Just a quick update today.
L had an appointment with the oncologist – actually, the oncologist’s registrar. In and out within an hour! Makes a nice change.
I pestered the fracture clinic about the MRI scan results. I have an appointment on Thurs 9th March.
Thank the Lord for both of these!
During our time in the hotel, L’s hair started coming out quite substantially. We then went round and borrowed Jim’s hair clippers. In effect, I gave her a No. 1.
This is partway through the process.
I understand the clamour of people who want to be the fifth Beatle, but the fifth member of A Flock Of Seagulls??
Here’s the finished item, with a not entirely convinced (but not terrified!) E:
And here’s Jim vs Lucy, the skinhead faceoff:
By Wednesday this week, L was finding even what remained of her hair irritating and so I offered to shave it all off. Amazingly, she agreed! it took two razors but I managed to get it all off without nicking her once.
She says it makes wearing her wig and various headscarves and hats much easier too (of which more pictures to come). Oh, and she doesn’t have jaundice either – mobile cameras are a bit rubbish indoors at night.
She’s doing so well! Even been to work this week. What a woman.
It’s been a while, and here’s why!
The last post was Wednesday 15th. The next day, we innocently flushed the toilet, and the whole lot backed up. Thankfully, it didn’t overflow.
We knew there was some kind of problem because the gullies outside the house didn’t seem to be clearing too well, and I had it in mind to have a go at clearing them. The toilet was the last straw.
I beetled off to Homebase to get noxious chemicals, plungers and the like, and started trying to clear the gullies. Nothing budged at all.
I started going through the ‘phone book looking for drain clearing people. One firm came out within the hour, but without immediate success.
A friend who lives round the corner was on holiday & we were minding the house for him. Taking this responsibility to its logical conclusion, we moved in there that night (thanks Rich). As he was coming back the following day, and the house was still not habitable, we booked in to a local hotel, with the distinction of being the only licensed premises on the Bournville estate.
We stayed there until Wednesday morning, by which time the drains guys had done all their work and the cleaners had tackled the kitchen & bathroom. Cleaners? Can’t the Harrisons do their own cleaning?
On Tuesday morning I was sat on the bed in the hotel room tying my shoelaces. I stood up and wiggled my foot around in my shoe so it felt just so…and my knee went again. If that’s all it takes, it really does need some looking after!
L couldn’t do the cleaning, as she shouldn’t be getting in contact with potential sources of infection, and I was walking like an old man again. L’s father suggested we just got someone in to do the cleaning, so we did. And very good No Limits of Hockley were – unlike another company who laughed down the phone and said, “[Company] couldn’t come out on the same day!”. They won’t be getting our business again.
All I can say is: it’s great to be home.
Yesterday, L went into hospital at 7am. This was in order to put in a Groshong line, which makes chemo and taking bloods a lot simpler. No injections, just plug ‘er in.
I was encouraged to leave her in the ward by the admin staff – no fun, as I realised they were going to be putting the line in under a local. L hasn’t been “around” when ops have taken place in the past, and didn’t want to start now.
I took myself off to the hospital canteen for a cooked breakfast, then strolled to the local shops to go to the library. I’m preaching at church this Sunday morning, and wanted to do some more prep. Then I discovered the local library was closed for refurbishment. Guess I should be pleased the council was putting money into these old-fashioned places with paper books in.
After hobbling round a little more, I gave up and went home. Knee was being v irritating.
It took a long time for L to get into theatre – probably around 1.45. So much for getting there early. She finally emerged at about 2.45, rather groggy. They decided to give her a larger amount of sedative, so she can’t really remember anything about what happened.
The line is near her breastbone, about three inches long. When she got to chemo at 5.30, it seemed dead easy to use and fairly quick, we were out by 6.
So far, dose two seems to have had few side-effects, although we fear that more hair is beginning to appear in the sink…
Quick update on L. We had another appointment this afternoon, this time with the oncologist’s registrar. He asked how L was doing so far, and seemed quite surprised she had suffered so little in terms of side-effects. He thought that tiredness was likely to be cumulative, though it isn’t for everybody.
We also discovered today that the cancer was HER-2 negative, meaning that Herceptin wouldn’t be of any help. He reckoned that was no bad thing. HER-2+ cancers tend to be more aggressive, and Herceptin tends to tone them down to the level of HER-2 – cancers.
All this took fifteen minutes, after one-and-three-quarter hours waiting around.
Tomorrow, L has the Hickman line put in so she can have chemo & blood samples taken though it rather than her poor veins.
From all the suggestions I’ve had, both here and via email, I’ve put together a CD ready for Wednesday. I held my nose & delved into iTunes for a few of them.
Thanks to Yiota, Alexander, Lucy, Phil and Steve for the suggestions.
Not only has L had her first dose of chemo this week, but she has been preparing for the loss of hair she’s likely to suffer.
When she first heard the news, L’s friend Louise said, “If you want me to come up and go wig-shopping with you, I’ll do it!” On Wednesday she came up from London for the day to help out. You can see the pictures here.
They seemed to have had a great time. By the end of the process L had not only narrowed down the choices of wig to two, she also got a fab new haircut, by far the shortest she has had since her age was in single figures. I think it looks great – but it may not be around for long.
Thursday I went with L & E to make the final choice from two wigs called “Tonia” and “Blair”. Resigned to becoming a walking ad for New Labour either way, we (especially E) settled on “Blair”. The other would actually take a good deal of styling, whereas “Blair” was more straightforward to deal with. E enjoyed the wig place so much she didn’t want to leave!
She’s now very confused. She keeps saying to L, “Take your wig off Mummy!”
The wig: “Blair”
The new hairdo
Overdramatic title maybe, but strictly true. Today was the first dose of chemotherapy for L.
The cancer dept has a nice airy waiting room, which looks like a superior airport departure lounge. L announced her presence, then waited. The clinical trial nurse came, arranged for L to have a final check with a doctor, then went in to have her chemo.
The nurse was lovely, really kind & caring. Turned out she was a member of a local church. Hence the title.
Administering the drug was very trying. Neither she nor another nurse could get the needle into her arm. Finally they did manage it, but as veins are only supposed to be injected once like this, she only has one more “go†left in a vein for her subsequent treatments. She will probably have a more permanent “line†inserted into her chest in the not-too-distant. This has to be done in theatre, and may mean another overnight in hospital.
Meanwhile I was sent off as errand boy to the pharmacy to collect the seven different medicines she will need over the next few days. These include a mouthwash (chemo can be hard on the mouth and throat) and antisickness drugs. I also collected the syringe for her injection tomorrow to boost her white cell count. Most of these drugs are on prescription and need paying for – time to get an “all-you-can-eat†voucher for the year.
Of course, in with all this was a great deal of Waiting Around. We were in at 2 and came out at 5.20.
And now, we wait to see how the whole business affects her. She has an appointment tomorrow for a wig fitting.
Anyway, thought I’d put a photo of E in reading the paper. She looks geuninely disturbed from reading an important article about the issues of the day.
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