Week 5 - Thursday 30th April

Well a LOT has happened over the past 7 days, starting from not long after I posted last weeks blog.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you will know on the same day as posting the blog last Thursday, I was due to find out what the plan is for kicking cancer in the ass, and winning the boss fight.

I have T3 N0 M0, stage 3 cervical cancer.  I'll explain what the letters and numbers mean.

T3 = Tumour 3.  How far the cancer has grown.  This is ranked between 1-4, with small being 1.

N0 = Nodes 0.  This is ranked between 0-3, grading if the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes with 0 meaning it hasn't spread at all.

M0 = Metastases 0.  This ranks whether the cancer has spread to other parts of the body with either a ranking of 0 or 1. 0 being no, it hasn't, and 1 that it has.

The treatment I'll be having is a combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy followed by brachytherapy, starting in three weeks.  Radiotherapy will be for 5 days a week for 5 weeks, chemo once a week for 4 weeks, then brachytherapy will be 4 sessions over two weeks (I think - the oncologist will talk me through that more nearer the time).  Due to the size of the tumour, surgery wasn't an option.  As you can tell, there's a lot of planning and organisation involved, which is why it doesn't start straight away.

I've had a lot of appointments come through, which included a phone call on Thursday to get me booked in for an appointment to help with the planning of my treatment.  The following day, I visited the Beacon Centre (where I'm having my treatment) for the planning appointment.  I had to have another CT scan, and also 4 tiny tattoos.

The CT scan is to help the team plan where to direct the radiotherapy each session, and the tattoos are to help line me up perfectly each time.  I have a tattoo on each hip, one below my rib cage and one below my belly.  When I say they're tiny, they are 4 small black freckles/black heads, in size.  Having them applied was just having a sharp scratch.  The image below shows the size, with a ring for scale.

Before the CT scan, I also had to have a mini enema.  I'm not going to lie, I've not had one before and was a little apprehensive.  This was to make sure there was nothing moving the tumour for the scan.  I also have to have one before each session of radiotherapy, so the tumour should be in the same place each day of treatment.  That way the radiotherapy is directed in the right place each time.

I also had a catch up call with my specialist nurse, who also linked me with the cancer support worker team.  Laura gave me a call on Wednesday to talk through holistic needs, and go through the assessment document she sent me.

This covers practical concerns (shopping, travel, taking care of others, preparing meals etc), family and relationship concerns, emotional concerns, spiritual concerns, physical concerns and information and support.  I had to rank each between 0-10 (0 = no distress, 10 = extreme distress) and mark any points I wished to discuss.

I didn't really have much to discuss, but Laura went through each section.  She asked me a few questions that I hadn't thought about, and I can say that it was a positive call.  We discussed a few options, including relaxation techniques, and she's referred me for a free reflexology session (which I won't be able to have just yet), which I said would probably be a great thing for me, either mid-treatment or near the end, if it's possible.

I've also got some information booklets (as well as the internet at my disposal), so I feel well informed, as well as having people to phone if I need to.  I'm feeling really positive about it all, so far.  I've got dates in the diary, which gives me more focus now.  The only thing I'm apprehensive about is when the fatigue kicks in, as it's different for everyone, and also how long it takes for me to recover.  I will need to continue to listen to my body, and be selfish.  Being selfish isn't in my nature, and it has been hard to firstly not worry about work and secondly think about myself.  I can't afford to get unwell, especially with Covid, so I'm not going out to get shopping now.

Home deliveries of food shopping are starting next week, and one booked the week after.  So hopefully I can continue getting them, but I know my parents will help out if needed, and there are options where I live as well.

Photography has always been a passion of mine, so I've been out in the garden taking pictures, as well as exercising out there as well.  I occasionally post on Instagram, if you want to follow me on there.

If you have a Google account, you can follow this blog by signing in, and then clicking the "follow" button on the left hand side.  You can also scroll down to read previous entries (all labeled by week number, to make it easy to navigate).  As ever, look out for one another, stay home and stay well. xxx