Bowel Cancer Awareness Month

Did you know that someone dies every 30 minutes from bowel cancer?  I am one of the lucky ones and I know that my journey is far from over; but I am also acutely aware that I am in the amazing position to be able to be positive about my future.  Not everyone is as lucky; but if caught early bowel cancer is one of the most treatable cancers.

So to help in the battle April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month; during this month cancer charities will be doing lots to raise awareness and money.   The Beating Bowel Cancer charity is asking you to pledge your support by joining their Bowel Movement; their aim is to get people talking about bowel cancer and the symptoms.

There are many ways that you can support Beating Bowel Cancer, such as

• Join our Bowel Movement
• Fundraise for us
• Come to our Patient Day
• Volunteer at our London Marathon cheer point
• Support us on eBay
• Blog for us

Click on any of the above links for more information.  Beating Bowel Cancer is a fantastic charity and has given me lots of support and advice; you can find their website here .

Bowel Cancer UK is also suggesting lots of ways that you can help to raise awareness, such as;

• Place an order for our free awareness materials and promote and display them in a public place such as your company, local shops, library or at your GP surgery.
• Arrange a bowel cancer awareness stand or talk in your community or with business or employer. Contact our Health Promotion team for details on 020 7381 9711 or healthpromotion@bowelcanceruk.org.uk
• Make sure your family and friends know about the symptoms of bowel cancer.
• Follow us on facebook and twitter and tweet, retweet and facebook our messages, information and factsheets.
• Help us raise awareness of bowel cancer among women by watching or sharing our 'Care to Share' video.
• If you have been closely affected by bowel cancer, share your story with us. Contact press@bowelcanceruk.org.uk
• Publicise our Information and Support Service - freephone 0800 8 40 35 40 so that we can continue to support nearly 40,000 people diagnosed with bowel cancer each year.

If you would like to know more about Bowel Cancer UK you can visit their website here .

Do you know the symptoms of bowel cancer?
I have blogged about the symptoms previously, but here is a quick reminder;

• a change in your bowel habit, such as looser poo, lasting longer than 3 weeks
• blood in your poo
• unexplained weight loss
• feeling more tired than usual
• abdominal pain or a lump in your stomach area
• anaemia

Not all of these symptoms means that you do have bowel cancer, and you might not necessarily get all of these symptoms, but if you are at all worried then I would suggest seeing a doctor, just in case.  You can find out more about the symptoms here .

So make as much noise as you can about bowel cancer and its symptoms, it could save a life.

Much Love Cx

"So, how are you getting on?"

Its funny how every round of chemo can be so different.  I thought that I had worked out my side affects and good/bad days during the last round, but this time things have been really different.  I'm not sure if it was due to me having in through the cannula in my hand.  When I spoke to one of the nurses about this she did seem to agree that this could have caused my side affects to build slowly and last longer, as having it through a PICC line is like a waterfall through your body, whereas having it go through a smaller vein means its more like a slow trickle.  I did feel quite well straight after the chemo this time, but I've realised that was due to the steroids which I am given to counteract the sickness that happens with the chemo.  During the end of the first week and the second week the tingling in my fingers and toes was quite bad, as was the tingling in my throat when I had anything cold; so no cold drinks or ice-cream for me! 

The tingling has improved over this third week; but I have developed other side effects! On Friday I developed a rash all over my face, upper back and hands.  This got progressively worse through out the day and I was planning on going to get it checked out in the morning; but it got to a level where I could not take it anymore and you could see it spreading up my face.  I then decided to call the out of hours Doctors service; they listened to my symptoms and decided to send someone out to see me rather than risk going to a waiting room full of germs!  Luckily the doctor thought it was a reaction to the chemo, so he checked everything just in case and gave me some anti-histamines.  This did the trick and stopped the rash getting worse, although I am left with skin like a snake on my face! Lovely!

I've also developed the sore mouth and ulcers which I had during the first round but escaped during the second round.  I'm using the mouthwash prescribed for me and that does help a little bit, but it is so painful when I swallow.  I have also had a bit of a cold this week, and this has completely knocked me for six! I slept most of yesterday and from 7pm to 8am!! So i did feel much better this morning.

So I am looking forward to the Easter weekend before the fourth round on Tuesday - I will be half way through then!!

Much Love Cx

WELL DONE!!

A HUGE congratulations to Lois, Natalie and Stuart who finished the Reading Half Marathon successfully and in excellent time! Lois finished in 2:14:17 and I know that Natalie and Stuart finished before 2hours 15minutes.  They raised so much money for amazing charities; Lois raised £390 for Beating Bowel Cancer and Natalie and Stuart raised £647 for Cancer Research UK and Arthritis Research.  How amazing is that?!? (Sorry I didn't get a photo of you Lois :( not quite quick enough!)

Here's Natalie and Stuart in action!

I am so incredibly proud of them and it was so much fun watching them along the route on Sunday.  Looking out for people you know when you have hundreds of people running towards you is not easy, so luckily they spotted us!  Alexa loved clapping and cheering all of the runners; there were also drummers supporting along the way which Alexa loved dancing to!  It was lovely to see all the causes that people were raising money for; I gave an extra cheer for people raising money for Macmillan, Cancer Research and Crohn's and Colitis Association.  Lots of people had their names on their shirts so it was lovely that were able to cheer on people individually too and they seemed to really appreciate it!

So, well done to my amazing friends, you really made me proud.  Thank you x

Cx

Reading Half Marathon

This weekend is the Reading Half Marathon.  I spent a lot of my childhood supporting both my Mum and Dad as they ran around the course; picking daffodils and eating ice-creams as we looked out for them.  This year I will be following some very special friends as they complete the course.

I have mentioned them before but I am going to remind you again!  One of my oldest family friends, Lois, is running to raise money for the Beating Bowel Cancer, which is a charity extremely close to my heart.  They provided me with a little of support during my illness and chemotherapy; their nurses are always on the end of the phone to answer any questions that I might have.  Lois has done extremely well in her fundraising, but every little bit helps! Please visit her fundraising page here .

Alexa's Auntie Natalie and Uncle Stuart are also running to raise money for Cancer Research and Arthritis Research.  These are both causes close to both mine and their hearts.  They again are doing really well in their fundraising, you can visit their fundraising page here .

So thank you in advance for your support for my good friends.  I am so very proud of both the fundraising that they have done and also for all the training that they have done.  I feel very touched that they have chosen charities based on what I am going through; it means the world to me.  I cannot wait to look out for them on Sunday and to give them a good old cheer!

Cx

Life is so very precious x

I must apologise for neglecting my blog this week - it has been an emotional week and I haven't felt like sitting down and typing until today.

My gorgeous Grandparents with Alexa

This week I was again reminded how fragile and precious life really is.  My gorgeous Grandad, who I completely adore, had a stroke on Saturday evening.  We had a phonecall from my Mum's cousin before the ambulance had left my Grandparents' house.  The problem is they live in Dorset and we live in Reading, so the dash to the hospital is not quite as week as we have become used to!  Mum, Dad and myself threw lots of random bits into bags and ran to the car, picking Alexa up from her Daddy's on the way; my sister was at a do in Stroud so felt even further away and totally helpless.  The journey seemed very long and we were all full of worry as we did not know anything. 

Once we got to the hospital we went straight to A&E; I was slightly worried about the risk of infection, but it was a risk I was willing to take for my Gramps.  Luckily we had a side room to congregate in and took it in turns to go and see him.  At this point he was very out of it, his face had dropped and he could hardly move his right side.  It was so emotional seeing the man I love so much so poorly.  He is 85 but he is extremely 'with it' both mentally and physically.  In fact this was somewhat his downfall; he decided that he would change his leaking water tank himself rather than pay for someone to do it!

Throughout all of this I just felt for my poor Grandma; she doesn't cope well in emergencies and I knew that she was hiding just how upset she was from all of us.  But she reacted so quickly and knew that grandad was having a stroke, and this ultimately saved his life.  It was when Grandad sat down after working all day that the stroke happened; he dropped his paper and tried to pick it up but couldn't.  He couldn't talk and Grandma recognised the signs of a stroke from the television advert.  She ran next door and they took over from her ensuring that the ambulance was called.

We left the hospital at about 10.30pm when Grandad was safely tucked up in the stroke ward and had some egg and chips, which went down nicely!! We all slept well that night.  We were eagerly looking forward to going to see Grandad the next day, but unfortunately as there was the neurovirus on his ward we were restricted to just an hour at 2pm.  I didn't stay too long when we went; I literally popped my head in to say hi and bye.  He looked really well; he was talking (although muddling his words), he was sat up and he could move his right side.  My Grandad is a fighter and I was so pleased to see his amazing progress in less than a day.

He came home on Thursday; he is able to walk, climb stairs and is independent. He is still muddling his words, but he will have support from Speech Therapists.  His recovery so far has been amazing; he does need to have an operation on his corroted artery soon.  I am amazed by his strength and I know that, although his recovery will be a long road, he will get there and will be back to being my sparkly Gramps again.

Do you know the signs of a stroke?

So the moral of this story is; make sure you let the people you love just how much you love them, spend time with them and appreciate all that they do for you.



Keep praying Cx



Ding Ding!! Round 3!

Round three started very smoothly.  Alexa had a sleepover at Daddy's, so he was able to drop her to Nursery, which took a bit of pressure off us time-wise. My Dad dropped us off at the hospital just before 9, so Mum and myself had a coffee and a bit of breakfast before seeing the Oncologist.  After seeing the Oncologist last time and having a stand-up routine during the appointment, I had written all my questions and queries written in my trusty notebook so I wouldn't forget to discuss them with him.  We went to the Berkshire Cancer Centre and pitched up with all our magazines expecting the usual long wait; but I had only just finished flicking through this month's Elle when they called us in.

We discussed my visit to A&E over the weekend and options for a replacement line; he said that he was hopeful that I could have a cannula inserted each time rather than have anything permanent, but we would need to see how I coped with that this time.  I shared with him all my side effects from last time and he said that he would keep the dosage the same this time, but look to maybe reducing it slightly for the next round.  I also confirmed that I am having 8 rounds in total, so I am nearing half way through! YAY!

So off I went to the chemo ward, expecting a long old wait, but it didn't take too long for me to be called in, which even the nurse was surprised at!  I raced for the comfy reclining chair this time, as I have never managed to nab one before.  So I had the cannula inserted into my hand and was expecting the chemo to be painful as it went through, but thankfully it wasn't.  I reclined the chair back and even managed to have a little doze inbetween reading this week's gossip magazines. 

Whilst I was there I saw a girl who I went to school with, who I had bumped into last time I was in.  She is suffering from breast cancer and was having her PICC line inserted ready for her first round of chemo.  I am just so surprised at how many young and healthy women are developing cancer.  It really puzzles me as all the advice is to stay a healthy weight, have a balanced diet, don't smoke or drink, and you do this, yet you develop cancer?!? It makes no sense and makes me want to shake people who smoke, are overweight, eat unhealthy and drink lots.  If it can happen to me then why would you want to increase your chances!  Although I have heard the argument that if someone healthy can get cancer then you might as well carry on with unhealthy ways - sorry, but that makes NO sense to me at all!

I also chatted to the lady sat next to me who was in the early 50s who also suffered from bowel cancer.  She felt that she was young to have developed bowel cancer so was even more shocked when she discovered that I also did.  Her story was similar to mine; she developed symptoms and was rushed into A&E with a blockage which was diagnosed as Diverticulitis, which is a bowel condition.  It was the colonoscopy that discovered her cancer and she went on to have about a foot removed of her colon and was having chemotherapy as a precaution.

So with all this dozing and chatting the 2 hours went very quickly; unfortunately it was near to the end of the 2 hours that my arm became really painful.  The drugs are painful when they go through the smaller veins in the hand; I had a heat pack on to help alleviate the pain, but it was still there.  It was as if needles were moving through my vein up my arm; and as I write this on Thursday the pain is still very much there.  So I need to weigh up the pain against having a Hickman line in my chest which would deliver the chemo straight into my heart, thus avoid the pain from the cannula.

Before we left I had a lovely surprise visit from a very close family friend Jill - she text to see if she could come and kepp us company and it was perfect timing as I had almost finished.  So we went for a well deserved cup of tea and a chin wag in the hospital.  Jill has been a rock through this experience, always having the right words to say and helping me to stay positive - I love her to bits! So it was lovely seeing her, but unfortunately it got cut a little bit short as I had a phone call from Alexa's nursery to say she had a bit of a temperature - more teething, poor lil thing!

My side effects weren't as severe this time as I left the hospital; but over the past few days that have been returning with a vengeance.  The tingling and numbness, exhaustion and nausea.  I am thinking that as I had the chemo delivered in a different way through the cannula that the chemo has taken slightly longer to travel around my body - but I may be wrong, just my theory.

Another round done, so another round closer to the end! I am noticing that I am loosing some hair - I tried the bun ring in a high bun, but it made me notice how thin my hair was around the side of my face.  So low styles for me I think to disguise this.  The thought of loosing my beautiful hair is a very scary prospect, but my wonderful friend Aisha reminded me that 'every lion can afford to lose a bit of their mane in a fight', and thankfully I certainly have enough of a mane.

Cx

Getting ready for round 3

Tomorrow is round three of chemo. I see the Oncologist to discuss my progress and then he will decide if they need to tweak the dosage.  I am hopeful that this will happen as my side effects were so intense last time, but if this is the case it will mean a looooooong wait in the RBH whilst the new dosage is made up in the pharmacy and finally released for me to have.

I am not sure how I feel about this round; I am slightly worried about how painful it could be as my PICC line is out and I will be having it through a cannula.  Also after the horrific side effects last time I am not looking forward to experiencing them again.  That's the hardest bit about all this; for the past week I have felt quite well and relatively normal, but its hard to enjoy this feeling as you know that feeling will be taken away from you in a few days.  Although on the whole I am very positive about this whole experience, chemotherapy certainly tests this!

On a positive note, I had a wonderful Mother's Day.  I woke up to a lovely card and Zara vouchers from my girl and gave my Mum some yummy choccies from Hotel Chocolate.  Then my Mum, Dad, sister Lucy, Alexa and I went to the lambing at a local farm.  Although I was very cautious of being around animals, I was able to enjoy a normal day with my girl.  She enjoyed looking at the farm animals from a distance, but wasn't as sure when it came to holding the lambs!  It was a special day and although I did have to take a bit of a step back, I felt like a normal Mummy.

I have noticed as I write this blog that my word of choice is 'normal'.  I think that it a reflection of how cancer and chemotherapy takes over every element of your life.  It takes away all of those everyday and mundane things that we take for granted.  I cant wait to have a bath without needing to keep my arm/line dry, to get back to work, to be able to drink a really cold drink without my throat spasming, to be able to go out for a drink with my girls, be a normal Mummy, to be able to stay at my own flat again or to be able to get through the day without a nap!!  I know that I will get back to all of these things again, and when I do I will appreciate them more.  I will not moan about the small things, I will be thankful for the mundane things that I have previously moaned about and I will smile when I am tested in life, because I am grateful that I am still here to experience it all.

Wish me luck for round 3.
Cx