Rugby Saved My Life - So my team mate claims anyway ....

So after the wait for the CT scan results, the happiness and the jubilation that I've been told no more treatment. The focus is on getting back to normal life. I've spent the weekend with Cubs and Scouts at their camps and Nat is away having a well deserved few days away. I'm knackered !  Had a couple of late nights and on top of everything else this weekend, I think it was a bit much.  I'm OK, just need some more zzzzzz time !  Couple of early night needed me thinks ! My hair has started to grow back, maybe the grey ones come back first ......... either that or it might be a reason for the "just for men" hair dye ! We shall see ! The cold that has been lurking for weeks has finally done one !  About bloody time ! Went to the office today and has a good catch up there but was reminded that I still need to take it easy and be sensible.  Which I am and will continue to do so for the next few months.

Funnily enough - I woke up early this morning. Today is the day we visit clinic and we will find out the results of the CT scan. So we got to the Marsden early, had bloods taken and had the traditional breakfast in the canteen. So - 10am comes around quickly - and we meet with one of the Doctors - Ironically - the same Doctor who told us what Chemo I would need at the beginning. He was quick to the point.  "Hi - it's good news" I switched off at that point. I almost burst with happiness.  You know when you are happy and you get that daft grin - yep that. After lots of questions from me and Nat - the summary is : The Chemo has reduced the tumour in the lymph node sufficiently that they can't see it anymore,  The tumour markers in my blood are normal.  Therefore - as far as they are concerned - it's gone. I will be checked every 2 months for the first year for tumour markers and I will have another CT scan in 6 months. Happy doesn't come close to h

So - now is the time of waiting.  The scan is done and the doctors are meeting today, where they will review my case.  I've not heard anything so far since the scan, so there is clearly nothing new wrong from the CT scan. So I have to wait until Friday to find out what's next for me. Honestly - it's painful if I think about it.  So I'm not thinking about it !!!  Plenty to be getting on with.  Work is busy, so burying myself in that - as I am feeling like me again.  Remains of the cold still exist but it's gradually easing off -  but I'm not tired during the day as before and not feeling the need to go to bed at 9pm either ! The support of everyone through this so far has been amazing. The support from Nat, my Boys and Family has been incredible. Let's hope Friday brings the news we all want to hear. Thinking positive, being confident - quietly confident.  Let's see what Friday brings x

The hottest day of the year and officially my final day of round 3.   It's also the day I'm booked in for my CT scan.  The scan that will be checked by the medical team to see if the chemotherapy has done it's job. So made myself busy with work until I had to head off for the scan late afternoon.  Roasting hot day, I headed up to The Marsden and checked into the CT waiting room. Was met by a nurse who made sure I was ready for the scan - that's when I was reminded, I would need a cannula - as I'd have a dye added during the scan.  Oh well - been a week since I've had one ! So - once that was in - I was taken down to the scanning room.  Was then told that the dye would also make me want to pee and would make me feel hot. Oh good - perfect day for it ! Anyway - dye in, Scan done and cannula out.  It was all over in a matter of minutes.  So now just the wait until I meet the doctors on Friday for my clinic appointment and the results. So I head home and

So a roundup of the the end of the week. Friday - I worked all day as normal - still from home as I am full of cold still.  All in all, I'm feeling good. Saturday - Up and ready to watch the Lions on TV.  Nige popped in for the first half and a catch up, then spent the rest of the morning getting ready for camp next weekend.  Spent the afternoon getting equipment out at the HQ for camp.  Looking good to go - can't wait for camp - it will be me - being normal - not "normal" anymore. Yes - being careful not to over do it ! Sunday was Fathers Day - so as in tradition - we like to "do something different" So we went on a day trip to France.  Up at 5.30am and on the road early to get the 8.30 Ferry from Calais.  Croissants and coffee of the ferry and before you know it, we arrive it Calais.   A quick drive to Auchan (Supermarket) as France have it right still - shops close on a Sunday and only s few are open until lunchtime.  We pickup a picnic and he

I'm feeling normal - exactly as I did last round. Just a bit tired, but all in all - functioning as normal.   I still have this bloody cold but think it's nearing the end. Might have to have a curry to smash it once and for all ! Looking forward to the scan next week.

So today is the day - the final dose of chemo !  Although the round doesn't technically end until next Monday, for me - today is a landmark. I dropped the Boys at school and headed up to The Marsden.  Had my bloods taken as normal along with my obs and then returned home to await the call for me to go back in once the blood results are back and my chemo has been approved. Busy day with work - in between trying to sell my old car which is slowly starting to die. I knows it's being sold, so is being a complete git and now doesn't want to work at all !   Got the call to head back for chemo late afternoon. It was like a pit stop.  Cannula in, drugs in, cannula out.   BOOM - chemo done.   Didn't really get a chance to catchup with Gethyn. We both have scans over the next week, mine is on Monday 19th.  We both will find out the results in clinic on 23rd - roll on next week ! Fingers Crossed ! So until then - drink loads - water for now - and now the chemo is done

Feeling "Normal" again today - which is how I hope to feel from here on in. Still not much beard growth going on but shaved off what was there - maybe in a hope it will get something growing again soon !  Hair is starting to grow back on my head - just waiting to see what colour it is and if it's curly.  Hoping to avoid the afro look ! Dentist the morning, so planned to drive there - however - my car decided that was a daft idea and refused to start for me, so I cycled to Worcester Park and back.  First time on my bike since before the operation in March.  Comfort - that was fine - however - man I'm unfit !  Pleased I did it, but need to start on some gradual rides to get me ready for the new season. Spent the remainder of the day working as normal and functioned as "normal".  Plenty of fluids tonight as tomorrow they need to find that vein for the last cannula for chemo.

So - it's going to be a short update. The weekend is here - I still have a bit of a cold - but apart from that - I'm feeling completely normal. So the weekend has mostly been taken up by cutting the grass - then having a kip as it was hard work ! Hosting a BBQ  for friends - managed a couple of beers - but ended up on a cup of tea about 9pm.   Surely my beer tolerance must increase at some point !! Sunday morning was spent at the Scouts HQ - the Exec team had organised a cleanup morning.  My contribution was hedge trimming - for a bit anyway - as my arms started to ache as I was using muscles I hadn't used for a while !  Anyway - it looked good afterwards ! The remainder of Sunday was doing bits at home and then a family dinner - then watched the F1. Looking forward to this week.  Last chemo on Tuesday !

At Last !  "Normal" has arrived ! Feeling good this morning. Minimal aches, still got a bit of the chemo cold going on but hoping that will bugger off over the next day or so. Walked Ollie to school with Nat this morning and made a pit stop at the cafe on the way home. Just happy to be feeling back towards normal again. Spent the day working and no requirement for a doze during the day, so another sign I'm returning to normal. Had my jab again - also discovered why it's stinging each time - meant to remove from the fridge 30 mins before I have it !  Oh well - better late than never to find that out ! Only 2 days of jabs left. The usual ferrying the Boys around after school to Footsal for Ollie and Scouts for Lewis and looking forward to a relatively quiet weekend. Cheers All !

So the default aches are still there but starting to ease off at last.  Felt fine when I woke up and got myself sorted for the day and walked Ollie to school. From school - I walked to the polling station to cast my vote and then made it home.  Knackered !  First walk of this round - and it has done me in.  However - it was needed - as was the nap that followed shortly after I walked in the door ! Today is a day of meetings (on the phone), so I can work my day around these.  My general feeling is I am returning to my "normal" zone.  Still aware that my energy levels are low and need to gradually work on building these over the next few weeks.  Same as before - one day at a time and see how it goes.   Popped over to Steve to have my jab, only 3 more to go ! After work, Lewis had climbing, so dropped him off there and then headed to Walton Firs campsite to do a site visit with Rich for a forthcoming camp. Helping him work out what his plans are going to be for the w

So I wake up this morning early - the default urge to pee still exists but I'm awake, I'm feeling good and ready for the day.  Maybe I'm looking forward to a bacon sarnie and some rugby and escaping the house ? So - get up, ready and leave - well after borrowing some jump leads again - bloody car !  Thanks Colin !  I head over to Claygate - where I meet Jason and Nige and a couple of other local chaps.  Bacon sarnies, tea, some good chat and some bloody awful Lions rugby. It was good to get out anyway but a great bunch of lads to meet up with.  But - it was time to head back home and do some work !  Car started fine - so was home really quickly - so settled into some work for the remainder of the morning. Enjoyed lunch with Nat at home before she headed out and I started work for the afternoon until Steve came round and gave me my injection. Thanks Steve - last lot ! After work we went to discuss options at Glyn for Lewis and meet with some of the teachers.  Was inte

Feeling much better today !  Woke up to the wind and rain howling around outside and glad that my own bad patch had cleared away from yesterday. It's nice to be starting to feel as though I am headed back to the "normal" zone again - heading that way anyway.  Still tired - clearly - as expected Round 3 has taken my energy levels down another level - so I'm being really careful. Today is chemo day  - the penultimate one.  So the standard routine - get up, and get to The Marsden to have bloods and obs taken before being called back to have chemo when it's all approved. However - my car decided that it didn't want to work !  Battery dead !  Of all the days, in the rain - a dead car !  Fortunately - Colin over the road came to the rescue with his jump leads - however - it meant pushing the car off the drive to get the battery connected.  That was hard work !  Energy levels zapped before I've even started !  Cheers Colin !! So I had my bloods taken and

So it seems like yesterday was my "bad day" - a good nights sleep and I wake this morning feeling OK.  Aching, but not miserable like yesterday.  I don't need to be in that place - so it can stay as yesterday. Breakfast and showered, removed the pathetic chin growth that has appeared over the past few days and I feel clean and ready for the new week. Noticed that my hair is growing back quite well - then noticed a load fell out when I showered !  Bugger !  Oh well - it's still growing and it's not all grey ! Worked this morning but I became tired very quickly, so stopped and had some lunch - nice salad, healthy food - the way forward !   After lunch - it all went a bit wrong - my body decided that it was detox time. Clearly the backlog of the last round of chemo from last week was time to clear - I've gone from one extreme to the other !  Put it this way - I feel a lot lighter now !!  Not something that I've had until now - so here's hoping tha

It's been a weird day - I woke up early - even though we went to bed late.  Started the day feeling OK, but then slowly started to fall into a weird world of my own.  It was a return to the last round.   Tired, grumpy, snappy, irritable, short fuse - frankly I hated my own company.  Throughout the morning I seemed to wind myself up, become frustrated with everything I did or anyone else did.  No sense of reason, just being bloody grumpy.  If I'm like this when I'm old, shoot me ! Nat and Lewis had to visit Kingston, so they escaped me for a few hours to do what they needed to do. I wouldn't have been surprised if they had stayed out most of the day to avoid me.  I stayed home and did a few bits while amusing Ollie, before he decided his mates were much more fun on his X-Box - so I went for a lie down. Which is what I spent most of the afternoon doing.  Sleeping, being miserable, grumpy, aching. I woke up to a great smell of cooking.  Nat's home made curry.  

A decent night's sleep, with the standard peeing interruptions and we are up and ready to head back down to Airhop to meet Alan and family.  Feeling OK this morning,  Glad we went for the 10am session and not earlier.  Was nice for the boys to catchup and have a bounce about while we had a coffee.  Was nice to see Alan's mate Mazza who also popped in as he lives locally. After our session we bid our goodbyes and we headed home as they prepared to head back home.  We grabbed some lunch en route and then got home to clear out the cars. We are in the process of getting a new car, so having to clear out the old one and clean it up before we sell it was needed.  13 years of "useful" things I've discovered today in that car.  That was hard work - and the inevitable sleep happened late afternoon before an evening of TV and dinner and relaxing with the boys. Slow day planned for tomorrow as I'm very aware I'm approaching the cycle "Danger Zone

It's great to wake up in your own bed - without anyone trying to take your blood pressure three seconds after waking up and wondering why it's lower than normal !   Had a good nights sleep - the default requirement to pee every so often is almost default now - I remember getting up at least 4 times but feel OK.  The inevitable chemo blockage is still in place - but senna tablets were taken a day earlier this time round - so hoping that will sort itself out soon. It's bad enough being full of chemo and fluids without anything else ! Lewis went to work early with Dave to earn himself some cash and Nat went to work, so Ollie was home with me. Gaming day for Ollie on the TV downstairs, surround sound to the max - he loved it. I however fell asleep next to him on the sofa, tiredness is mad! We went collect Lewis at lunchtime and picked up my umbrella from The Famous Green Man in Ewell village. Perfect sun protection for the summer - thanks John - top man. Grabbed a sarni

Finished chemo at about 1:45am this morning so got some half decent sleep in between 2am and 4:30am, then had to pee and then slept until about 6ish. A fine breakfast of sausage and bacon sarnie, weetabix and loads of tea followed by a shower and I'm ready for today.  Chemo scheduled for 1pm, so should be able to escape by 6pm. Let's see how the timings go today ! Had a very productive working day today, working from hospital does work while waiting for your chemo to start ! Chemo started at about 1pm, which worked out well - as I managed to sleep for most of the time - which helps kill the time - but also helps me recover - double win ! So by the time 4pm came around, I'd had a couple of hours sleep and had packed my bags. Was given my take away bundle of drugs and injections and Nat came to collect me.  Normally I stay in for the night of day 3, due to the timings - but as I'd started early - it was easier for me to be at home. Just the best feeling in the