Wednesday 21 to Saturday 24 August

Wednesday.  Had a very good nights sleep after the chemotherapy of yesterday. Trying to get to grips with all the drugs I need to take to relieve the side effects. I have two types to stop me being sick I take two 2mg tablets of Dexamethasone 3 times a day with food, this is a steroid which helps the other drug 10 mg of Metoclopramide Hydrochloride 1 tablet 3 times a day to work better plus my blood pressure tablet 5 mg of Amlodipine and finally 15mg gastro resistant capsules of Lansoprazol which has to be taken thirty to sixty minutes before eating breakfast, tricky one that. Had a good day and started cleaning and rubbing down the paint work on the windows above our garage door ready for re-painting managed to get two coats of primer on by the late afternoon/evening, 6 hours before a re-coat.

Thursday. Went to a prayer group in the morning up at Chrisie's. In the afternoon had to go back to SWRU to have my bottle pump taken off after 48 hours. I caught the train and only after I had got to Teddington did I realise that I had no money and no wallet with my travel card in it, would I get caught by the ticket collector how would I get out of Norbiton station without showing my card or swiping it to open the gate, luckily the gate was open when I got there so I just walked out and arranged for Wendy to come and collect me at the Hospital when I had finished. The  removal went OK and and they did a clean up of the PICC line today to save me going in again the next day when it was due. We are on holiday next week back on Friday so I can have it cleaned then as it has to be done every week.
As we left we decided to go and have a quick look at the outside of the 2 bed ground floor flat that Paul and Nicola have made an offer on. The flat is in Hook and because of the traffic problems in Kingston it took a while to get there and by the time we had given it a look  round we didn't get home 'till after 7 pm.

Friday. Quite a restful day after what seemed quite a hectic couple of days. Managed to get a top coat on the windows over the garage door, good idea as they are forecasting heavy rain on Saturday. Paul and Nicola came round to dinner and updated us on the flat they are buying they are quite pleased to have found somewhere so quickly and are hoping to move in before Christmas if all goes well. they left at about 8.15 pm to drive up to Lancaster for a wedding of one of Nicola's  cousins on Sunday. Alison also came back from her break in Sheffield but missed them by about 10 minutes, the traffic is quite heavy now as it is a Bank Holidy weekend and everyone is going somewhere and everywhere.

Saturday. Woke up very late today after a very disturbed night when I kept waking up and couldn't get back to sleep - probably due to taking one of my drugs too late in the evening, anyway waking up at 5 past nine can't be that bad, except it makes breakfast a bit late. The weather man was right it has been a dreadful day pouring down with rain but still warm. We had to post a parcel to Roy so drove down to the Post Office, on our return it was raining so hard we stayed in the car for 10 minutes until the rain abated. Tomorrow we are off to Matlock in the Peak District for a short break so it might be a while before I can update the blog depends on Internet access mainly. Still raining outside what a wet day!! But thankfully I feel good just hope I get up earlier tomorrow fresh and ready for a 3 hour drive.

Chemotherapy 20 August

Will they go ahead today and give me Chemotherapy! Wendy and I got to the Sir William Rous Unit in time for our appointment with the doctor, as usual we had to wait about 10 to 15 minutes before the doctor saw us. The meeting was quite short, she read my list of bowel movements that I had prepared and noted there was no more diarrhoea during the week and that as my bloods were OK then I was free to proceed for treatment. She did also advise me that my dosage of the drugs would be reduced by 25% in order to reduce the intensity of their side effects, but overall that would not affect the efficacy of the treatment in killing off the cancer cells, so I was free to enter the clinic and find a comfortable seat.
We found a seat next to  a middle aged lady who was having the last round of her treatment and was asking people how many days is it to Christmas. Something to look forward so she could start planning her Christmas. Luckily a young man looking after his mother who was in for treatment used his I phone to find out and duly reported 126 days and 13 hours 20 minutes!! Quite a lot of men in today for cancer treatment some of them quite young and healthy looking. Luckily the noisy woman left soon still talking about Christmas and Wendy and I had a bit more room in the corner we had chosen. Not really much to say except that the treatment went very well with no complications although the male nurse took a little while to set up the double pumping system where they infuse two drugs at once over an hour to save time. We were out by around 3 pm which is by far the earliest we have left so far. After the air conditioning in the medical unit it was quite a shock to get outside and feel the heat, it being so hot we decided to go to Creams in Kingston on the way home and share an ice cream a banana with strawberries, vanilla ice cream, strawberry syrup, white chocolate flakes and covered in foamed cream. Delicious.

Bloods 19 August

Time to give blood to confirm that I am fit enough to have Chemotherapy tomorrow, I have also taken a request for blood tests from my GP,  whom I saw last Friday regarding my cholesterol levels, for the nurse to do at the same time.
Went by train because of the congestion on the roads in Kingston due to the sewage works. Got there in good time but had quite a long wait as the nursing staff had been thrown off course in the clinic due to a visitor fainting in the treatment room and sustaining nasty head injuries. Anyway it all went well and the blood results should be available for tomorrow. 

Chemo therapy holiday 15 to 18 Aug

It was a bit disappointing missing a planned chemotherapy treatment but it does mean that I have an additional rest period a holiday from chemotherapy. Generally I have been monitoring my bowel movements for any signs of a return of diarrhoea, everything seems OK now on that score. Spent most of my time on routine maintenance of the house, garden and allotments. I also had to re-arrange some appointments with UKAS due to moving the next round of chemotherapy back a week.

High light of the holiday was spending time in Reading on Sunday for Harriets 18th birthday celebrations with friends and relatives from Wendy's side of the family.

Feeling quite well at the end of my little break, tomorrow it starts up again with blood tests.

Third round of treatment

Monday 12 August.  My next round of chemotherapy is due on Wednesday this week and as Wendy is helping at Messy Church tomorrow I thought it would be a good time to prepare for a couple of jobs. First to repair a clothes storage drawer and secondly to replace a rotten wooden base board under a fence panel.We had a trip into Wickes to buy a concrete base board and materials to mend the drawer. On return we removed the panel fitted the concrete base board and put in a panel that Wendy had refurbished. Still feeling quite well and pleased to be able to do these little jobs.

Tuesday 13 August. As Wendy was at Messy Church I spent most of the morning fixing up the drawer runners replacing the broken plastic runner with a 15 mm square wooden runner which I screwed and glued into place (belt and braces approach). In the afternoon I went into Kingston Hospital to have blood samples for testing taken. Unfortunately I had left a little late for my appointment and to make things worse the train I intended to catch was cancelled (no replacement) so I went by bus and had to cope with traffic delays in Kingston due to replacement of sewer pipes on the main road into Kingston. Hopefully the bloods would get to the analysis laboratories in time for the results to be ready for Wednesday morning.

Wednesday 14 August. Due for my third round of Chemotherapy. Woke up this morning at 2.45 am to go to the toilet and to empty my bag which seemed to be fairly full. Oh no!! I had diarrhoea!! just as well I had a drainable bag on, I was able to flush it all down the toilet and go back to bed. At 6.00 am I awoke and the bag was full to bursting and I had to spend the next hour cleaning up after a bad session of diarrhoea. I guessed the implications of this regarding further treatment today was not good.
Wendy and I got to the Hospital by buses, to early to use our Freedom passes on the train, and arrived 15 minutes early. We heard someone in the office talking about blood test data and the fact that the blood analysis data was incomplete and they needed the missing data to be sent over quickly. Very soon after that I was called in to see the doctor and she immediately latched onto the fact that I had had 3 or 4 instances of diarrhoea over the past 2 weeks and that I had just experienced another bout. She said this is one of the side effects of this particular combination of drugs and it would be safer not have any Chemotherapy today and we could try again on Tuesday week. In the meantime I have to log my bowel movements on a daily basis and bring the results in with me next Tuesday.
Wendy and I then went into Kingston and did a bit of shopping and had tea and scones in "A Place To Eat" in the John Lewis store. Over lunch I suddenly realised that I had to go back to the Hospital to have my PICC line cleaned and dressed. So  I went back to Hospital and Wendy went home. When I got into the clinic I found Chris and John from the URC were there and Chris was just finishing her treatment for breast cancer they offered me a lift home which I accepted and we spent some time comparing notes on our treatments.
Felt a bit lost during the rest of the day not really knowing what to do. Just as well then that the England v Scotland friendly football match was on TV live.

Up date Thursday 8 August to Sunday 11 August

Thursday 8 August.
Woke up feeling a bit groggy so decided to take it easy through to lunch, had a short nap and did a bit of reading. Wendy wanted to go to the RHS gardens in Wisley so as I didn't feel too bad we decided to go and have a light lunch in the gardens. It was a beautiful day and they had a display of scarecrows in the flower beds mainly of local celebrities, we had mushroom soup for lunch and a piece of cake each. Then as we started walking around the gardens it became very apparent that I was not capable of doing much walking and I ended up sitting by the lake watching the gardeners raking the lawns etc. whilst Wendy went on a short tour of the grounds. It was a nice day out but showed up my limitations.
Friday 9 August
I had another bout of diarrhoea during the night and at 6 am I started taking the Loperamide tablets. This time I took some Dioralyte to replace the salts I was losing, maybe I should have done the same thing on Wednesday after the first incident, and that was why I was feeling groggy on Thursday! I made sure that I got plenty of rest during the day and took another dose of Dioralyte before I went to bed to make sure I had replaced my lost body salts.
Saturday 10 August
Feeling a bit better today and washed my hair when I got up. I was a bit surprised by the amount of hair that gathered around the plug hole. Hhhmm what to do? Some hair had already come out and I kept finding it around the house but I hadn't realised how much it was. Decided that the thing to do was to get a short haircut all over and leave the hair at the barbers and not at home!! Got back from the Barbers after 1.00 pm.  George is a good barber but he likes to chat and there had been 3 people in front of me. Spent the afternoon cutting back an overgrown shrub in the garden and after dinner had a rest and went to bed early at 10 pm.
Sunday11 August
Feeling even better today. Cycled off to Church, made my choice for the colour of the new chairs the church was buying to replace the pews, had a good cup of filter coffee and cycled home for a light lunch.
After lunch we drove over to Chorleywood to attend a Thanksgiving Service to celebrate the life of Germaine Donald, the mother of Wendy's brother in law Robert Donald at Chorleywood Free Church (Baptist). It was a wonderful occasion and a good insight into her life was given by her son, daughter in law and her grandchildren and two great grand children. She had been a stalwart member of this Church for 60 years, and was highly regarded in the local community for her many voluntary activities and for over 40 years was an active fund raiser for Cancer Research. During my first round of Chemotherapy she would frequently ring me to see how I was coping with the treatment and to find out if I had any specific issues related to my treatment that she and the Church could pray for. She was an awesome person beloved my many. I shall miss her calls this time around but I know the church will continue to hold me in their prayers and they were pleased to meet me and put a face to the person they had been praying for.

Wednesday 7 August

Over night I started having diarrhoea and had to get up a couple of times to drain my stoma bag. Woke up in the morning still not feeling well and worst of all my bag had come away from my body and my tummy was covered in loose stools. Wendy was very good and got baby wipes and hot water plus bucket for soiled night wear and between us managed to get me clean so that I could attach a new bag. I also started my Loperamide Hydrochloride tablets taking one every 2 hours for 12 hours which should help to control the diarrhoea.

I was feeling a little better today but still felt a little tired so spent most of the morning reading or dozing. In the afternoon I had to go back to SWRU at Kingston hospital to have my PICC line cleaned and since Alison had the day off she came along as well.Wendy dropped me off at the station in Hampton and I walked the short distance from Norbitton station to the Hospital. Alison was given the task of cleaning the PICC line whilst the nurse guided her. Although she did the cleaning very well she decided that she needed to have another go in 2 weeks time to make sure she could do it properly. There is a lot of flushing out to do with Saline and also with a drug that prevents blood clots in the line.

I caught the train back to Hampton and Wendy picked me up after I had bought some fish and chips for my tea as everyone else was going out to dinner. After dinner I was still feeling tired so I watched a film on playback TV and then went up to bed.

Tuesday 6 August

I woke up this morning feeling really bad and tired I didn't really want to get up. My throat and nose were filled with mucous and on blowing my nose bits of congealed blood came out, another side effect of most chemotherapy drugs.
I also had a pain in my chest and a little bit of wind although this was not as bad as on the last treatment thanks to the 30mg Lansoprazol that the clinic doctor prescribed for me following my experience on the first Chemo treatment. I have to take one capsule every morning 30 to 60 minutes before eating any food.
I was late getting up and felt very tired all day and spent most of the day in doors either sleeping or reading. 

Update Thursday 1 Aug to Monday 5 Aug

For the most of this period I have been feeling quite well and have tried to lead as normal a life as possible. On the Thursday after the drip feed and still had my pump attached which goes under my pillow at night and in my left hand trouser pocket during the day. I weighed the pump a couple of times during the day to check the rate of infusion into my body it was actually pretty close to the prescribed rate of 2.5ml per hour. Spent most of the rest of the day trying to get rid of some computer virus called Babylon which was slowing the computer down. I eventually managed it using a free program called Malwarebytes which seemed to do the trick.

Friday need to go into SWRU to have my pump disconnected in the afternoon. In the morning I helped Wendy doing some weeding and burning up some dried  weeds from earlier. Still feeling quite well but I expect by next week I shall be suffering. After lunch Alison and I went into Kingston Hospital, Alison had to see her tutor and I had to have the pump removed. Unfortunately I got there too early around 3.45 pm only to be told that the pump was not empty and could I come back at 5.15 pm. The nursing staff were quite interested in my pump weight records though it worked against me as they knew it had not delivered the full dose which is why I had to come back later. Luckily I had my book with me so I was able to read more of "Sovereign" and the visit of Henry VIII to Yorkshire.

Saturday another fine sunny day so we spent much of the day on the allotment and in the garden mainly tidying things up and filling in fox runs under the fences. We went looking for barbed wire to put in under the fence but Wickes and Homebase don't stock it any more, perhaps we should try a Garden Centre. As we had had a busy day Wendy suggested we use up some lunch vouchers by going out for dinner at the local Beefeater in Twickenham with Alison. We had a lovely meal but had to wait some time for it as they were a man down in the kitchen. Result we have a free bottle of wine next time we go there!! Also our waitress had a badge on that said "If I don't tell you about our breakfasts then you can claim a free, she didn't so we have a free breakfast for Sunday morning.

Sunday up early as we need to get our free breakfast before Church. Fantastic breakfast eat as much as you like breakfast bar plus a full cooked breakfast order as much as you like from the list. A really nice experience tempted to do it again one day we would highly recommend the food as it was all very fresh. After church we did not feel like lunch so we cycled to Hampton Court to watch the pro cyclists cycling round the 100 mile Olympic course through London and Surrey, don't blink or you miss it. We then had a picnic lunch of one apple each as we watched the Thames river traffic followed a walk round the Palace gardens and a lovely single cone chocolate ice cream eaten in the rose garden. Another lovely day and still feeling well.

Monday got up fairly early and spent most of the morning reading my book. This afternoon I had to attend a clinic run by my surgeon in Queen Mary's Hospital Roehampton. He has taken a keen interest in my case and wants to see how I get along under the Chemotherapy treatment. We set off in good time for the appointment but got caught in some heavy showers and had traffic problems in Kingston due road works to replace some sewers that had filled up with fat and the flow rate had fallen to just 5% of full capacity. The clinic went quite well and I picked up one or two tips from the surgeon. Due to meet him again on 28 October. Return car journey was done in really heavy rain all the way, the biggest downpour we have had for quite a while.

 Still feeling quite well I had thought the effects of the drug would be showing by now, I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

31 July:- Second round of Chemotherapy.

Wednesday morning no lazing around with leisurely breakfasts as we have to be in Sir William Rous Unit by 10.15am. we arrived on time and saw the doctor fairly promptly, she said my bloods were all OK so that I could go ahead with the treatment. She has given me an additional drug to take to counter one of the side effects, bringing up wind and acid reflux, the Drug is Lansoprazole and I take one a day 30 to 60 minutes before food in the morning, lets hope that this will work for me.
Although we got past the doctor quickly today there was a delay in the clinic because of an overbooking of patients 21 instead of 15. This meant that  I was waiting until around 1 to 1.15p.m. before they started up my treatment. I feel much more relaxed with this new treatment because of the PICC line I do not need to have a Cannula attached to a vein in my arm at every visit, the part of the treatment I used to hate, big wossey that I am!
Once the treatment was going I relaxed and became engrossed with the book I was reading, Wendy was doing her knitting for the baby that Paul and Nicola are expecting 6 Feb 2014, good news eh! Next up, change of drug on the drip line, the Marsden work sheet suggested that two drugs should be given at the same time to save an hours time, fine I am all up for it. However there was a small hitch as this was the first time they had done this at SWRU,  so the first try was to use a single pump but on its own it could not handle the combined flow rate. After a bit of discussion they decided to pinch another pump and use two separate pumps and the ward sister and the head Pharmacist came out to check that this would be OK, thumbs up all round and we were off for another hour due to finish around 5.00 pm. We eventually got out out around 5.30 pm plus the pump and feeling quite good and very happy with the days events apart from the delays but hey the staff all had a hard day and managed to cope reasonably well.
Once I got home I decided to weigh my pump on the kitchen scales, 166 grams at 6.10 pm., I decided to weigh it daily and check the rate of infusion was on track .....more later.  Had a nice quiet evening before I went to bed quite re-assured that all was OK.
PS sorry that I am late with this important blog I have already been told off by cousin Ann and sister Kay  in Canada, my apologies to all who are following -- I must try harder.  

Tuesday 30 July

Woke up feeling good again so decided to get on with my next job which was to fit a black out blind to the Velux roof light in Alison's bedroom about 9 foot high. Alison was helping me by holding the step ladder whilst I went up. She kept me supplied with the components I needed from the pre-packed kit. We got about halfway through and then stopped for a quick lunch break, we managed to finish it off soon after lunch. Alison was quite pleased to see how dark the room looked with the blind closed. The blind has a shiny surface next to the glazing which should conserve heat in the winter and keep the room cooler in the summer. Still feeling in good condition and not at all tired and I left around 2.30 pm to go into Kingston Hospital, where they took blood samples from me to monitor my levels and see if there were any possible issues that would prevent me from having the next round of chemotherapy, which of course starts tomorrow. I went to bed hoping that all would go well and there would be no hangups.

Monday 29 July

Again woke up around 7 to 8 am but didn't get down stairs until around 9 am. As I was feeling quite good I decided to prune back hard a Eucalyptus tree that was growing too big and putting down roots around my roof drainage pipes leading to a soak away. This took most of the day and I still felt good but decided to relax and spend a bit more time reading C. J. Sansom's book Sovereign. Overall an active and productive day and I went to bed feeling fit and well.

Sunday 28 July

Woke up feeling good, decided to get a shower after all the walking around we did yesterday at the Olympic Park. I felt a lot fresher as it has been quite warm and muggy over the last few days. My body seems to have recovered from the effects of the first dose of Chemotherapy and I feel in control and back to normal. Cycled up to the URC Church about 1 mile for the regular Sunday Service this time led by John Latham who is covering prayer this week and next Sunday.
I then cycled down to the Methodists as they were having a farewell celebration for the lay pastor, Ben, who is leaving after 5 years there to go to be part of a joint missionary team in a Church in Milton Keynes. The Large hall was packed and we had an excellent cooked lunch followed by a wide selection of cakes and puddings, followed by tea and coffee. Cycled home and watched the Ladies World Cup football final with Germany winning yet again. Had an early night as again I had not had a sleep in the day.