A day in the Garden towards the end of July...

Saturday 30th July 2011

I spent a lovely few hours sitting peacefully in my parents garden, sun overhead.

The Honey and the Bumble Bee were busy on the Globe Thistles...literally buzzing from one Thistle to the next!

Goldfinches flew between roof top and lilac tree and back again, noisily chirruping their melodic song. Swifts flew high up in the sky darting like fighter planes in large groups.

Frogs took shelter in the cool of the undergrowth and pot plants.

The garden was full of life and I was grateful because so am I...

Thirty years too early!

I met the Oncologist on Tuesday, Dr Falks. Renowned in his field as one of the best. He told me I was 30 years too early to be sat in his office with Bowel Cancer and did I have this in the family? "No" I said,"No one I am aware of has had this on either side of my bloodline...It's just randomly chosen me".

I will start my chemo in about a months time, once I've had time to heal. Im going to do a clinical trial which will give me closer monitoring...I want that. I want to be watched like a hawk. It will put my mind at rest that they check me for the next 7 years to see if this evil has invaded once again.
My chemo will be every 2 weeks for 48hrs, administered through a Pic line (IV) and pumped slowly over this period of time. I will go to the Oncology every week for either 3 months or 6 months depending on which category the computer decides to put me into.

The side affects may be mild or may be severe. We will not know until I start and that scares me more than I can explain. I am such a scardey cat...

Time to clear the muddy footprints left behind...

My operation to remove the cancerous tumour and bowel it lived in was a success and on day 5 I returned home. I knew I would receive the results of the pathologists report on Friday 15th July, another Friday with news to be had!

Mia rang as promised with the  results; From  the 19 lymph nodes removed along with tumour and part bowel, two of them were infected by cancer cells, as were the blood vessells. Both the nodes and blood vessells infected were close to the tumour the further 17 were clear.
 So now I will embark on the next part of my journey. Meeting my oncologist in the next two weeks to discuss the treatment plan.

This will be 6 months of chemo on a Scotts trial with a line in for IV administration of the drug. Im talking a foreign language here so excuse me if its muddled! :/ Within the next 8 weeks once I've healed and got my strength back, I will start the chemo. The tumour was given a stage 3 status  due to node involvement. I have cried this afternoon I have to admit even though I expected to have follow up treatment. I felt as if this last week since the tumour was removed I no longer had cancer and now with this news of cells present and chemo to follow I still do...

However, I know that this follow up treatment is life saving and that I have been very lucky in catching this and being able to have it removed and that it has not Matastised. So onwards and upwards the battle to continue - phase 2.

Lets clear the muddy footprints it has left behind and ensure my inards are clean and sparkly very soon!

Not long to go...

Yesterday was another step forward to getting well. I met my surgeon and specialist nurse and they were so confident and made it clear just what the procedure would involve. A Right Hemi- colonectomy. Friday 8th July 2011 I go in. Another Friday!

 This will be the third defining Friday in as many weeks...

I am feeling naturally apprehensive and a bit anxious about the physical aspect of the operation. It is a big operation, however mentally I cannot wait to have this tumour removed.

I guess my next blog will be when I'm back home and how it all went. I'm trying to stay calm and thinking of the evening I stood on a beach in Dubai and watched this beautiful Sun set.

Im on an Enhanced Recovery Programme and will do everything to ensure I do!

Wish me luck and say a little prayer if you feel too...

Euphoria for the day! Fri 1st July 2011

 Friday 1st July 2011 was a defining date. A beautiful sunny day with blue sky and a warm breeze. I could not see the sun and I did not feel the warm breeze. The morning was spent in a surreal blurr. We took my beloved Meg for a walk along the river and through fields of sheep to the Church in Publow. We have done this walk many times but on Friday it looked different.

Once back at home all we could do was wait for 2pm and the call from the Specialist Colon Nurse. A watched clock ticks so very slowly. I cannot put into words the intense fear that had gripped us both by now - the darkest hours I have spent to date. Praying the news would be good and dreading that we would hear the worst.

Finally the call and Mia said immediately without hesitation - "It's good news!" Never have those three little words sounded so fantastic! We cried instantly before Mia even had a chance to explain further.

It hadn't spread, they could operate and take the tumour out...

We cried for quite a while and then the rush to tell loved ones the 'good news'!

We were all euphoric that eve but we all knew this was just the first hurdle...my journey was only just beginning. The battle had not even started...