Information

FYI -

Spent a very pleasant (!) 2 and a half hours at The Christie today.  I learned that my chemotherapy starts on 22/11/12 at Wythenshawe hospital.  Given this experience at The Christie I am pleased to be able to have the choice of opting for Wythenshawe for my treatment (although of course I am gutted that the very lovely Debbie won't be in charge of me - at least officially, I will of course continue to bow to everything she says generally speaking).  It will not be possible for me to take part in the clinical trial I was offered (its a tablet only regime and I can't swallow tablets).  So, having digested that information we can deduce the following -

1.  The chemotherapy will end on either 07/02/13 or 21/03/13 depending on whether I have 4 or 6 cycles.  This will depend in turn on how effective the treatment is and how it affects me.

2.  I know the dates when I will be particularly vulnerable to infection (essentially days 8 - 14 of each cycle).  If I refuse to meet up with people on certain dates it is likely that I will be on a day 8 to 14.  Please don't be offended.

3.  I know the dates when I am likely to be feeling at my best (comparatively).  If you'd like to know when these are then work it out from Day One for each 3 week cycle - the best days are 15 to 21.

4.  I am a bit scared by the whole thing.  How many side effects am I likely to have?  Will it all be a complete waste of time?  Will there be much additional pain?  Will I lose all my hair (to be fair this is finely balanced against the possibility of wearing a huge beehive wig - Mrs T will know what I'm talking about here)?

5.  I will be able to attend Bryn's funeral (which takes place on 23/11/12).  I'm really pleased I'll be able to do this.

6.  I will be able to make my television debut (watch this space for further details in due course).  Not sure how pleased I am about this though.

And that's your lot for this post.  More updates soon... J x