It’s been a while since I’ve blogged and quite a lot has changed with me but more importantly across the world!

First of all, we had a lovely few days away in The Lakes over half term. It was wet, very wet (as The Lake District often is) but it felt so good to be somewhere different and out in the fresh air. We managed to get out for a walk every day between showers and had a couple of meals out too. It did all of us some good to have a change of scenery and for me it was great not to have to go to hospital for a whole week! I also had a surprise visit from two fab friends who drove over from Northumberland specially to see me which made my week!

I had chemo 5 the week after we got back from The Lakes on Friday 28^th February. I was still a little nervous about it being administered as there was a risk of an anaphylactic shock but thankfully all was fine. Weird as it may seem, my friend and I had a great catch up for the 2 hours we were in the unit and were laughing so much that my tube kept moving, affecting the flow of fluid and causing the machine to beep! However, the nurses weren’t bothered and were encouraging us to keep laughing.

I felt absolutely fine afterwards, so much so that we went out for lunch and continued the positive vibe.

In terms of side effects this round was slightly different to the one before, but certainly no worse. I had the usual flushing in the face 24 hours afterwards and started to feel tried around Monday, Tuesday, but I didn’t feel wiped out and need the afternoon on the settee like I did last round. My eyes were sore in their sockets again and my sleep seems to have been more disturbed this time. I experienced more hot flushes at night which meant that I was only having a few hours of solid sleep. We have moved from the winter quilt to the summer one now which seems to have helped with this a little. My taste was also awful around a week after treatment which meant I really didn’t want to eat anything because everything tasted weird. Whilst it has improved a bit in week 2, it hasn’t returned to normal and I don’t think it will until the chemo is all over and out of my system.

I also have less hair than ever (if that’s even possible). My eyelashes have pretty much all fallen out (I think I have one left on my right eye) and my eyebrows are very patchy and thin on ground now. This has forced me to 1) watch some make up videos on You Tube and 2) learn some new make up techniques. It’s like chemo keeps challenging you to see just how hard you’re prepared to work to look feminine. Without make-up my eyes look very bald and I strongly resemble Dr Evil from Austin Powers (incidentally I went to a fancy dress as him just last weekend) so some effort is required each day to look as ‘normal’ as possible.

I also contracted a UTI about 10 days after my treatment (something I’ve had before but years ago) and I’m not sure if it was an unhappy coincidence or related to the treatment. Either way I needed a 3-day course of anti-biotics to get rid of it. For anyone reading this that has suffered from them before they will understand why I was like a junkie tearing into the medication as soon as I left the pharmacy. It’s all cleared up now thankfully.

Whilst all of the above side effects aren’t particularly pleasant, they aren’t awful either. I’m acutely aware that I could have had tingling hands and feet, a mouth full of ulcers and been totally lacking in energy so I’m grateful to have felt pretty good on the whole.

I have my last round a week today (March 20^th) and I am literally counting down the days. With everything going on around the world with the Coronavirus I am desperate to get my last session done so that my immune system can start to build back up again.

Unfortunately, at the moment I would be classed as one of those vulnerable people with an underlying condition who could die from contracting it. I’m not normally a worrier or panicked but I’ll admit I am worried about picking up the virus and feel as though I’m wishing my life away so that I can get through round 6 and start to build up my immunity again.

Whilst I’m not self-isolating, I am what they call ‘social distancing’. I am trying not to go anywhere with lot of people and won’t really be going to any social events at all. My life will consist of hospital appointments and coffees one on one. It’s most definitely the right course of action for me but I will miss regular and varied social interaction as I really believe it’s played a large part in getting me through the last 4 months.

I have briefed the boys not to share water bottles or food at school and to wash and sanitise their hands as soon as they get in. This is my attempt to keep them from bringing the virus in to our home. However, I am aware this may not be enough and so as a final measure I have stopped kissing them on their faces until my immunity has built back up again – it is this measure that hurts the most.

On a positive note, it was our 15th wedding anniversary yesterday so we had lunch out to celebrate (probably the first one I’ve celebrated without an alcoholic drink). Whilst the last 6 months, or the up coming 6 months could not be classed as our happiest together for obvious reasons, we are together and we are happy and that is worth celebrating. The ‘in sickness and in health’ part of our wedding vows has certainly been in play recently and I couldn’t have wished for a better person to have been by my side than Dave.

Stay safe my friends and look after those you love (and those who are vulnerable) through these tricky times.