SURPRISE!

Hello there! Myself, Rona and some friends have been planning a surprise party for Teenie's 21st for quite some time and the big event happened on Saturday. I think it went pretty well! Teenie said she knew something was going on but didn't realise it was a party. I thought we'd been pretty stealth about it all but anywho. Here's some snaps of the night..

These are only a handful of the pictures but I don't want to bore you all with even more! It was such a fun night and we were all so happy everyone made the effort to come despite all the snow. Teenie got lots of lovely presents so I think she was happy with the outcome! Rowan and Janice brought LOADS of amazing Christie's cakes which we didn't open until everyone had left... Whoops! In our defence, we didn't realise they were there. It was rather amusing when Ami put a cake in Rona's face... It won't let me upload the picture at the moment but I will do! There was some bubbly floating around so it was nice to have a wee glass of champers to celebrate.

We've had a very quiet few days at home... The snow has made it pretty impossible to do anything! Teenie and Mum have just taken Twinkle to the vet and they've been out for about an hour and a half.. The poor cat. Hopefully we will make it further out tomorrow - I need to do Christmas shopping before going to London!

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.

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner.

It may come as a shock to some people, but I was actually born down here (in Chertsey). Most folk are normally pretty surprised when they find out myself and my sisters had English accents until 1990 when we moved to Wick. Apparently we moved for Dad's work... My bet is that we moved to get rid of our London accents. We then had Caithness accents until 1993 and we moved to Uddingston. I don't know what's better... A weegie accent or a Caithness one? Hmmm.

Anyway, Mum and I have been in London now for a week so I thought it was time for an update. I was admitted into hospital last Tuesday and the first thing they had to do was put in another Hickman Line... If you have spoken to me in the last few weeks then you will know I was terrified about it. I really don't know why.. The last one was quite uncomfortable but I think the build up was actually worse than the procedure. This time round I was really nervous the whole morning but strangely, I started to calm down before I actually went in. It went quite well and the doctor said he was surprised as I was chatting the whole way through. The radiographer was really nice and we spent most of the time blethering about musicals. It was over before I realised! It was pretty sore after but nothing worse than I'd already had so it was ok. It's just strange having wires come out of my chest again. They weren't going to start the chemo til the next day so I had to stay in overnight. I was on the same ward (Ward 6 South) that I was on when I was whisked down to London back in May and this time the experience felt very different. Quite a few of the nurses remembered me (one in particular because of my Mulberry bag!) and the other ladies on my ward were great. It was the first time I had met people who have been going through similar experiences to me so it was good to have people to talk about it with.

The next day seemed to drag in as I was waiting for the chemo to be hooked up. I knew I was having a round of chemo called Etopiside but did not realise it was a high dose. The first time I was made aware of this was when I was signing the consent form - I was NOT happy about that. Anywho, the etopiside was given over 24 hours with lots of fluids. However, due to the timing of it, it meant that my machine would constantly beep throughout the night (the chemo every 2 1/2 hours, the fluids seemed to go off constantly). The way they administered it was through some sort of syringe that had to be plugged in at all times. This was not good when I needed to go to the bathroom (which was LOADS due to all the fluid). Once the machine was unplugged it would make a really loud high pitched beeping noise which gave me an awful headache. The next day I was hooked up to fluids until about 4pm and then had to wait around for ages for the prescription. My friend Gordon came down for a couple of days to keep me company in the hospital which was nice. Mum wasn't well when I was discharged on Thursday so Gordon had the fun task of carrying all my bags. He also helped me decide what I will call my yacht (The P Diddy, in case anyone wants to know). This round of chemo has made me feel a lot more nausceous than any other. To prove my point, Gordon showed up with a bag filled with M&S food and I felt so ill I couldn't touch any of it.. Clearly not like me.

On Friday I felt much the same as Thursday and did nothing the whole day. We went to stay with some friends in Ottershaw for the weekend and they were very kind. I barely moved the whole weekend (as whenever I moved, I would feel sick) but I did manage to watch The X Factor. I clearly couldn't have been that bad. We came back to Daphne's last night and today I've just sat about, listened to the radio, read a bit and watched Grey's Anatomy. Clearly I've been very busy. I still feel pretty ropey but I suppose it's given me a taste of what the next round of chemo will be like... I'm dreading it.

The weekend before we came to London was great. On Friday night, it was the Wedding Reception for one of my best friends Louise. She got married in New York in the summer and it was lovely to see her and Kenny so happy. She wore a gorgeous green dress and looked absolutely stunning. Obviously many pictures were taken..

My wig was doing my head in throughout it and I was so tempted to just whip it off. Here's some pictures of me and the fam when I got home... You can see that my hair has grown in a wee bit!

On Saturday my Auntie Sheana and cousin Emily came for the night and it was so good to see them. Emily is such a lovely girl and we all get on so well. In the evening, Ruth, Jamie and co came round for dinner and to watch The X Factor. We had such a nice night but as the night continued I started to get quite sad as I knew I wouldn't see them for quite a few weeks. My Dad has commented several times on how amazing my close friends have been throughout all of this. They have remained very loyal, caring and considerate. It is cliched to say, but I really couldn't ask for anything better. I am not one to be mushy about this kind of thing but I just hope they all know how much they are appreciated.

This week I don't have any great plans at all. I have some good friends in London I would like to see but that is all dependent on how I'm feeling! Also, my cousin Kate is studying down here so I'm looking forward to seeing her. Well, I best be off. I feel I have blabbed enough tonight. Au revoir!

Bah Humbug

Yes I know it's early and yes I know it's probably predictable, but I have absolutely ZERO Christmas spirit this year. Why do shops have Christmas decorations already? We saw our first Christmas decorations up outside Ruth's flat last Thursday - ehhh what?! We were never allowed to put up our tree until like, 10 days before Christmas or something. I can't remember precisely but along those lines. Today Mum and I went to Garrion Bridge (a shop/antique place - Granny likes it as it's sometimes on Bargain Hunt) after clinic. I normally love it as it features three of my favourite things... Jewellery, scented candles and sweets. However, today was a different story. Christmas was EVERYWHERE. I was most annoyed to find that in my beloved candle section, it reeked of Christmas. There was cinnamon, fig, mistletoe, Silent Night (I have no idea how you make a Christmas Carol into a scent) etc. So I went for Lavender and Lime. I figured it was very un-Christmassy. Fab. Mum also bought me a Mango candle so I am bringing in the Winter with my bedroom smelling like fruit. The realisation that I will be away for Christmas has really hit this week. Dad was saying they're looking for hotels in London to stay in over that period. How depressing is that?! I think my favourite thing is Christmas Dinner and I can't get out of my head that I will probably be fed through a tube on Christmas Day. I'm guessing it won't be turkey flavoured.

Ok, enough of my moaning. The past week has been quite busy. I definitely have more energy now and my wounds have healed up quite a bit. Mum has booked our flights to London for Monday and I have done no preparation.. I guess I just need to pack PJ's and DVDs?

Last weekend was great. My friend Dawn has an annual fireworks display at her house and it was great fun this year. It's always nice to see my school chums and it just feels like old times! On Saturday night, we had a few people round to watch the X Factor and Dad also attempted some fireworks.. The highlight of Dad's firework display was probably the torch attached to his head. The funniest part was when one of the rockets flew in the air and then went directly down onto our neighbours garden... Good thing they were indoors. Here's some snaps of the weekend...

I went to church on Sunday and it was great to see everyone again. As always, Janice was incredibly kind and gave us loads of cakes to take home! I spent a lot of the service playing Where's Wally (a book which I loved as a child) and colouring in Power Rangers.

My hair is growing slowly but surely. Every day I feel like it's getting a bit longer. Also, today was the first day since I got back from London that I put mascara on. My eyelashes are still pretty stumpy but they're definitely growing in. Here's a few pictures to show my hair progress... The first one is the night after Ruth shaved it (I think).

This one was taken earlier on this week...

And this one was taken today (self take - cringe).

It might not look like much, but it even feels a bit longer. Anyway, according to the magazines the 'Military Look' is in. Maybe I should just work the G.I. Jane hair? It's not really the season for it though. My head is even cold indoors.

I can't really remember what else I was going to say (if anything) so I will end with a picture of Dad posing as a ned (didn't have to try hard... Ha).