Last Wednesday, Neil and I went for our meeting in Exeter with my oncologist, Dr Liz Toy. She was extremely pleased with my recovery which was good to hear and reiterated that the operation had removed all of Deirdre to the best of anyone’s knowledge.

So…to the next decision! Do we leave it at that, or follow up with 8 weeks of full blast FLOT chemotherapy. Dr Toy was happy to accept our decision either way, as the cancer had most likely gone. But there is no way of knowing absolutely. If even one microscopic cancer cell has wandered off into another part of me, it could lie dormant for a while then divide and appear again. Because of this, Neil and I were already committed to me having further chemotherapy.  If anything comes back in years to come, we’ll know we’ve done absolutely everything we could to prevent it.

But its not a nice chemo. I’ll loose my hair, have sensitive hands and feet, feel the cold badly, and a host of other possible side effects. I’ll have a PICC line inserted into my upper arm for 8 weeks, through which they’ll administer the drugs over a 24 hour period every 2 weeks. Here’s link explaining what it is.

https://www.macmillan.org.uk/information-and-support/treating/chemotherapy/being-treated-with-chemotherapy/picc-lines.html

Every 2 weeks they’ll attach a cassette containing the drugs to the PICC line which has to stay in place for 24 hours, so I’ll come home with a little bag containing the cassette and return the next day to Exeter for them to remove it. I’ll have 4 of these sessions which isn’t too bad.

My first session is Monday, 4th December when they’ll insert the PICC line. I had one in Plymouth so I know whats coming. I must confess I didn’t like it, but once its in its OK. I’ll just keep reminding myself that this is all temporary and I’ll be completely finished by the end of January.

It’s quite funny as I kept asking Dr Toy questions expressing doubt that I was fit enough to start further chemotherapy in 2 weeks. She ended up explaining to us that my recovery was so remarkable that it was probably in the top 5% of oesophageal cancer patients. Ha ha. That shut me up!

Until yesterday I had 4 good days in a row! I walked over 3 miles with Els, up the beacon and beyond then spent the afternoon in the hot tub. Then Els cooked a delicious roast chicken which I ate (tiny portions) without repercussion and went with Neil to a carol singing practice in the evening. The next night we had a Voiceworx choir practice which we loved, so life is slowly getting back to normal. So long as I can rest for an hour before an evening event, then I seem to be fine. Unfortunately yesterday, the good run came to an end as I ate toast and cereal lunchtime and felt terribly unwell for the rest of the day.

Today is a fresh new day and I’m fine again. Neil’s just booked theatre tickets for Saturday afternoon to see The Kite Runner at the Exeter Northcott, and we’re going to visit Tessa in Bristol on Sunday, plus meeting with friends in the week. So long as I follow the eating rules carefully, I’ll be fine. As Dr Toy reminded me. I must be patient! Hmmmm!!!!!