I last left you (on the edge of yor seats I am sure!) Having arrived in Ireland. I have now been here for nearly 7 weeks and have settled in rather well. My host family are lovely, the kids are (on the most part) sweet, my accomadation is great (I have my very own fire to play with!!!) and the people of Ireland really are warm and wonderful and helpful and hospitible. I really couldn't have asked for the move to go better. The icing on the cake is that I was eventually granted the magic little card that means my health care will be provided without any extra cost to me. In short, I can get what I need to stay alive, pretty big news!
Once I got the good news I was immediately given an appointment at my new hospital, a dedicated cancer center with all the trimmings. It really is a great place and provides everything I need to make my treatment run as smoothly and easily as possible. I met my new consultant (a woman this time) she is lovely, no nonsense and a leader in her field so I feel in good hands. New scans were taken, blood checked, transfusion given and they confirmed that there had been minimal growth of my cancer during the delay period so this was the news I was looking for, a bit of luck on my side, about time! So from this my regime was confirmed and the date set for the 4th of Jan, meaning I could enjoy the christmas period before getting started, much appreciated considering the amount of Champagne that was being thrown at me by my host family! I was apprehensive about spending christmas in Tipperary with the maternal grandparents but in the end it was fantast (very posh though!). They were very warm and welcoming and the kids gave my the guded tour of the grand mansion, I spent the 1st couple of hours with my mouth open in total awe but I soon got used to it and settled in, lovely :)
new year was amazing, having Adi to come stay was just what I needed as christmas had made me a little home sick so her visit sorted me right out. Dublin was great and it was the best new year I have had in years!
So that leads me to now. It is Wednesday, I had treatment on Friday, the treatment went well, no nasty reactions which are apparently common with this drug. It was pretty quick. Only an hour for the actual infusion so including bloods, flushes, anti-his etc I was there about 3.5 hours, beats 2 days for the last course!!! It is one of those drugs you can feel going ito your vein and you can feel its path around your body, if you haven't experienced this feeling then it would be difficult to imagine. I can only describe it like someone is pouring acid into your vein and as it mixes with the blood a flows around it gradually burns the inside of every part of your body, its not agony but its enough to make you screw up your face and make it difficult to concentrate on anything but the feeling! No sickness to start with just that familiar feeling of being hit by a truck....
Saturday and Sunday I was not too bad but beyond that the scratchy feeling under my skin as become quite difficult to take, I also have a painful tightness in my chest that feels very constrictive. The nausea is kicking in but not too much actual sickness. I have numb fingers and toes, my head is banging and I have cramping pains through my back and abdomen. The night sweats have started, making it hard to sleep, despite exreme tiredness and my wee has turned a very toxic looking bright orange. On the bright side, all these things are tolerable, I can cope with them and I can continue to work, for now. Luckily I can easily take it easy in my job :) If this is as bad as it is going to get, I will be fine.
I have to visit the clinic on Thursday for checks on my heart, liver and kidneys, all are damaged from previous treatments and all are at high risk of further damage this time so need to be closely monitored. I will also ask if there is anything they can give me to alleviate the desire to rip my skin off!!!
Anyway, so far, so good. One down, five to go, please, please, please make this the last, at least for a few years. I will go through anything if that can be the end result!
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