, let's be honest, it's mostly been bad news. Three scans showing tumour progression and a stroke.

However, on the upside, I'm still here and wow what amazing friends we have and what an amazing village we live in.

Early in the journey, we decided we'll need to fundraise and wow, I'm blown away by the sheer amount of people have given, but more than anyone, Anna. She's been so amazing, picking up everything I've just dropped, fundraising, caring for me and looking after William full-time. And to everyone, who's donated time, resources, strength, money, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

So where are we, tumour-wise? It's growing unabated, despite temozilmide and PCV. I've just started carboplatin chemotherapy but it's quite unlikely that it will work. You never know though. Given minimal side-effects and just a single intravenous 1 hour long session every month, it's worth a shot.

I've had a consultation with Care Oncology and they have put me on a daily dose of Metformin, Atorvostatin and Mebendazole. These are repurposed drugs and the aim is to stop tumour metabolism.

I've had a consultation today, 18/09/2022, with Dr Matt Williams which was incredibly useful. He was able to cut through the bewildering medical terminology and advise a route ahead. He's a brain tumour specialist at Imperial College Hospitals in London. He just does brain tumours. My oncologist here mostly does head and neck cancers, so the increase in specialism of Dr Williams is crucial.

As my biopsy was 9 years ago, it's a good idea to get it re-analysed as there have been technological advances in this time, to try and work out what the tumour is. There are several treatments possible, dependent on the tumour type.

He also suggested reirradiation may be a good option. This might have to be private treatment, which is expensive but literally, that's why we're fundraising.

He's said it would be worth starting to take Prozac as there is some evidence this may have an effect too.

One downside is that he was sceptical about the use of immunotherapy on recurrent tumours and pointed to a lack of trial and patchy anecdotal evidence for their effectiveness in treating tumours once they've become recurrent. I'm not ruling this out in the future, but it's going on the back burner for now.

I want to be explicit in my thanks for everyone's help, so thank you from the bottom of my heart to:

Anna, my amazing wife

William -who is truly wonderful

Anna's parents

My parents

Our wonderful friends

Anna's entire family

Our amazing neighbours

Everyone who has organised an event and been involved in supporting one

Everyone who's donated

Everyone who's shared an event or the Just Giving page

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PCV chemotherapy

After three cycles of temozilmide, I had another scan.

On the morning of results day, I'd realised I'd not taken my anti-sickness drug, levomepromazine, the night before. It acts as a strong relaxant and makes me very tired. So, expecting to continue on temozilmide, I took the quarter of one tablet I was prescribed. Naturally, me being me, and having the ability to sleep anywhere and ignoring the stress, I fell fast asleep in the main hospital corridor waiting for the doctor! I was woken by him calling my name looking at me very strangely!

Sadly, the results were disappointing. It hadn't had any affect and the tumour had continued to progress.

He immediately offered PCV the next day, without discussing it with me. Thankfully, we declined due to interference with a holiday we'd planned, assuming I'd still be on temozilmide.

We planned it for after we got back after holiday for May 4th. Now onto my stroke...

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My stroke

On May 4th, I was due to start PCV chemotherapy around lunchtime. First, I was going to take William to school and then do some work before signing off for 10 days.

I was sitting, completing my morning ablutions, when my left leg went numb. I stood up and a sort of wave went across me. I sat back down again and tried to telephone Anna, who went to work as normal. No answer. Shit. I called to William, who was playing, waiting to go to school, that I felt funny. I somehow managed to make it to the top of the stairs. I looked down and thought, if I tried to go down as I did usually, I'd definitely fall. So, I went downstairs on my bottom and when I got to the bottom, the house phone was ringing. I asked William to find a the phone, but he couldn't. He was so calm and helpful, I truly felt he would've been able to help if necessary. I then rang our wonderful neighbour Mel and asked her if she was able to take William to school. Of course, she said yes. But then she asked "Are you ok?". To which I replied "No, not really", which to be fair was a bit of an understatement!

She came rushing round, somehow I managed to open the door and to my great relief, took William to school. She also called another wonderful neighbour, Suzanne to come and be with me.

By this point, I had already thought, I'd had or was having a stroke. So I called 999, remembering the F.A.S.T acronym we see on TV. Face, Arms, Speech and Time.

The 999 operative went through all the things I'd associate with a stroke, and said she'd dispatch an urgent ambulance. Great I thought. Then she said it would be TWO HOURS! TWO HOURS!?! For an urgent ambulance!?!

Thankfully, Suzanne offered to take me to A&E.

I was triaged and then had a CT scan (a computerised, detailed x-ray). This showed nothing, other than the tumour. Despite my discussion with the A&E doctor about my stroke like symptoms, it was assumed it was tumour related. I remember saying to anyone that would listen, it's a stroke.

Anyway, I was moved to an oncology ward and given steroids to reduce the swelling.

They had no effect and a lovely doctor on the oncology ward sent me for an MRI scan. This showed I'd had a stroke, which I'd said on reaching A&E, two days earlier.

I was in a further four days before being discharged. Thanks to Anna, I was sent home with all the equipment in the hospital! Literally, all the equipment!

One positive about being in hospital that long, bizarrely, was the food. I discovered the "cultural menu", which basically was curry. While being a way off a good restaurant curry, it was infinitely better than the standard menu.

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Back once again (for the renegade master)

Sadly, this isn't a post about a slightly obscure song from the mid-nineties. My brain tumour has returned.

Before Christmas I noticed my tongue was numb on the right-hand side which has progressed to my face.

I requested a scan and it shows my tumour has significantly changed since my last scan in September.

This is obviously a blow and pretty distressing news.

It's been 8½ years since it was first diagnosed and I was optimistic that temozolimide would be as effective as the first time. I was wrong, it didn't have any affect. So, onto the next chemo - PCV.

PCV is three chemotherapies combined - Procarbazine, lomustine (CCNU) and Vincristine.

Vincristine is given intravenously for half an hour and then you're sent home with the other two to take as tablets over the next ten days.

But before that, my body had other ideas.

Freestyle, breast, back or butterfly? Nope. Not a swimming stroke, but a regular, brain type of stroke.

Yes, on May 4th, I had a stroke in the area of the tumour. I'm going to talk more about this in a different blog post.

This obviously delayed the new chemotherapy while I was sorting myself out from the stroke. I think PCV chemotherapy and my experiences need another blog post!

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The good news keeps on coming

It’s been an interesting 6 months since my last scan - made redundant, getting a new job, going back to working 5 days in the office, seeing the cost of health insurance increase 6-fold and watching my little baby turn into a toddler and now getting my latest scan results.

Onto the most important thing, my latest scan results.  No change.  :-)  The only change is that I am now moving to 9 monthly scans instead of 6 monthly.  I’m really pleased about this but also a little nervous too.  The doctor even mulled over 12 months.  Eeek.

This scan had some scary coincidences with the start of “the trouble”:  scan around Clearing and the results soon after returning from holiday.  I’m not really superstitious but it did worry me a little.  Thankfully, that’s where the similarity ended. I wasn’t feeling any different than before but I wasn’t going to count my chickens.

Every positive scan means the greater chance of finding a cure or different treatment.  Fingers crossed.

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Another good scan

This scan results day, like the last one, also crept up on me.  Work has been so busy and of course, our beautiful little man has been keeping me very much on my toes!

The very nervous 45 minute wait was worth it as the good news of a stable scan was relayed.

These appointments bring out some odd sensations;  As I walk in, time almost goes in slow motion, although I think I almost sprint to the consultation room once my name is called, leaving my “entourage” (Anna, William, Mum, Dad and guide dog) far behind.  

Once in, I honestly can’t remember what they say to me initially; I’m just listening out for key phrases:  hoping for ”stable”, “fine”, “no change”, “shrunk” but dreading “new area”, “new tissue”, “growth”.

And then, once I have my news, which so far has always been good, I just want to go.  I’ve heard all I need and I don’t want to dwell, although this time I did talk about myself a bit.

I think my eagerness to leave stems from spending so much of my recent past in the medical system.  Despite them giving me years of extra life, I really dislike hospitals now.  I think even if I accidentally cut my leg off with a chainsaw, I might just wait to see if it’d heal!

Anyway, great scan news and here’s to a great summer!

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Wow.

I didn’t write a blog at my last scan because it was a bit mundane, no change.  But that’s good, I like mundane news such as that.

I had a scan at the middle of last month, just before our first family holiday to Bamburgh.  I knew that something like a holiday would be just the thing to take my mind of waiting for scan results.  Sure enough, I forgot about it, well as much as you can ever forget something like that.

All of a sudden though, this week came around and I got my SMS reminder about my appointment today.  But the business of having a 15 week old baby (where did that time go?) meant we were kept busy and all of a sudden this morning was upon us!

I wasn’t too nervous as I hadn’t noticed any changes in symptoms (balance, ataxia or hearing) and I feel really good!  Dr Vijayan was his usual cheery, yet matter-of-fact self, and said the scan showed that everything was fine and he quickly read the report.  The tumour has actually DECREASED further in size.  That’s almost two years since my last chemotherapy course.  To say I am delighted is a huge understatement.  Gobsmacked is getting there.

So why has this happened?  Well, I haven’t got a radiotherapy machine stashed in the shed nor a secret store of chemotherapy drugs.  It could be the massive beard I have grown.  

About a year ago, my mum and dad watched a programme where a man with prostate cancer, who was at the end of an unsuccessful course of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, started eating broccoli soup for lunch every day after reading about the cancer fighting properties of broccoli.  After 7 years, his tumour was gone.  I realise that prostate cancer is very different to brain cancer and the blood-brain barrier is the main problem with treating brain cancer.  But hey, I like broccoli and making soup and I used to have the same lunch anyway and I get to use those jars I had been saving for...er...something.  My mum gave me a recipe for broccoli soup (without Stilton or cream as I quickly would become too big to leave the house!) and I set about making and freezing enough for two weeks at a time.  I haven’t stuck to it all the time, like when I am on holiday, not near a microwave etc. and maybe the shrinkage is purely coincidental, but it might have helped a little.

I am so pleased to still be here.  I have a son and an amazing wife and brilliant family and friends.  I know it might seem melodramatic, but some fights against brain cancer can be tragically short.  I’m not sure if I have ever been as happy as I am now.  I can look forward to holidays, our first family Christmas and all the experiences William will bring over the next six months.

Cheers to broccoli.  And beards.

[stranter2-blog]

More scan news!

I had my latest MRI scan on Monday and I got the results today and it’s more good news.  Everything is stable again!  Even more good news, my next scan is in January 2016!

This is such a relief and I am so happy.  I can enjoy summer and Christmas and at the start of August I can reapply for my driving license!  It would mean a lot to me to be able to start driving again.  I don’t mind public transport, but driving again would be brilliant.  Just the fact that I can almost forget about this for the next 6 months is great.

We were both pretty nervous leading up to this scan and I can’t describe the relief when you hear the words “everything is fine, no change”.

I am really grateful for everyone’s support, you have helped me make it this far!

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Scan results - great news!

I had my last scan in October, and as a result I came off my chemo and I've had a wonderful four months.  We had a great Christmas and New Year and a fabulous trip to Iceland, my first time abroad for about 18 months!  I think this was the longest time I've been at home in my country of residence since I was about 17!

I've felt (and feel) great, no worsening of symptoms and no new symptoms.  I look back of photos of me when I was on my chemo and think how awful I looked!

The hard slog on chemo has been worth it though as I got my latest scan results today.  Everything is stable, no growth, no new tumour sites, all positive!

My next scan is at the end of June, so I can have a normal time until then!  This was a crucial scan as this was my first after I'd stopped the chemo, so for everything to remain stable is great.

So, my immediate plans are a bit mundane - some garden digging and gardening in preparation for the summer!

Thanks to everyone who has been there for us!

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A new chapter

I had my latest scan results today and they were positive; the tumour is stable, so my consultant has said to come off the chemotherapy with immediate effect.  I will have a follow-up with my consultant in 6-8 weeks and a further scan in the new year.

This scares me a little as I have been on chemo for over a year and all has been well with my tumour.  But I can't be on the chemotherapy for ever.  Each month, a week of my life is given over to feeling really tired and a bit sick, I can't go abroad due to the prohibitive cost of travel insurance and I can't drink.

Well, I have immediately sorted one of those things.  I am writing this from the Copa Cabana beach in Rio!  Hang on, no that's not right.  I'm in my living room.  I actually had my first drink this lunchtime!  Woohoo!  :)  (For those that are interested:  half an "Ay Up" and some Taylor's Port with cheese)  I have to confess to feeling a bit tipsy, after only a half and some port.  I guess that's what not drinking for 16 months does!

I won't be on chemo over Christmas which is great, I should be able to enjoy Christmas properly.  Not like last year, where I didn't feel great and it was a worrying time for my friends and family.

Thanks to everyone for theirsupport, to those who have raised money for Brainstrust.and Brain Tumour Research.  I'm not going to name names, but you know who you are!

As a famous saying goes though, I've won this battle but not the war yet.  There will be future battles and I am going to do my best to keeping winning!

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Some news

Today, I had an appointment with my consultant to hand out my last chemotherapy and get my scan results from a couple of months ago. I wasn't worried about the results (I thought they would show the tumour not having changed) and I would finally come off the chemotherapy. I was very surprised when I was told my tumour had actually SHRUNK! Amazing! To say Anna, my parents and I were delighted is a massive understatement. My past three scans have been really positive. The slight downside to this is that I will continue my chemotherapy for another three cycles, so until November. That will mean I have been on chhemotherapy for over twelve months! But you know, I am not at all down about extra chemtherapy, the delight of receving news like today makes up for any sickness and tiredness I may experience. A big thank you for all the support I am getting from friends, family and above all, my beautiful wife Anna. Onwards and upwards!

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Looking forward to the summer

It's been a while since my last blog post, three months in fact. I've been trying to keep things as normal as possible; going to work as much as I can and carrying on with life. We've been planning summer holidays (Devon, Dorset and Isle of Wight plus maybe Italy). I've sold the Focus; the DVLA have said I won't be able to drive for two years after the end of my treatment. A bit of a pain, but not too much of a problem especially as I now have a free bus pass! I've used it a couple of times and I've noticed two things: 1) Old people love using their free bus passes. Sometimes there has barely been a free seat in the middle of the day! 2) Bus drivers seem surprised that a young person has a bus pass, despite anyone who has their driving license suspended by the DVLA being eligible. We did a bit of fundraising for Brainstrust. We held a tea party as part of their wider "Tea Fest" event. We got local businesses to donate prizes for a raffle. We sold a whopping 2000 tickets for the raffle and there were some great prizes donated by the following companies: - Little Eaton Garden Centre - The Queens Head - The Bottle Kiln - Hackwood Farm - Horsley Lodge - Derby County Football Club - Derbyshire County Cricket Club - Little Eaton Garage - Barry Fitch Butchers - Be Therapy beauty salon - Angelo's at the New Inn, Milford and many more. After all the money was counted, we raised a whopping £1300! Thanks to everyone who came, made cakes, helped out and donated - you all made the event a brilliant success! A big thanks also goes to Kate Ashton, who raised £2300 for Brain Tumour Research by doing a sky dive! Thanks also to everyone who sponsored her! Anna and I went on a very high ride in Derby market place at the weekend and that made us realise just how scary it was! Well done Kate. Also, thank you to Karl Gardner, partner of Corinne Waterworth (a friend of Anna) who is amazingly running the Great North Run for Brain Tumour Research. Most of the side efects of the chemotherapy have been lessening. I generally don't feel sick on the tablets and my appetite is generally good. I feel quite tired but this subsides usually a week or so after I finish taking the tablets. I had my latest scan and today I got my results. The possible, in order of best to worst, were: 1) The tumour is stable and there is no change 2) The tumour has grown slighty 3) The tumour has grown significantly Obviously I was hoping for option 1. I haven't noticed any change in my symptoms but this isn't an indication of no change. My conultant rang this morning at 09:00 (I was still in bed; no matter what, I always sleep well!) to say there was no change and everything is stable. Great news! Anna and I are obviously delighted and we can look forward to the summer!

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News!

For nearly three years I have been having MRI scans, and they have pretty much never given us or our family any crumbs of comfort. So we were dreading the MRI on Friday 17th January, the first post radiotherapy scan in fact my first since I started any treatment. The scan was to see how things were going inside my head. We had an appointment on Tuesday 21st January for the results at 11:15am. I had been in pretty low mood the week prior; there had been some very difficult moments. Anna, both our parents and Andy Garner were amazing support during this very difficult time. Anna's friend's Kate and Laura were amazing, and of course Anna's aunties and grandparents were their usual brilliant help. We needed to keep busy and distracted before the results and everyone played their part in this. The scan would show one of the following options: 1) The tumour has shrunk, the chemo is working and there were no new growth sites in my head 2) The tumour has stablised, the chemo is working and there were no new growth sites in my head 3) The tumour was not stable and the treatment wasn't having any affect 4) The tumour was not stable, the treatment wasn't having any affect and there are new growth sites Given the previous scans, we weren't expecting much. About 10:15, the telephone rang. It was the consultant's secretary asking if I would mind speaking to him. I said of course. It was then he told me the excellent news. The tumour has actually shrunk, there are no new growth sites and the chemo is working well! I couldn't speak with joy, I was in floods of tears of joy. All I could manage to Anna was a thumbs up sign! After I got off the phone, Anna and I just hugged, cried with happiness and relief and jumped around the dining room! This was the best possible outcome and knowing that going through the sickness and sadness has been worth it. JUST AMAZING! Of course the journey isn't over, I have more treatment to have and there will be more scans but this is such positive news. We are on cloud nine!

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Bleurgh

It's been a while since my last post so I thought I would update people on my progress.

Since my last post, we've been away to Fowey in Cornwall for a recuperation break treatment and stayed in the The Old Quay house for a week.  It was lovely, neither of us having to cook or clean.  I regained my strength and my appetite became more normalised.  I also worked for a few weeks; normality was beginning to resume!

My first cycle of the second lot of chemo (called the maintenance phase) began on the 17th December. This had been delayed as I had a cold the week the chemotherapy was due to start.

As I was getting better before the chemotherapy, we decided to host our parents on Christmas Day.  All plans were made and it looked like things were going to plan.  My appetite began to wain however on the 15th and I was sick on the 17th.  A real sense of being there before was coming on.  However, for the rest of the week I was ok.  I felt sick at times but wasn't.  On Friday 20th December, I felt worse.  I took my temperature - 37.8.  I 'phoned the "chemo-bat-phone-emergrency-hotline" because anything over 37.5 can indicate an infection.  This is bad for any chemotherapy patients.  The patient's immune system may not be able to fight it.  So, I was admitted to hospital, lots of tests carried out, all was clear thankfully.  I was put on a large dose of intravenous antibiotics as a precaution.  I felt ok, but not great. The care I received in the hospital was excellent however the food, as usual, was not. I left hospital at 17:30 on the 24th December.  A bit late notice for Christmas!  My parents just visited for a couple of hours and we went to Anna's Aunty Jane's house to see her family in the evening.  We also were given Christmas dinner to take home by Andy and Lu Garner which was delicious and very much appreciated, sadly I couldn't finish it though, I just had no appetite.  A very quiet Chistmas indeed! This was disappointing as we had had so much planned.

For the first time, my appetite was non-existant and had been since 15th December.  I was eating hardly anything.  Which was great for losing the steroid weight I had put on in the previous stage!  However, it wasn't much fun.  Anna's Nanna gave us some Yeo Valley Greek Style yoghurt with honey, which strangely I was able to eat.  Sadly, I was still sick on the 2nd January.  My consultant asked to see me in his clinic on the 7th (a week earlier than planned) once we told him how I was feeling. I was put on steroids and within a few hours, I felt loads better and my appetite has begun to return!  Yes!

I have an MRI scan on the 17th January to see how things are going and to see if they can see what's making me sick - it could be swelling, it could be the chemo, who knows!

Still, I am feeling better and that's great!  :)

Thanks to everyone who has given us loads of support, all have been briiliant:

Our parents

Anna's grandparents

Andy and Lu Garner for help and support and giving us a delicious Christmas dinner!

All of Anna's friends (esp. Kate, Laura, Char, Helen) for being there for us,

The Hudsons

The neighbours

This is by no means an exhaustive list, so if you are not on it SORRY! We certainly appreciate all contact from friends and family - we are always happy for people to come and visit or for going out for lunch etc.

I start my second cycle of the chemo maintenance stage next week, so fingers crossed!

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I have finished my radiotherapy - time for a sleep!

On Friday I finished my radiotherapy.  At last.  I had all my 30 doses and now I am shattered.  I am averaging at least 12 hours of sleep a day and pretty much most physical exertion makes me tired.  Afternoon naps and early nights are the order of the day!  Going there has been a bit annoying really.  I was often the youngest there and for the first couple of weeks, I felt awful and had to wait ages on a few occasions.  The staff though were brilliant, and I cannot praise the NHS enough.  It makes me glad we do not have an insurance based system here.  Treatment like this should be available regardless of ability to pay.

I have lost my hair above both my ears and some (more than normal) on top of my head.  My hair is thin too - I think this is the chemotherapy rather than the radiotherapy.  All-in-all, it looks like I have had a really bad haircut!

I finish my chemotherapy tomorrow for 30 days.  I then start a higher dose for 6 months (5 days on, 23 days off.  Repeat for six months). Sometime in late December or January, I will have a baseline scan and the monitoring of how I am progressing will begin.

I feel fine, apart from the tiredness.  The nausea and sickness stopped after the first three weeks when they changed my anti-sickness medication and put me on a low dose of steroids.  I've had no weird side effects either.  My sense of smell has normalised, although I still don't like tea (!) and the thought of soup doesn't appeal.  I need to get the tea thing sorted.  Green tea has shown particular benefits whem drunk while temozolomide is taken.

All being well, I will start a phased return to work on the 18th November which is great.  I can't wait to get back, if I don't sleep in the afternoon, the days can drag.  I have REALLY gone off TV, I only watch sport now!

All said and done though, I feel "fine" and I have got through this pretty well!

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What's that smell?

I started my chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment this week.  I didn't know what it was going to be like.

The chemo is in capsule form.  This needs to be taken at home 2 hours before my radiotherapy appointment.  Half an hour before this, I have to take my anti-sickness medication.  On Mondays and Thursdays I also need to take antibiotics to help my immune system.  On Mondays, I also have an appointment with either a radiologist or the doctor.  On Thursdays, I have to get my blood taken to check my immune system and finally on Friday I have an appointment at the chemo suite to get more medication.  This is quite a lot of things that have to be done in the right order so Anna and I have produced a timetable a bit like for school!

The chemo is a bit scary.  It is basically a drug to kill off all cells, with the healthy cells growing back in time.  This is why it has all the weird side effects.

I have had three major side affects, tiredness, nausea and vomitting and an increased sense of smell.  I will come onto the latter later.

This week, I've been really struggling with nausea and vomitting.  Monday and Tuesday, I pucked mid-afternoon after the chemo and radiotherapy and I felt fine immediately afterwards.  I can cope with this, although being sick, it's never nice!

I pucked again Wednesday, but I felt sick all afternoon and evening.  I woke up on Thursday feeling sick too.  My radio appointment was late on Thursday, which was good and bad.  Bad because we had to wait ages, good because they sent me to to the chemo suite in the meantime because I was looking a shade of grey mixed with green.  I felt bad.  Really tired and really sick.  I was given a different anti-sickness medication intravenously.  This worked miracles, it was almost as good as the morphine from previous blogs!  However, I woke up Friday and agian had to go to the chemo suite, albeit a better shade of grey and green!  I was given much stronger anti-sickness medication and touch wood, this appears to be much better.

I was meant to go to Andy Longworth's English wedding on Saturday, but I had to cancel because I didn't know how I was going to feel.  I missed his German wedding, after travelling over and getting norovirus on the day!  Doubly gutted to miss this one too.  :(

I woke up at 10am, on Saturday not feeling sick but very tired.  It's not really tiredness, more severe than that.  Maybe complete lethargy?  I was asleep again within 15 minutes and I slept most of the day.  A side affect of the anti-sickness medication is drowsiness!  Doh! 

Anyway, the second most disturbing side affect after the nausea is my heightened sense of smell.  This can also induce nausea too.  The sense of smell thing is really weird.  It has put me off certain foods - toast being the most innocent!  I can't handle leek and potato and chicken soup (Anna and I had to throw last Sunday's hard work away!) and tea are the other things so far.  Cigarette smoke smells really pungent and cleanch, which I don't really like anyway.

I hope next week is more plain sailing!

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Lots of appointments and jabs

These past seven days have featured lots of appointments.

My first appointment was for my mask fitting.  The end result is a bit like the mask worn by Hannibal Lector! The mask is made of a plastic mesh, which was heated in warm water to make it maleable and it was then moulded to my face and pinned to the bed like I will be in the treatment.  This is to ensure I cannot move during the treatment.

I have had a couple of CT and MRI scans so they can plan exactly where to zap.  I also had my chemotherapy appointment, where they scare you with the massive list of possible side effects!  The side effects are numerous and random and I could be affected by none, some or all of them.  Probably most serious is the risk of infection due to a weakened or none existant immune system.  If I get even a slightly raised temperature, I have a 24 hour number I must telephone if there is even the slightest thing wrong; no 111, walk-in centres etc.

Anyway, I start my chemotherapy and radiotherapy on Monday 30th September.

It was recommended I get vaccinated against pneumonia and 'flu too.  So on Saturday, I got my pnemonia jab, the nurse said I would get a heavy arm, maybe a little soreness; nothing serious.  Excellent.

On Sunday night, I was admitted to hospital!  I had a really bad reaction to the jab, I was admitted with a temperature of 39.5 degrees, barely able to walk and barely able to use my right arm!  Quite a reaction.  I've never felt so bad.  Still, I am better now (well almost), discharged and the staff at the Royal were excellent!  All this to avoid watching the new series of Downton Abbey!  :-)

My consultant has said not to bother to get the 'flu jab!