throatcancertreatmentblog.co.uk

Hi Blog Readers All,

Just back from the Oncology Clinic at hospital with better news than I could ever have expected.

No more chemo and what’s more no radiotherapy. The PET scan shows that there is no sign anywhere in my body of any cancer – so I’m in remission. The team felt that as the chemo appears to have done a thorough job there was no point in putting me through the unnecessary discomforts and side-effects of radiotherapy.

So now we’re looking for a short holiday somewhere not too far away.  I have to return to hospital next week to have the line removed from my chest and then another check-up at the Clinic in a month’s time.

Tonight we’re off for a celebration meal and a glass of something tasty.

Loads of thanks to everyone who’s taken the trouble to read my ramblings – thanks for all the good wishes and prayers, thanks for all the cards – by using the hearth in front of the fire (no fire in it yet) and standing them three and four deep and stretching from one side of the room to the other, we managed to display them all!

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

and much love  Gil & Brenda  (Brenda’s the one who needs the medal).

Tuesday 25th October  Yesterday, Monday, was the day of early rising – nil-by-mouth (except water) and the PET scan.

Many people I’ve met have heard of PET scans but are unsure of exactly what they are so after I tell you my story of yesterday’s experience – I’ll give you a heads up/ run down on Pet Scans.

I arrived at the hospital a little early and located the units with the scanner etc., in one of the car parks – it isn’t there permanently but moves around from hospital to hospital. It was made up of two huge units that were linked together sideways. There is a flight of steps to take you up to their floor level some 4-5 feet off the ground. I was greeted at the door of one of the units, asked my name and directed to the unit opposite which housed the interview room and as I found out later also the W.C./washroom.  It wasn’t long before another member of the staff came along with a list of questions that seemed to go on for ages. Presumably happy with my answers and with my signatures of agreement to the procedure about to take place which appeared to absolve everyone else on earth from being blamed if anything  went wrong, I was ushered across to the other unit which had four areas – 1)The explanation room where you are informed in detail about what will happen and asked if you have any questions. This is also where a canula is inserted into a vein in your arm (not at all painful) ready for the radio-active substance will be injected for the scan. 2) The ‘flight deck’ (my name for it) where two or three operators sit at computers which presumably control and record the scanner and resulting scans. 3) The corridor where you are injected, the canula removed and where you now sit (no talking- honestly) for an hour for the substance to find its way around every part of your body. I had a good book to read so the time passed fairly quickly. It was now almost time for your scan but before hand you are escorted back to the other unit once more to the bathroom to empty your bladder. 4) is the scanner room where you remove your coat, take off your watch and empty your pockets into a small basket beside the scanner. You then lie down full length on the bed/platform, you have something under your head and I was covered with “modesty” blanket and then asked to drop my trousers below my knees. There was also something  placed under my knees to lift them up. In case you’re wondering I was perfectly comfortable. I was then told to keep very still for twenty minutes while the scan took place. Ididn’t find it claustrophobic as there is a reasonable amount of space around you, the room is well lit and you pass through what I have heard referred to as the ‘Doughnut Ring’ and out the other side while your lower body is being scanned. Once completed you are told “O.K. that’s all just pick up your things get dressed and you can go on your way.”

PET Scanner

A positive emission tomography (PET) scan is used to produce a detailed, three-dimensional picture of the inside of the body. The images clearly show the part of the body that is being investigated and can also highlight how effectively certain functions of the body are working.

What are PET scans used for?

PET scans are most commonly used to help diagnose a range of different cancers and work out the best ways of treating them. The information provided by a PET scan can show how far a cancer has spread or how well it is responding to treatment.

PET scans are occasionally used to help plan complex heart surgery, such as a heart transplant. They are also used to help diagnose a number of conditions that affect the normal workings of the brain (neurological conditions), such as dementia.

Read more about why you might need a PET scan .

How it works

Before the scan takes place, a radioactive substance, known as a radiotracer, will be passed into your body either by injection, through an inhaler, or in the form of a small tablet or capsule that you swallow.

The tracer gives off particles called positrons that release a type of radiation known as gamma waves, which can be detected by the PET scanner.

By tracking the movement of the tracer, the scanner can build up a detailed image of a number of the body’s functions as well as highlighting areas of the body that have been affected by disease.

Read more about how PET scans work.

You will need to lie on a flat bed which will move you through a large circular scanner. 

So, there you are now you know as much as I do!  All gleaned from an NHS website.

Friday 21^st October – It is quite possible that today’s blood test could be the last, which turned out to be fine by the way.  My Hitchman Line refused to produce blood easily or quickly and as I had the nurse with less patience, it was a question of the needle in the arm. Not only that but I had done ten minutes on the excercise bike as well! If this is the last blood test then the line will have to be removed which in one way will be good but that thought of having it removed literally makes my toes curl. I don’t know why it’s just me I guess.

Fortunately, one of the two specialist oncology nurses assigned to my case was in the haematology dept. at the same time as I was having my blood test so I was able to buttonhole her to ask a few questions. I was able to ask whether I was likely to have any more chemo treatment. “No,” she said, “It’s not likely but not impossible, you had the short course, although it might not have seemed like it to you and subject to the results of the PET scan you’re having on Monday then I would should think you’ll go on to Radiotherapy. We shall be able to tell you aeverything when you come to the clinic on Wednesday.”

I told her that when people ask me about what a PET scan is, I tell them you have to take a cat or a dog with you. She then told me a true story of a patient who received a ‘phone call from the people who arrange the scan (I should explain that the call comes direct from them and not from the hospital also they are not a part of the National Health Service) when they told this poor lady that they were arranging her PET scan she told them that she didn’t have any pets and put the ‘phone down!

I’ll let you know more on or after Monday and Wednesday.

Wednesday 19^th October  A trip to hospital yesterday for yet another blood test and bearing in mind what a pain my line was last Friday by not wanting to let any of my blood flow, I thought  I could try exercise.  It was simple really, we have an aerobic exercise bike – that means you have handlebars that have to be moved backwards and forwards as well as pedalling and I thought this might get stuff moving in the chest area. Ten minutes was enough, I had turned up the ‘effort’ needed so that it wasn’t too easy and in my present poor state of fitness ten minutes was enough.

Worth it though, because the blood flowed quickly and easily to much to my relief and that of the nurse. I’ll try the same technique on Friday. Yes, although my blood test showed everything going well and me expecting them to say ‘ Don’t worry about coming back Friday’ – it wasn’t to be even though I’m not neutropaenic any more they said that could be due to the injections I’ve been having and it could swing back in the opposite direction.  Let’s hope not.

Looking forward to the visit of a very old friend tomorrow who I don’t get to see very often now as he’s been living in France for the last twenty years. Good thing  is though he’s moved from the South  to Boulogne so once I’ve got back to normal it’s an easy day trip for us by tunnel or ferry.

 Well, there isn’t a lot to report on here today so I thought it would be fun to forward this email from a friend in Australia – it is hospital related after all!

From Actual writings on a Mpumalanga (originally part of Transvaal, South Africa) hospital chart.
1.  She has no rigors or shaking chills,  but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night.

2.  Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year

3.  On the second day the knee was better,  and on the third day it disappeared.

4.  The patient is tearful and crying constantly.  She also appears to be depressed.

5.  The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993.

6.  Discharge status:  Alive but without my permission.

7.  Healthy appearing decrepit 69 year old male,  mentally alert but forgetful.

8.  The patient refused autopsy.

9.  The patient has no previous history of suicides.

10. Patient has left white blood cells at another hospital

11.  Patient’s medical history has been remarkably insignificant with only a 40 pound weight gain in the last 3 days.

12.  Patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch.

13.  She is numb from her toes down.

14.  While in ER,  she was examined,  x rated and sent home.

15.  The skin was moist and dry.

16.  Occasional,  constant infrequent headaches.

17.  Patient was alert and unresponsive.

18.  Rectal examination revealed a normal size thyroid.

19.  She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life,  until she got a divorce.

20.  I saw your patient today,  who is still under our car for physical therapy.

21.  Both breasts are equal and reactive to light and accomodation.

22.  Examination of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized.

23.  The lab test indicated abnormal lover function.

Thursday 13^th October  It really is lovely to be able to be at home and enjoy the peace and quiet, the only interruption being the district nurse’s visit for the stab in the tum.  I’m still amazed by the service that they provide, it’s only at this stage of life that you get to appreciate just what is accomplished by the National Health Service.

Friday 14^th October  Off to hospital for yet another blood test at 11.00 a.m.  The haematology ward where I go is almost always very busy with people having chemo drips and blood transfusions or, like me, just there for a blood test.  Today my line stubbornly refused to allow any of my blood to pass through.  We tried all the usual tricks of waving arms around standing up lying down this side then that plus massaging the chest where the line enters the body and flushing both lines with something or other which is supposed to help.  I told the nurse to be patient and that there would be a result eventually but no, she decided she’d fiddled around long enough and took the blood from my arm.  Another older nurse said she’d like to try a few things and it really looked like a ‘no go’ when for no apparent reason one of the lines worked perfectly – so my “be patient” plea was correct – on the other hand they have a lot of people to deal with and are pressed for time.

Fortunately, the test was good and as expected in that the blood count was moving up in the right direction.  This had the result that in addition to the stomach injection they had given me today I only have to have one more from the district nurse tomorrow before the next visit for a blood test on Tuesday. It is expected that by then the count will have recovered to almost normal so no more injections, I trust.

Saturday 15^th October  Another quiet day with lovely Autumn sunshine – still lying down several times to ease the headaches which still persist but also helping in the garden by sawing up some of the branches that have been pruned and picking all the apples that we could reach with the apple picker ( a bag on the end of a long extending pole) it worked very well and we dropped only a few apples. Now to wrap them up for storing – they are cookers and keep well to the end of February. Dist. Nurse came and did her stuff.

Tuesday 11^th October.  Off to hospital today for blood test. My line was having a day when it didn’t want to play (give blood); tried waving arms, turning head this way and that, standing up, sitting down, lying down, coughing and massaging area where it goes under the skin.  After about twenty minutes it worked and produced the 3 or 4 phials in seconds.  My specialist nurse was on the out-patient ward today talking to various patients so I was able to claim her attention for a few minutes to ask a few questions.  The answers were that there was still a possibility that I may have to have one more chemo session in hospital and that I will be given the details on the 26^th of the month after I’ve had a PET scan two days before. That’s when I’ll also discover details of radiotherapy if there isn’t any more chemo. Something that had been bothering me since I left hospital last week is the blinding headaches so I was able to ask about them. After asking a few questions she quickly diagnosed the cause. It was the lumbar puncture (intrathecal – chemo injection into the spine). Although I’ve had two previously with no problems this is one of the known side – effects.  The nurse told me to lie down for 24hours!  I have to admit I have found that difficult. I lie on a sofa in the sitting room and listen to Radio 4 and some of my favourite CD’s but I feel as though I should be doing something, like keeping the blog up-to-date. There is no doubt that the headache goes away but as I haven’t managed 24 hours yet it always comes back. 

The blood test results were back in half an hour and my Neutrophils had dropped drastically so that I needed to re-start the stomach injections and we’d forgotten to take the stuff with us.  On returning home we ‘phoned the District Nurse H.Q. and left a message for someone to call this afternoon if possible (it was already 1.30 p.m.). Having left a message we weren’t too sure whether they would pick it up so contacted the local GP surgery to see if the practice nurse could do the job. Yes, no problem and an appointment was made for 3.30.  Not long after putting the ‘phone down there was someone at the door – two district nurses!  A nurse I had seen before and a younger girl learning her vocation.  Would I let her give me the injection, I was asked?  O.K. I said hesitantly, as long as I can hold a very heavy book over her head so that if she hurt me I could drop it!  I have to say I didn’t feel a thing.

Wednesday 12^th October.  Still the blinding headaches so there has been a lot of lying down again today. However, I did recover enough before lunch to cut the side lawn which was becoming a bit overgrown and Brenda had managed to do the big lawn yesterday. I am free of headache at this moment in time after a few hours lying down since lunch.

Sunday 2^nd October  Doctors’ round today, they tell me that it’s now timed for me to leave on Thursday and that I’ve been booked for a clinic (when they will tell me what’s to happen next re Radiotherapy etc.,) at the end of this month and in the meantime I will be given more info regarding scans etc,.

Monday 3^rd October  Apart from an aggravating delay in setting up the follow-on chemo it’s been a good day with a visit from an old friend who always keeps me chuckling. Another old friend from my photography side ‘phoned to report on our annual get together at Banbury in the centre of the country. The meeting is called the BOF’S – which we tell those who ask stands for Best of Friends – we all know that it really means Boring Old Farts – we were all pushed aside about 11/12 years ago when a new “regime” took over the management of our professional body (British Institute of Professional Photography – BIPP, for short) and decided that we were all too long in the tooth. Truth to tell they were afraid of our ‘power’ as the Admissions and Qualifications Board as we decided who were to become members and judged the work for Licentiateship, Associateship and Fellowship – it was an excellent system and maintained the high standards our professional body deserved.  Incidentally, many of us have heard since that disbanding us was the worst thing they had ever done. Anyway, I was sorry to miss the Banbury meeting as it sounds as though it was a good ‘do’.

Tuesday 4^th October  Doctors’ round today say maybe I can go home tomorrow! I said that I thought my Intrathecal (spinal injection) had been booked for Thursday, to which I was informed “Don’t worry, we can fix that.”  The nurse who was in the room and overheard this said “It’ll be Thursday, believe me.” So there we are, as usual we just have to wait and see. A maintenance man came into the ward as he does every day and turns all the taps on full on the washbasin in the ward as well as the washbasin and shower in the bathroom and leaves them running.  A medical assistant comes into the ward to talk to the other patient and turns off the taps. I explain that the maintenance man comes in and does that every day to check for Legionaires’ Disease. The medical assistant had never heard of this!  I must say that the cleaning regime on this ward is excellent.

Wonders never cease! Now I’m told that I will be going home tomorrow – providing I’m still O.K. after the usual test and if the intrathecal goes well – I should be home by 7’ish. Today looks like being the last day of the excellent weather we’ve been having for the last week or so – shame to have missed it but I have been able to watch over the city from my 10^th floor ‘penthouse suite’ because of the flat terrain, I can see for miles.

Brenda arrived after attending the funeral of a long-time photographer friend (Philip Way) in North London this morning and brought good wishes from the many of our friends that were there together with a giant ‘Get Well’ card from the Bof’s meeting at Banbury. In situations such as this it makes on e realise that because of your profession, your clubs – with me Rotary International and Freemasonry, just how many friends you have all over the world. I feel very blessed to so many wonderful friends and family who care – the care and concern of the grandchildren is especially touching.  Anyway, I feel fighting fit just now so watch out!

Wednesday 5th October  So, here we go with what may well be the last day as an in-patient. Woke at 5.30 this morning, snoozed ‘til 6.15 and the had the usual checks and donation to the blood-sucker – my line fortunately flowing well.  Around 8.45another nurse came for more blood needed for (I guess) different tests before my spinal injection at around 4.00 p.m.

The chemo going through at the moment is due to finish around 1.00 p.m. followed by a flush and then another bag of ‘jollop’ – sorry don’t know what that one is or what it’s for. With any luck everything should be finished by about 2.30 which leaves plenty of time for my 4.00 p.m. appointment with the ‘needle lady’.

Just as an aside, as a one-time press man I noted an interesting expression on the radio just now. “If you haven’t got anything good to say about a person … let’s hear it!”

2.15 All checks again, everything O.K.  2.35 An extremely attractive young lady doctor came to check me over and make sure that I know what’s happening re medication at home, District nurse visits and blood test twice a week at the hospital.  2.45  Wasn’t quite finished another flush drip for ten minutes.  There followed a frustrating hour and a half while I waited to be taken to the isolation ward where I have the injection –the doctor who was to do the procedure was with a new admission patient and was tied up with that.  The trouble is that there is a time-limit for this to go ahead, apparently it can’t be done after 5.00 p.m. I haven’t exactly found out why. The injection was made at 4.45p.m. and then a total rest, lying down for an hour afterwards.  There is always a wait for the discharge paperwork plus a discussion with the pharmacist regarding the ‘take home’ medication.  There was a delay with the buses going to the Park & Ride so we eventually arrived home (bliss!) at 7.55 p.m.

Thursday 6^th October  The first day home always seems to go by in a flash.  We went into town to deal with the bank and do a bit of shopping. Got two large tins of Quality Street to give to the staff with thank you cards for the two wards on which I’ve been cared for. I’m back for blood tests tomorrow so can deliver them then.

Friday 7^th October  Very  strange occurrence overnight. I got out of bed around 2 o’clock to go for a ‘wee’. Eventually found the bedroom door but thought I was still in hospital as I got into the hallway I was sure there were curtains, as you get in a ward, either side of me but I couldn’t find the bathroom. By now I was getting desperate but noticed an outside door (we have a door that leads onto the balcony at the back of the house) thank goodness, I thought I shall just have to pee outside but the door was locked.  I retraced my steps and decided to try another direction. Success! I had found a room that was very strangely (I thought) exactly like the en-suite shower room that we have in our bedroom at home. Mission accomplished, returned to bed – weird!

To hospital later on for a blood test taking the syringe with me, so that the nurse at the haematology unit can inject me. There is a dose with a syringe for each day kept in the fridge at home for the district nurse so on a hospital day I take it to hospital in a wine cooler. On arrival I reminded the nurse that I had the syringe with me for her to use, she said she would wait for the blood test result first. It was one of those days when instead of getting the blood test result in a half to three quarters of an hour it took an hour and a quarter. On top of that the nurse said that they wanted a decision from a doctor because one of the readings was high. Finding a doctor to give an opinion took another hour and a half, it was then decided that I definitely didn’t need the injection and I was to call the district nurse when I returned home to tell them not to come until further notice.

Saturday 8^th October  Another weird night experience – this time I tried to find a door, presumably to the bathroom, at either end of the window which overlooks the garden. I have no idea why but this time I just gave up and took the correct route to the bathroom. It was a quiet day at home today, resting.  I have been very lucky concerning side-effects because I just haven’t had any. However since this last chemo session I’ve been getting quite nasty headaches, sometimes when I wake up or at odd times during the day, there seems to be nothing in particular that sparks them off.  The best course of action appears to be to lie down for about half an hour and it lessens even if it doesn’t disappear altogether. I try not to take Paracetamol  although that will do the trick, it’s just that I feel I’m taking enough pills already – about twenty a day!

Sunday 9^th October  A quiet day again, dear friends came to visit in the afternoon and stayed for tea and cakes. We had a good natter and more than a few laughs about our experiences as portrait photographers.  He has experienced radiotherapy himself so I was able to ask some of the queries I had and get answers from the horse’s mouth as it were.

Monday 10^th October  Today was the day to catch up with my blog, which I have now done and have vowed to myself not to let it get so far behind again.  In the afternoon Brenda and I went to a village garden centre where it is a proper nursery – meaning that everything on sale is what they have grown themselves from tiny plants to large trees. It is set in acres of rolling lawns with large ponds and some modern sculpture dotted around. One of us was attracted by the fact that at this time of the year, each year, all plants are half price. Of course we came home with more stuff for the garden.

I can smell a chicken curry being prepared so I’ll close for now and let you know what happens at tomorrow’s blood test.

Wednesday 28^th September:  Fairly good night, temperature jumped up at one stage but came back down again without paracetamol or anything else.  Had breakfast, went for a shower and changed into daytime clothes. Sat in the chair by the window for a few minutes and then got up to walk around the bed to the cupboard on the other side and immediately felt giddy/dizzy – sat on the bed and called for a nurse to check my blood pressure, she did as asked and told me it’s very low. It was half my ‘normal’ rate of 120 over 80 at 80 over 50!

Within minutes I had a doctor and three nurses round the bed setting up a drip to get more fluid into my body as quickly as possible. My heart rate was being monitored continuously and then an ECG machine was set up and temperature was being checked frequently. I was laying down the whole time and although I was feeling quite hot one of the nurses told me that my body felt very cold.  The good thing is that within thirty minutes much to everyone’s apparent amazement everything had returned to normal.

I was told that by having a shower and getting dressed I had probably over-exerted myself and then got up from my chair too quickly. I was then asked a series of questions:-

Did I notice anything strange with my eyes?

Did I see anything unusual during the giddy spell?

Did I feel out of breath?

Did I feel I might fall over?

Did I feel hot?

Did I feel cold?

Did I have a headache?    And so on.

I carried on lying down for an hour or so and then stayed that way for a few more.

Thursday 29^th September:   Apart from the usual 2.30 a.m. checks, I slept well until being woken at 5.30 a.m. by one of my lovely nurses. I won’t give her name to save her blushes but she knows who she is. She told me that she had been reading up at bit about difficult lines that don’t want to let the blood flow and she would like to inject something into my line and leave it there for a couple of hours to see if that would make the blood flow.

07.15 Eureka! It worked, the blood flowed immediately – clever girl!

Friday 30^th September:  Woke at 6.00am; at around 6.30 when the usual checks were taken the nurse told me that they were starting the process for chemo today – good news!  Blood flowed well and I was hooked up on a saline drip, followed by Rituximab drip for a few hours and that followed up by a flush through the line I think, and then an antibiotic and a final flush.

I was told earlier in the day that I was moving wards today, something to do with having the correctly qualified nurses in the right place on the right days.  I was also told early on that the other ward was ready for me, but that they need to complete the Rituximab before I could be moved.  I asked at lunchtime if I was going soon, but now no-one knows when it might happen.  Brenda arrived at 3.30 and we were again told i would be going “soon”.  After about 1½ hours we had a message that the other ward was ready and that they would send someone down in ten minutes to collect me – 45 minutes later, they came!

The best part of the day, Brenda and I had prearranged as there is a highly recommended fish & chip shop nearby – not only that but Brenda brought a small bottle of Merlot; definitely the best meal I’ve had since I’ve been in hospital, good food, good wine – and the best friend in the world for company.

Saturday 1^st October:  Had a good night, woke at 5.00am – another lovely day at 6.30, Radio says it could be the UK’s hottest October day since 1985, centred on Cambridge!

Connected to saline drip before 8.00, and now chemo is about to be set up already.  8.40 set up – great.

Another strange thing – my shoulder/arm pain has almost disappeared, and the arm has returned to virtually full use, and my appetite seems to have returned – I’ve put on 4lbs!!

Thurs. 22 Sept: To hospital for blood test  – everything seems to be fine.  Quiet afternoon and evening at home.

Fri 23 Sept: Spoke too soon! Although I didn’t feel particularly hot, my temperature this morning was 38°C (100°F).  Following hospital instructions,  I waited an hour and took my temperature again, and it had gone up to 38.1° so I phoned the hospital and they told me to get in ASAP.  I found my temperature was moving up .1° every half-hour  – in fact the first the first temps taken showed 38.7 and 39.4!

Sat 24 Sept: Still monitoring temperature – going up & down from 39.2° to 37.2° during the day.  It seems that Paracetamol is effective in reducing it, as well as reducing the strange pain in my upper arm.  I was told that they would x-ray my arm today – but no thing as yet (at 6.30 pm)

Sun 25 Sept: Quite a good night’s sleep; scared the hell out of the Asian nurse when she woke me in the night – probably she’d just touched me but I jumped about a foot off the bed!  This morning I was told that I would be having a transfusion of one unit of blood, as my haemoglobin level is a bit low, so thanks to blood donors of which I was one in my 20’s & 30’s.   After the blood came the antibiotic in a drip for another 2 hours.

The lunch menu came round with three choices – cod & potatoes, mushroom & nut bake, and roast beef, Yorkshire pudding & all the trimmings.  From my previous experiences, I decided to give the roast beef a miss, simply because it’s one of my favourite meals and my memory of this traditional dish could well be tarnished forever!  So I chose the veggie dish of mushroom & nut bake – one forkful was enough, and the rest was returned.

I believe it was the late Gilbert Harding (quizmaster) who, when working as a ship’s steward on a particularly choppy voyage, approached an elderly gent sitting outside on deck with a bowl of porridge, inquired “Excuse me Sir, but are you eating that, or have you?”

Had the x-ray taken of my upper arm/shoulder at last, although I find it hard to believe it will actually show anything; whatever it is, it’s bloody painful.

Mon 26 Sept: Overnight temp. (at 2.00am) was 38.8° – but I felt fine;  awoke at 6.30, ringing wet with sweat, but with temp on only 36.2°.  Asked nurse if there was anywhere I could dry my soaking bedtime PJ’s, but was told there was nowhere suitable, so once the sun was up and hitting my window, I hung them out there from the window sill – bet that’s never been done before!

Had a drip/anti-biotic on for 2 hours, and then freedom for a while.  Bad news when “my” doctor came round, as he told me that the anti-infection treatment I am on is not for just 72 hours as I had been told, but 7 days!  This takes me up to the day that I would have  my next clinic assessment with the doctor, before commencing the next lot of chemo.  So he says they will keep me in here until then, and then start the 6-7 day chemo treatment.  They seem to be unsure of the cause of the infection, but suspect it to be the central line and that I may have to have a new line inserted.  2.30pm temp. was 37.9°, so at least it stayed below the 38° warning level!

As I’m free of any connective tubes for a while, nurse tells me I can go for a wander, and tells me where I can find the Jubilee Garden; Nice little oasis in the middle of the hospital buildings, so Brenda and I sat in the sunshine and walked around for an hour – great to get outside while the weather’s this good.