Argh! I couldn't start this without acknowledging ‘going public’ with this blog last week. I could spend the entirety of this post gushing, but I promise I won’t. I just want to say however, that I am truly overwhelmed by the kindness and positivity that has come my way, so thank you to everybody who …
One of the things I have spent such a lot of time thinking about over the past 10 months is who to tell, when to tell, exactly how much to tell… Do I say anything at all to work colleagues, or online? Will people treat me differently? I think, if I’m being brutally honest, there …
I realise that I harp on and on about immunotherapy, assuming that anyone reading this should understand what I’m talking about. Nobody wants, or needs, a lecture… so here it is in a nutshell. Immunotherapy is a form of cancer treatment that enables your own immune system to fight cancer. Here are some bullet points …
Nate was an absolute superstar on the flight. I shouldn’t have worried. He slept most of the way, and when he wasn’t sleeping he was happily flirting with all the lovely cabin crew. We arrived in to sunny Adelaide the next day, and were met by a poorly Rich (Influenza A, not COVID-19 worth noting). …
I know I’m not unique in having to cope with drama, but I’m really starting to think it follows me around these days. I write this from 40,000 ft high in the sky, somewhere over the Indian Ocean. Myself, Rich and Nate are on our way home to Cardiff after 2 wonderful weeks in Adelaide, …
My results are in! And earlier than I had expected. I phoned one of the melanoma specialist nurses on Tuesday morning to ask her about a potential side effect – not urgent and I could absolutely wait for her to return my call I explained in my answer phone message. Then a couple of hours …
I am definitely not an expert on this topic as I’m only on scan number 1 – of hopefully (??) many. This is more a message to myself, with things that have worked, and things that haven’t, when it comes to waiting for scan results so I hopefully cope with it better the next time …
Pain and fatigue have been my most difficult side effects of treatment. For the sole reason, that they are technically invisible to the outside world (including the docs). The colitis or the skin rash I experienced previously, were visible and therefore quickly treatable. A lot of the anxiety of trying to articulate a problem, or …
My poor adrenal glands! Since September of last year, I have been taking varying dosages of prednisolone, a form of steroid – one of the joyous outcomes of the immunotherapy I’ve been receiving. My immune system has been going completely nuts (thank you immune system, no seriously thank you!), which is why I’ve been experiencing …
What does scanxiety mean? It’s a term adopted by cancer patients to describe the stress and anxiety that accompanies a set of scans. Most people in my position have scans every 3 months in order to monitor and evaluate where they’re at with the progression or regression of their cancer. These are usually in the …
Immy Llew 