The past 10 days

Tuesday 1st August - Thursday 10th August
Quite an uneventful few days as I had no appointments until Tuesday 8th August!
Tried to have as near to 'normal' time over the past few days, doing the things that Sam and I would usually have done during school holidays. It's been a bit strange because Reno has now changed to a night shift and sleeps until lunchtime. On Wednesday 2nd we called to see my manager at work to let him know how my treatment was going and also to say that it looks unlikely that I will be back to work before October. Then Sam and I did a bit of shopping followed by a lovely lunch at Notcutts!
On Thursday 3rd Sam had her driving test and I am pleased to say she passed! So now, although I can drive again, it's rather nice to be chauffeured around by Sam!! During the afternoon we went to the Suffolk Food Hall where I had arranged to meet a friend, (who I had not seen for around 35 years!) for tea and cake. It was lovely to catch up on what we had been doing on life's journey over the years.
On Saturday 5th we had Reno's brother and sister in law visit for a couple of hours, which was lovely and on Sunday we all got up early so that Sam could go on a beach hack from the equestrian centre at Hollesley through the countryside to Shingle Street along the beach and back again. Reno and I enjoyed the walk and watching Sam - the weather was perfect and we finished the morning off with a cream tea for lunch at Wyevale!!!
In myself I have been feeling very well although I still get some aches and pains from the area of my operation - the healing process internally, apparently, will take some time. I have now lost 5 fingernails in total and the other 5 look likely to follow suit quite soon - it will actually be a relief once they are all off as it is so easy to catch them whilst dressing etc. I feel like I should have shares in Elastoplast with the amount I am using!!! I have learnt though that using disposable gloves to do just about anything is quite useful! The tingling and numbness in my fingers and feet continues as does the sensation of feeling icy cold at times but I know this could last for a while yet!
On Tuesday 8th August I went for my CT scan in preparation for my radiotherapy treatment. The nurse called me through and we spoke for quite some time about the treatment, what exactly was going to happen and she asked me about my concerns. She also explained about the three 'dot markers' that would be tattooed either side of my rib cage and one in-between my breasts that would be permanent but tiny, so that the treatment would always be lined up and targeting the right area.
As I previously thought, tiredness is very common and the ribs can be weakened by the treatment so I just have to be aware of that in case I should fall on that side in the future! It is also essential to take care of the skin around the area the treatment will be given, by using aqueous cream and avoiding anything like deodorants that can irritate what may be already aggravated skin. My concerns for any affect on my heart were reassured as it was explained to me that once my Heart Scan is done on Friday 11th August the whole team will discuss the results along with the CT scan results and weigh up the risks against the benefits of the radiotherapy - should they feel that the risk on my heart is too great then the radiotherapy would be cancelled. I was assured that as I had already had chemotherapy and surgery and I have already had some of the doses of Herceptin, the recommended radiotherapy treatment would only be given if the benefits outweighed any risk.
We then went through to the scanner. It was very difficult and quite painful for me to put my left arm in the position that was required for the scan, however, because the radiographers need you to be comfortable they have all sorts of equipment and ways to get around any problems with restricted movement! They put a special pillow under my shoulders neck and head, asked me to raise my arms and put my hands on my head in a way that was comfortable to me and then extracted the air from the pillow which is now my 'mould' to use for the duration of my treatment. The actual scan then only took about 3-4 minutes. Once the scan was done the 'dot' tattoos were done - all I will say is those dots are the only time I will be tattooed! How people even endure an initial beats me and as for their whole arm or any other body part!.........I don't even want to think about it!!!! The garment I wore for the scan was then given to me to wear for each treatment and I was told that my first of the 15 treatments is scheduled for 29th August which means the final one will be 18th September.
Now I know the dates I can get myself focused for the next leg of this journey I have been on!!
Wednesday and Thursday have been 'just another day' pottering around!