I cannot believe it has been five months since I last put fingers to keyboard-(does anyone put pen to paper nowadays?).I apologise if anyone has been hanging on my every word and waiting for updates,but nothing much has been happening,to be honest.
I seemed to be sailing through my second course of chemo,and had a great Christmas and New Year with all the family.
January was January-cold and windy! I started to develop pains in my back whenever I took deep breaths .Being a nurse you automatically self-diagnose."It is just muscular" , I thought,"but I will mention it before I get my next chemo".
My sister gave me a lift in on the morning of my next chemo and spoke to the nurses.They took my observations.Temperature was high,which meant no chemo for me!I was admitted to the assessment unit in the Beatson and was examined from head to foot!I went for chest x-ray,which showed an opacity in my left lung.There were also decreased sounds in my left lung,so I was diagnosed as having a chest infection.I had a venflon inserted-they did not want to use my PICC in case that was the focus of the infection.I was started on IV antibiotics,and moved to a ward.I got a room to myself,which was nice!
My consultant came to see me the following day-nobody had informed him that I had been admitted-my sister happened to mention it to him,as she works beside him! He listened to my chest and said he would like to send me for a special lung scan,as he felt there could be more than an infection in my lung.He said that pelvic disease increases the chance of pulmonary embolism.I had the scan the next day and,sure enough,it showed I had pulmonary embolism,pulmonary infarction,and a super infection.Apart from that I was ok!I was started on daily injections of Heparin,to help break up the clot and was to continue on IV antibiotics as my temperature was still misbehaving.
The following day,the junior doctor came and told me that my blood tests showed that there was something wrong with my liver.She was going to send me for an ultrasound to see what was going on.I went for ultrasound next day,and the result showed no cancer,but a condition called non-alcoholic fatty liver.The doc said that this was probably caused by all of the chemo I had had and it should resolve in time.
Well, my temperature misbehaved for nearly two weeks-I had every blood test  under the sun .Was started on stronger IV antibiotics,had a blood transfusion (God bless blood donors!),and was very well looked after in the ward.The food left a lot to be desired,but I survived!
I was eventually discharged after two weeks,with a supply of injections to be administered by myself every day.I was used to giving other people injections , but had never had to inject myself before.
I let Bill do it for the first few days,but thought I might as well have a go,as he had to work late some nights,and it had to be given at roughly the same time.I managed fine!
I had a couple of weeks off chemo because of the PTE , but started back on it in late February.My hair had really thinned out to the point it looked better if it was cut really short.I got a lovely wig from a shop in Glasgow,but only wore it a couple of times.
Had a lovely Easter with all the family (apart from Richard and Shelley,who are in new York!), and have now completed the course of chemo.I can't say it bothered me too much-had occasional stomach cramps,but was never sick or bedridden because of it.
I had a scan last week (April 15) and am just patiently waiting on the results.I am ready for whatever it shows , but I would really like to get a holiday booked!No doubt the travel insurance will be sky high!