Since the meeting with the Oncologist my friend has been in increasing amounts of pain. We are unsure as to the exact cause as the pain seems to be in her bones, back, ribs and arms, but not her legs as yet.
The pain makes movement difficult and apart from getting up to wash, my friend has spent today 30th September in bed. The pain killers she has been prescribed don't seem to have much effect and basically she is extremely miserable.
Tomorrow I think we will be in touch with the Macmillan specialist nurse to see if we can do anything, otherwise this next stage is going to be a long and difficult time.
The meeting with the Oncologist went well. The chemotherapy has shrunk the tumour, which in itself is great news, but the consultant did point out that this didn't mean that my friend was getting better, just that it had given her a little more time.
It was decided that the chemotherapy should be stopped for 6 weeks to see if my friend's general health and tiredness would improve. The next appointment is on 7th November, when it will be decided what should happen next.
In the meantime my friend is not in good health. She is now suffering from pain in her back in the ribcage area. The consultant checked the CT scan again to see whether he could find a cause for this but could find nothing. It has been put down to a pulled muscle but I am not convinced.
So all we can do is continue as we are taking each day as it comes, going out when we can and staying in when my friend feels to ill.
The 19th September has come and gone. I took my friend for her CT scan. We had to arrive an hour earlier than the appointment time of 12.15. This was so that my friend could drink 2 litres of a clear liquid over the period of one hour. The liquid smelt like aniseed but tasted vile.
About ten minutes before she had to go in for the scan she was fitted with a cannula so that a dye could be injected. After waiting an hour longer than expected so it was now 1.15pm the scan itself took place. The scan takes about 15 minutes after a 2 hour wait.
Now all we have to do is wait for the results when we see the Oncologist on 26th September.
Overall my friend is not too good at all. Still very tired and now suffering pain in the left side of her chest. We think she may have cracked a rib as she has lost so much weight it would be easy to do.
We are still taking each day as it comes, tomorrow is another day.
My friend had been poorly all week. We went for the Chemotherapy session on 7th September but having waited for an hour to be seen, we were told that the HB levels were too low for Chemo.
After some discussion with the Macmillan specialist nurse it was decided to discontinue the Chemotherapy sessions as there were only 2 more.
My friend has improved over this past week, but is by no means well. Her CT scan has been brought forward to 19th September and she is seeing the Oncologist on 26th September so we will find out more then.
What happens from here is any-ones guess, but we will keep plodding along.
Well my friend went for her chemotherapy session on Friday 31st August. The results of her blood test this week were positive in that all the levels had gone back up, so for now at least there is no need for a blood transfusion.
Unfortunately my friend hasn't felt so good since Friday, which is such a shame as she was doing so well. One of her biggest problems is having to keep opening her bowels. Although having avoided the curse of diarrhoea, the frequency of bowel movement is quite something, even in the early hours of the morning, she is woken with the need for the loo.
My friend has decided that at the end of this 3 week period of chemotherapy, she is going to wait until after the scan and seeing the Oncologist, before deciding whether to continue with the Chemotherapy, assuming she is given the option.
She is tired of the discomfort, the travelling, having needles poked into her and the concern that soon they will be unable to find a suitable vein. Each week it becomes increasingly difficult to find a suitable vein for the needle.
Still tomorrow is another day and everything could change.
