So happy to be home

Hello! I am writing this from my bed at home in Uddy and I am so glad to be back! It has been a really busy few weeks and it's very nice to be home. When we came back last night the house was surprisingly tidy. Mum wasn't pleased though as all her flowers were dead and clearly nobody has done any washing in two and a half weeks... Teenie said she'd just been wearing different clothes every day.

Yesterday was a bit crazy. We booked our flights with BA at Terminal 5. I had another CT and MRI scan yesterday morning so the flight was for the afternoon. We went to the airport straight after my scans and it was heaving. We ended up in the wrong queue to start with (which someone told us to join) and then in a queue which lasted four hours.. We were not pleased when we got to the front of the queue to be told there were no flights and we couldn't get one until the next day. The staff were all pretty rude and unhelpful - they will be receiving a harshly worded letter from me! In the end, we just went to Euston and managed to get a train. We got home to Uddingston about 10.30 so it was a very long day. Here's a pic I snapped of Heathrow..

The week between the chemo and the apherisis treatment was quite nice. It was the first time since I'd been ill that I was actually able to go places in London. My good chum Clare was down for a few days so we went to see Harry Potter (which was pretty good) on Tuesday and on Wednesday went for a wander round Covent Garden. On Thursday we met my cousin Kate for lunch in Liberty's and a wander round the shops. I was quite surprised that we went to the big Topshop and I bought NOTHING. Very impressive. On Friday we made another trip to Charing Cross to go to the clinic and see Prof. On Saturday my friend Jemma came to Daphne's for the day to visit. It was great to see her and I managed to try on my bridesmaid dress! It fitted perfectly (well done Jem!) and hopefully by the time of the wedding I won't be bald or have a hickman line. On Monday I started the apherisis (stem cell treatment) stuff at Hammersmith. It was a long day with lots of waiting around and it was the same on Tuesday. I met the transplant doctors and they were both really nice. On Wednesday I had A LOT of tests (which they called the 'Work-Up Day') and a long chat all about the high dose treatment. They haven't sugar coated anything so I am expecting the treatment to be dreadful. It has a lot of horrid side effects and I've been told it's going to be a lot worse than any chemo I've had before. The doctor told me about some of the long term effects from the chemo (regarding fertility and the like) which had never really been discussed before. I don't really want to talk about it but let's just say it wasn't great news. They are also unsure if I'll have two rounds of it or not. Apparently recent studies have shown that two rounds are more likely to get rid of all the cancer but we're going to wait and see how I cope with the first round. The specialist nurse showed me around the ward and told me I'll probably be in for 3 and a half weeks. I've to stay in my room the whole time and I know I'm going to go stir crazy. She said I could decorate my room with tinsel and things but won't that be even more depressing?! We've also been told I'll be admitted on 12th December (two days after Teenie's 21st) so I'll get just over a week at home.

We did get some good news though - my HCG level has fallen to 2 (which is the lowest it's ever been). It has been going from 3-9 since the operation. They are unsure what this means and aren't reading too much into it but it is something positive!

While I was in London some friends have also been going through quite a tough time, I just want them to know that I'm thinking about them. It's crazy that so much has gone on in the past year.

I was going to say a bit more but now I can't really remember what... Think I'll just head to bed. Night all.