November 27 – Kerzapped! – Job done.

Friday. - Done, finished, complete, over, ….that’s it. I had my last radiotherapy zapping on Monday afternoon. Me and MLB are now starting to become ‘normal’ again.

The whole zapping experience was fine. I had, in a moment of boredom, read some forum entries on a breast cancer website which moaned on and on about how tired people felt and how painful their boobs were and how ghastly the whole process was. They must live on another planet. I have had no tiredness despite the travelling, no soreness, no broken skin, no burning sensation, and I wore a bra the whole time.

There were some funny moments. Normally you are allocated to one Linear Accelerator and its attached team – I was allocated LA6. One day however, I had to go to a different one as LA6 was having a routine service. So I found myself in a waiting area with loads of men in dressing gowns, no trousers but they were wearing shoes and socks….obviously the prostate cancer crowd. I was called in and sure enough it was an all male radiography team. They had me in hoots as they set up the table for a breast cancer zap and then took about 20 minutes to get me lined up as compared with my usual team who could do it in about 2 minutes. They got there in the end. They sheepishly admitted that they didn’t do breasts very often but hoped it was OK! Seemed all right to me.

During this time I had some golfing mates over for lunch and they bought me the most beautiful bunch of flowers. So lovely I have had to add a photo of them to this blog to say thank you.

Now the other news is……da da…My hair is growing!! Just a bit but it is starting to become obvious. Not enough for me to go wigless yet but I think in a couple of weeks I might experiment.

Other side effect news. My nails are a mess – including my toenails. I had a pedicure a couple of days ago and when the beautician took the old nail polish off two of the toenails were black. So we covered them up again rather quickly.

My left arm is now pretty much a normal size after the course of MLD and I wear the horrible compression sleeve for all activity but it comes off in the evening. So far so good.

Still a bit of tingling and numbness in my feet but this should disappear over the next few months.

So I’m looking forward to going to Spain for Xmas and New Year and just relaxing without having to face any more treatment or pill popping apart from the Arimidex which I will take for five years. Just like HRT or the pill. Not a difficult one.

As my strength is returning, so my golf is starting to get back to a reasonable form and I should become competitive again by spring – watch out all my golfing mates.

I’ll post the next blog after I get back from Spain, hopefully with news of massive hair growth etc. Until then have a fun festive season and happy new year.

November 14 – Nine down, 6 to go.

Saturday - Golf is cancelled because of gale force winds and driving rain. Probably the worst storm we have had this year. Sitting in my study I can watch the leaves being stripped off the trees. It’s a good time to catch up on the blog.

Over half way through the zapping. It seems to have gone very quickly and so far, compared to chemo, it is very straightforward. The biggest hassle is having to drive and hour each way for a 10-minute process. As advised, I diligently anoint MLB with aqueous cream morning and night and it seems to have the desired effect in that my skin hasn’t really shown much sign of being affected. I was warned that it would probably go red and start to become quite sore after about seven to ten days but this hasn’t happened. I do know that the effect is cumulative though and continues to get worse for a couple of weeks after the therapy has finished so I am expecting to get some reaction over the next few days.

More info on radiotherapy at St Luke’s Cancer Centre here for those who are interested http://www.royalsurrey.nhs.uk/External-beam-radiotherapy

The other good news is that I have also now had four sessions of MLD and the results are quite amazing. The therapist measured both arms before she started to see how badly swollen the left one was. There was a difference of about 3 cms in some places and her whizzy computer calculated that the arm was carrying 390mls of extra fluid…that’s around ¾ of a pint. Those of you who recall Tony Hancock might remember him going to give blood and coming out with the immortal words along the lines of...”A pint! That’s an armful.” How true.

Anyway, the MLD has reduced a lot of the swelling and the overall process has kick started my lymph system working properly again so that I have lost something like 8 lbs in less than a week. My ankles are back to normal and I am just much less bloated overall. Even my face and neck look thinner. I must have been carrying a massive amount of extra fluid around. All thanks to the b***** chemo.

This afternoon I will pick up a compression sleeve from the therapist. I will wear this for golf, working on the computer, flying and anything that may cause the arm to swell again. Hopefully this plus the exercises and simple massage I can do myself, along with some top up trips to the therapist will keep things under control. The bad news is that I will have this problem for life. I just have to learn to live with it.

It could be worse…I have a permanent excuse to ask people to carry things for me!

Still no real sign of any hair growing back. I have had a faint, thin fuzz for a few weeks but it hasn’t developed into anything. It’s got to happen soon!!

The wig is going out this evening. It is the night of the golf ball at the RAC. It will be the first (and probably the last) time it gets to go to a posh do.

November 3 - Zapped

Today was the first day of Radiotherapy. Now call me old fashioned but as a private patient, when I have an appointment for 10.40, I expect it to be kept within 10 minutes or so. Especially as I am still working and have arranged meetings and teleconferences around the scheduled radiotherapy times.

I didn’t get in to be zapped until 50 minutes after my scheduled time. Needless to say, I explained which way was up to the people concerned. I don’t think it will happen again!

Early days but the actual zapping bit was straightforward. Large machine is positioned by two radiographers who mutter strange numbers at each other for a few minutes and move you around in the dark with light beams being lined up on the tattoos etc. Then a minute or two of actual zapping – only noticeable by the noise the Linear Accelerator makes, and then it is off to put the bra and top back on and home we go. The biggest problem is that it takes me at least 40 mins to drive each way, which is a complete drag.

Apparently I am very likely to get a sore boob after a week to 10 days, which will last for 2-3 weeks after the therapy is complete. C’est la Guerre.

My biggest concern at the moment is getting the lymphedema in my left arm treated. My medical insurance won’t cover Manual Lymphatic Drainage Massage by any one who is not a registered nurse or certified by the HPC. As there is no category for MLD specialists in the HPC that only leaves RNs who are also MLD specialists and there aren’t any within about 25 miles of where I live. There is however a highly recommended therapist where I live so I am working on trying to get the Insurance Company to agree to use her. If not I will have to pay for treatment myself or use the NHS (many weeks of waiting and a 50 mile round trip). In the meantime, my left arm is swollen and aches when I stretch it. I spend a lot of time waving it in the air and clenching and unclenching my fist. (Something that is supposed to help.) I’ve tried doing it in public and while I am driving but people think I am making black power salutes at them and give me some very odd looks. I need to be a bit circumspect about this. It could lead to some nasty situations.

Side effects from the chemo are also still in evidence – swollen ankles and feet and fingernails that are becoming detached from the nail bed. No sign of hair regrowth yet.

On the positive side I had a fantastic few days in Venice. It was wonderful and I am definitely going back – soon. The wig behaved reasonably well - It got overexcited on a breezy vaporetto trip and tried to take a quick dip in a canal but I managed to stop it.

NEWS…NEWS…NEWS… I just had an e-mail from the insurance company agreeing to let me use the local therapist for MLD. Brilliant.