So I went into clinic today not knowing where I was at in the whole chemo schedule. I was waiting on test results to see what would happen next. Scenario one: If my kidneys were still struggling, I would have one more chemo (my fave chemo-at-home), starting today. Scenario two: if my heart AND kidneys…
Tag: nhs
Phlebotomist fights
This morning I had a fight with a phlebotomist. They’re the people who take your blood. So I go down to the blood people on days when I’m starting chemo to get everything tested to see if I’m ok to start. It was a lady I hadn’t seen before. She got everything out to take…
Chemo at home is fun!
Well. Firstly, chemo is go! My platelets were behaving. Still low but behaving. So now I have this amazing 2 days of chemo at home! Super easy, I just carry around my little ‘baby’s bottle’ as they call it, which slowly diffuses into me over 46 hours! It’s like a big strong rubber balloon that…
A day filled with bombshells.
Today was a big day. I met with the surgeon who was 2 hours late to see me… So that was fun. He (and his team) dropped a couple of bombshells. I might not be able to sing after the surgery. Like… Ever. Or at least it might change my voice… I’ll have a scar…
Unfortunately… No going home today.
Most importantly, I can’t thank you all enough for your finger crossing, crossing of various limbs, thoughts, hopes, well wishes. Unfortunately cancer/chemo wins this round and I can’t get home for our planned Christmas lunch /day of cheer tomorrow. I was feeling a bit down about it. But we’ll go to the pub for lunch…
The roller coaster ride that puts me in the ward… then puts me back in the Cotton Rooms the next day… But now we need home tomorrow please!!!
So… This is going to be a bit of a roller coaster. post. This morning kind of went from bad to worse… My hopes to get out tomorrow (Friday) in time for our Christmas lunch on Saturday were slowly to rapidly slipping away from me. And my hopes to get out of the ward and…
Emergency blood transfusions!!!
So I came in this morning for a quick pre-chemo blood test, expecting to be in and out quickly. I wanted to check what my platelets and neutrophils were doing so my friend the Australian nurse Charlie said to hang around and they’d be able to tell me the results in about 20 mins time….
Escape from my incarceration
I’ve been quiet I know. Apologies. Time for an update! Monday I was still in hospital. I had a visit first from two doctors who might have been from ICU… I forget. But one of them lived in Sydney for 3 years, in Manly. Her husband is from Newport, literally just down the hill from…
Things are looking better today.
So I had a visit from the doctor this morning saying they think the infection probably isn’t in my PICC line after all. It’s still a possibility, and I’m still worried about one of the lumens now not working as well. But she apologised for the other doctors barging in all guns blazing yesterday. Yes,…
So… I’ve had a very big day.
Maybe my biggest. I hardly even know how to start. So they’ve been taking blood cultures to see if any bacteria grow, and it turns out in one of the cultures they grew something. They think there’s an infection in my PICC Line, which they told me yesterday they can just give me the antibiotics,…
The Cancer Chronicles 