Radiation: Tick!

Hi Friends!

I have just logged onto Blogspot and seen that I've had more than 15 000 page views! Wow- thank you so much to each of you that read my little blog- I feel so blessed.

Here's a little update on what's been going on on my side of the planet:

I finally finished my 4 weeks of radiation but am still feeling the effects of those powerful rays. I have a beautiful tan from my jawline down to just above my ribcage so most people would assume I've been relaxing on some white sandy beach somewhere with a daiquiri in hand! Sadly my white sandy beach was more like a hard plastic board and the sun was one huge laser pointing down at me. The tan is just about the only positive thing to come out of radiation, the rest has been horrendous! I really suffered with the heartburn and raw throat which made even drinking liquids uncomfortable, it has only subsided in the last week or so even though I finished radiation 10 days ago.

 

Goodbye and god riddance Parklands Radiation Department! Woo hoo!

Random creme soda picture? I was sitting in the waiting room about to go in for a session of radiation and I had my hand on my chest because I had such terrible heartburn and a little old lasy said I should try crème soda if I find myself without gaviscon or and eno. BEST ADVICE EVER. Thank you sweet little lady- I owe you.


I'm still really tired but I'm trying to make the most of my days!

 

I spent 3 days with my Mum, Dad, Sister and Brother in Law (and Niece) at Castleburn in the Berg last week

 



I saw Shane, my Oncologist, last week to catch up, show him wedding pictures and discuss my plan going forward. It really eases my mind knowing that I have such a huge support group here to fall back on, they have so much experience with patients and it helps to know that my anxiety and stress in completely normal. Shane is so relaxed and down to earth and the thing that I like about him most is that he genuinely cares about his patients, he never looks at the clock or his watch while you are in his office and he makes sure he leaves no questions unanswered before you leave. People often ask me why I have treatment in Pietermaritzburg when I have treatment in Durban, I always say it's because everyone feels like family at Hopelands, they are compassionate and so interested in each of their patients, you never, ever feel like a number. This makes the world of difference when you are going through something as traumatic as cancer. At the moment Shane says I'm mostly likely in remission although it's difficult to tell, I have to have a bone marrow transplant to stay in remission and hopefully eventually be cured otherwise the cancer will simply return.

Tomorrow I have to have a whole lot of blood tests- 21 tubes in total- this is to check that I'm in good health before being admitted to hospital for my bone marrow transplant. I also have a CT scan booked for Wednesday morning. Gav and I are flying up to Pretoria on Thursday for the day to meet with Dr Brittain, my Haematologist, and the rest of the team at Pretoria East Hospital that will be taking care of me during my transplant. At this point in time we don't really know too much about the transplant in terms of how long I'll be in isolation for or how long my chemotherapy will last for, feeling a bit anxious as I'm really dreading my time in "jail" but eyes on the prize!

xxx