Post Chemotherapy

So since Jo finished Chemotherapy we have had a busy time, we sadly saw the loss of our lovely dog Amber (Story here) who died peacefully aged sixteen and a half. Jo had a chest infection in the risky period, where her immune system is compromised during her last Chemotherapy cycle but she recovered well after an afternoon of intravenous antibiotics and a week of oral antibiotics. She finished the last of her chemotherapy tablets on 24th October and has generally been well since, but has suffered with bouts of breathlessness especially when walking up the stairs but also when bending down.

We also had our Wedding anniversary (Story here) which meant another night away to celebrate and continue our run of at least 1 night away every month since 2016. We celebrated with a fab night at the stunning Grand Hotel in Eastbourne. It’s a 5 star hotel and you could tell from the moment we arrived, with the doorman finding us a parking space and offering to help us with our luggage, through a delightful meal and the ballroom style dancing that we watched at the end of the night. Little touches by the hotel and staff made all the difference like complimentary canapés while we had a drink at the bar before dinner to the friendly greetings from all the staff whenever you saw them.

We have been given our Radiotherapy schedule following a planning scan that we had on the 26th October at Eastbourne General and it is all scheduled to start on Monday 19th November, 5 days a week for 4 weeks ending on the 14th December. We opted to go back to NHS for radiotherapy for a couple of reasons, firstly our Health cover has a £50000 cap per year for all her treatment which radiotherapy would push us close to but also Eastbourne is actually closer than the nearest private Radiotherapy centre.

The Eastbourne Radiotherapy centre is a new state of the art centre and I have to say I was impressed when we arrived, its brand new the people and staff there were friendly and there was little or no delay for those people who were waiting. We were seen promptly and Jo had her planning scans and a small tattoo which they use to line up against the two that she had remaining from her Radiotherapy in 2016. They use these three tattoos to calibrate the machine against when she comes for her sessions. 

The transition from Chemotherapy to Radiotherapy hasn’t been very easy for Jo emotionally, it is quite unsettling, going from something she was used to and comfortable with to something new at a new unit with new people. Also I think the fact she is moving closer to the end of treatment also means we are moving towards finding out if its all worked or not. Jo still has pain and discomfort which you always worry could be the Cancer or worse the Cancer spreading, chances are it is nothing but it’s always a fear that you have when your Cancer has reoccured before.

We have tried to keep positive, look forward and planned more things for the future, we are going to Rome when Radiotherapy finishes, we have booked our nights away going well in to next year and so lots to look forward too.

I have returned to a fairly normal work pattern travelling back up to London for work most days of the week, leaving Jo at home, which I know she finds hard, but unfortunately it’s a necessity of life. Jo hates being at home with nothing to do, she is used to working and keeping busy but for now she will have to be patient and try and keep herself occupied at home.  She has done that by planning Christmas and by the number of Amazon parcels we have, she is a good way through the present shopping (though I suspect plenty more to come)

Anyway Radiotherapy starts in 12 days so hopefully Jo won’t have gone mad with boredom by then.