Andy Burrows

It’s now Tuesday, six days after getting the biopsy result and being told to get ready for intensive treatment for relapsed high grade lymphoma. They said last week they’d confirm the results “in the next few days” and hoped to get on with intensive treatment starting within a matter of days after that. Six days…

One of the things that struck me this time round is how stressful it is telling people the news. In some ways it’s easier telling people who are close to you. I say that hesitantly, though. We told the kids in the evening on the day I got the biopsy result. Originally we had planned…

Only two and a half months ago I was wondering how I would know whether the lymphoma was back. I needn’t have worried. Somehow something led to an investigation, and then a CT scan showed it up. But the news I received two days ago with the results of the biopsy was as much a…

It’s nearly 2 weeks since I got the confirmation that the lymphoma is back. And I’ve only just had the biopsy today. The results will be discussed in a haematology appointment on 10 June. Joe’s got 2 GCSE exams after that, so he will be nearly done. We’ve managed fairly well to keep up the…

I had my post-treatment routine CT scan on 6 May. My follow up appointment was pre-booked for 29th. The predictable thing, which I referred to at the end of the last instalment, was that there would be anxiety, wondering if the scan would show up anything abnormal. But at least beforehand I was telling myself…

Fast forward almost two years… Today is both momentous and mundane. I’ve been spending a day in hospital every two months for the last two years, having Rituximab maintenance treatment. And today it’s the last one. Number 12. As I write I am sat in the chair waiting to be cannulised so that treatment can…

So what was the outcome of the ultrasound scan on my leg and groin? Well, of course, there was nothing there (except a couple of tiny inguinal hernia). So there was a lot of worry about nothing in the end. But Heidi and I had worked ourselves into a state for several reasons. First, other…

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…

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…

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…