I can't believe it's December tomorrow - where has this year gone? We had a fantastic holiday in Gran Canaria, it feels like ages ago now although it was less than a month since we were sitting by the pool, jumping in the water to cool off and wearing nothing more than shorts and tee-shirts all day.
It was such a wonderful holiday, we managed to find a good balance between relaxing & chilling out and also some fun adventures. The girls loved their first time on an aeroplane and their first experience of this sort of holiday.
Leah was so adventurous, she spent the whole time doing new things - huge water slides, swimming in the sea, eating sea food, speaking a bit of Spanish, it was such a joy to see and I'm thrilled we were able to do it.
Megan is a different personality and took more of a back seat but she still enjoyed taking in her new surroundings watching the rest of us, for her the highlight oftha the holiday was the late nights!
I had a day at home and then had to go to hospital for chemo, I'd had my tunnel line taken out so that I could swim whilst we were away - a great decision for the holiday but it made blood tests and chemo very difficult, the nurses had to try to cannulate me several times resulting in nasty bruises on my hand and arm.
I was immediately booked in for a new line. This time a PICC line, it goes in my arm rather than my chest and the insertion and removal are less invasive procedures.
I had my PICC line put in on 17th Nov and immediately had an allergic reaction to the dressings they used. Over the past week we have tried several different types of dressing and I've reacted to them all - I now have some nice blisters and sores on my upper arm!
Thankfully the nurses have agreed to let me cover it with tubigrip so there is nothing sticking to my arm - although I have to be aware of the higher risk of infection.
It was all really getting me down last week, I was feeling like it was just one thing after another, I have to have a line because my veins really don't work anymore but even having a line has it's own issues and problems.
However, I had a scan last Monday and got the results yesterday - the cancer is still stable! I am over the moon and so pleased that we can relax and enjoy another happy family Christmas.
I asked my consultant how long I can expect to keep getting good scan results and he told me that it's hard to tell because I'm on a trial drug there is limited long term research but there is no reason why it can't continue to work for a long time yet and he also said that all the time this drug is working other new drugs are being created and discovered so even when I get the news that this drug has stopped working it's by no means the end, there are plenty of other drugs I'll be able to try.
It is such fantastic news and has really given me the boost that I needed, has made me feel that all the hassle is worth it.
I feel that I now have something of a future to look forward to and who knows what that holds for us now, for the first time in two years I feel that I can look forward more than 3 months at a time.
I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy 2011.
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