Thrown in the deep end....

... without a snorkel or so it felt!

After such a quick diagnosis there was no time to worry or do any scary internet research. Looking back this was probably a good thing. Mr Bad Fairy and I shed a few tears and had no choice but to move on and deal with this new life that had been forced on us. Life goes on doesn't it? Being optimists we were determined to seek out, no matter how deeply they were buried, any tiny little positive moments along with any hint of something which might raise a giggle at a later date. (See? Positive thoughts .... there will be a later date!)

So there we were meeting the oncologist for the first time on a Monday. On Wednesday I was hooked up to an IV pump having the first of ten weekly doses of Taxol. What a strange new world!

Daft as it sounds I was quite pleased to be starting this journey with my vivid yellowness. Logic says that if the chemo started to work then the tumours would shrink and the yellowness would fade. It worked! Family and friends could slowly see a difference on the outside which reflected the changes on the inside.

Nine weeks later and I was flat on my back in the CT scanner to check on progress. Yeah hey! On average an 80% reduction in tumour sizes. It was working!
The plan was to have three more doses on a three weekly cycle. The last one was cancelled and I'm now on Arimidex tablets and Zoladex implant/jabs whilst waiting for an appointment to discuss having my ovaries removed.

Another CT scan (last week) showed that things had remained unchanged except for on my bones .... bones? No one had mentioned bones before. It seems that on the previous scan there were a couple of spots on my spin but as it was a CT scan and not a bone scan it wasn't obvious what these "spots" were so they didn't tell me. Seems that on the latest scan there has been a noticeable change which could be new bone growth resulting from the effects of the chemo. This new revelation now means a three weekly trip to the chemo unit for IV Zometa to strengthen my bones.
So there you go, that's where I am (medically) today only five months into this journey! Mr Bad Fairy keeps reminding me that I never did like being predictable and that I've always been impulsive rather than taking things at a leisurely pace!!