22 October 2013 – Little Niggles (Cancer and Me 26)
I wrote this chapter before knowing the outcome… The point is that when you’ve had cancer, and gone into remission, especially when you’re in remission after a relapse, every little niggle becomes a reason to worry. I’m sure I must have said this before. So for the last few weeks – I can’t remember how…
18 February to 18 April 2013 – Stem Cell Harvest & Maintenance (Cancer and Me 25)
I outlined in an earlier chapter the necessary steps for the stem cell harvest, so I shouldn’t need to go over them in detail again. Look back at that chapter if you need reminding! The cyclophosphomide treatment to prime the stem cells (18 Feb) was pretty uneventful. It took just over half a day. We…
14 February to 22 March 2013 – Hickman Line (Cancer and Me 24)
I may have explained already, but a Hickman line is a tube that is inserted into the chest for a few weeks, so that the nurses can deliver certain drugs more easily. The end of the tube goes into a big vein that sits very close to the heart, and the other end splits into…
13 February 2013 – All clear again, great, but… (Cancer and Me 23)
I feel a little bit guilty. I think I should be happy, but I’m strangely flat. I finished chemo some 5 weeks ago, and in that time I’ve had a CT scan and a bone marrow biopsy, both testing for whether the lymphoma can still be detected or not. The news from the consultant yesterday…
21 January 2013 – Treatment Decisions (Cancer and Me 22)
(NB. This is when I caught up and started writing as things happen, so you will notice the change in style from here onwards. I could periodically re-review and cut bits out with the benefit of hindsight, but actually I think it’s helpful to see how thinking changes and reflections change. What is important one…
15 January 2013 – The Future (Cancer and Me 21)
The bit that’s been difficult getting used to is having a type of cancer that the doctors admit is practically incurable. Obviously being told that treatment was only going to be 6 lots of mild chemo, rather than 4 rounds of strong chemo plus a stem cell transplant involving 2 weeks in isolation, was somewhat…
7 January 2013 – The Second Lot of Chemo (Cancer and Me 20)
R-CVP is almost the same as R-CHOP. The ‘V’ in CVP is Vincristine, which is also the ‘O’ in CHOP, because it’s also called Oncovin. Equally amusing is that the drug that is missing from CVP is the ‘H’, which is Doxorubicin (because it’s also called Hydroxydaunorubicin)! Confusing or what?! The consultant told me that…
12 September 2012 – Change of Diagnosis (Cancer and Me 19)
It had been decided this time around that since I would need a lot of drugs intravenously I would benefit from a PICC line. That is, a ‘peripherally inserted central line’! What that means is that I would have a tube inserted into a vein in my arm, which would then be pushed up the…
28 August 2012 – Much to Take In (Cancer and Me 18)
By the time I had the CT scan and was waiting for the results, to soften the disappointment for the kids, and to fill the time, we had booked other holiday activities. I’d booked Jake and Joe into a Chelsea FC Soccer School (which meant driving them to the Cobham training ground, 45 minutes away)…
1 August 2012 – The Relapse (Cancer and Me 17)
Just over two years after the ‘all clear’, just over one year since returning to work, came a chapter I hoped I wouldn’t have to write. Even after I had been given the news of ‘complete remission’ I was concerned about some residual discomfort in my gut. After several investigations and conversations with doctors, which…