First infusion done! I’m lucky in the sense that I sort of knew what to expect from the process – I’d had my previous treatment on the same day unit, at the same hospital, 5 years ago. I even ended up getting my infusion administered by a family friend who’s a nurse at the hospital and whom I also got to know quite well 5 years ago. When I saw her, the first thing she told me was that I have the best doctor she has come across, and that the drugs I would be getting are in fact “miracle drugs”. I really hope so, and am forever keeping everything crossed! It’s amazing how a couple of little comments in passing can be so reassuring.

I’m one week down the line after treatment, and feeling pretty good. Apart from a minor trip to A&E for some chest pain, I have felt 100% myself. And healthy! The doctor in A&E actually told me I had the best set of blood results he’d seen in a long time. He had obviously read my file, and said he had therefore been expecting elevated markers here and there. Strangely, I feel ‘healthier’ than I’ve ever felt. Even though I’m definitely the sickest I’ve ever been. I attribute some of this to my mind-frame – I’m naturally a positive person and have managed to carry on to some extent over the past month with a fair amount of laughs and good times.

Call me crazy, but I also think that my diet and lifestyle have had a part to play in my feeling of well-being. Whereas I’ve tried to steer clear of certain stats surrounding my survival rates (not helpful at this stage in my opinion, and as people keep telling me the stats for my treatment don’t technically exist as it’s so new), I’ve definitely been doing A LOT of reading on the science behind the immune system, diet, gut health, mindfulness, yoga, and everything else that I’m sure most cancer patients read when newly diagnosed. I’m absolutely not from the camp of ‘self-healers’, nor do I agree with much of the alternative therapies that I’ve been reading about. However, I truly do believe in complimentary therapies, and the idea of enhancing what the medicine is trying to do by giving your best self to the process.

The topic interesting me the most right now is gut health. I’m sure this is because there are studies emerging supporting the link between immunotherapy response and the diversity of your gut microbiome.

As I know a lot of patients do, when diagnosed I instantly wanted to find someone going through the same thing as me. Someone who survived, and what they did in the lead up. Someone that I could relate to. I have found this tricky in the past (since initial diagnosis in 2014) – I think mainly because of my age. All the support groups etc. I was pointed towards were populated primarily by the older demographic. The individuals, whilst lovely, were living very different lives to me. I wanted to talk with someone who knew which Instagram accounts to follow and what podcasts to listen to, alongside topics around fertility, work and motherhood. I therefore gravitated towards online social media. There I found women, of a similar age and stage of life as me, and going through the same thing. There I found Dr Lauren McDonald. Her website was so informative, as well as uplifting and inspiring, with so many practical things to try. Lauren was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma in 2015, and had a similar immunotherapy treatment to what I’m undertaking. She has been NED (No Evidence of Disease) since August 2016, and has been living her life to the absolute fullest. As a doctor, her blog posts about gut health are so informative. They’re written in a clear and comprehensible way, so that non medics like me get the full grasp on the topics she talks about. They make sense, and have inspired me to not only try out some of her tips, but to read and learn more about the science of the human body and exactly what it is that’s happening to me on the inside.