One thing and another...

A month since my last update and in some ways quite a lot has happened, but in other ways not much has progressed. 

In case you don't want to read the rest, here's the TLDR* version: after a lot of faffing around, I should finally start a new lot of chemotherapy the week after next. 

And here's the blow-by-blow account...

I last saw the oncologist when we got back from Yorkshire in September and we discussed whether I should have the standard 'second-line' chemotherapy, or the possibility of being part of a clinical trial at the Royal Marsden in London. The trial is looking at a drug which has been successful in a particular type of breast cancer known as 'HER2 positive'. They were looking for patients with other types of cancer which were also HER2 positive. 

Initially I didn't think much about this because only around 1 in a hundred pancreatic cancers are HER2 positive. But when they tested my original biopsy from last year it looked like I might be suitable - but they wanted to get a new biopsy to confirm this result. This time they would take the biopsy samples from one of the secondaries in my liver which is much more accessible than the pancreas.

It was quite hard not to raise my hopes at least a bit about this, which is why I decided not to write about it last time. The drug being tested has been very successful in breast cancer and I felt that they wouldn't be putting me through the liver biopsy if there wasn't a reasonable chance of it being positive.

I had the liver biopsy at the beginning of October. I had to go through the (now familiar) routine of driving in for a Covid test and then self-isolating upstairs for a couple of days before the procedure. I'd forgotten how hard I find it to be stuck upstairs away from the rest of the family!

The procedure itself was done under a local anaesthetic which meant I was in and out of hospital in half a day. They used an ultrasound to locate one of the secondaries in my liver and then push what I think must have been a cross between a large needle and a small apple-corer through the skin into the tumour to take the samples. I was most worried about getting pain from the main tumour, which is always worse when I lie flat on my back. But actually the 'flat on my back' bit only took ten minutes or so, after which I could curl up on my side, and they gave me some more painkillers which sent me to sleep for the next hour or so. I have a slightly disconnected memory of hearing the entire life history of the cheery porter who pushed me back up to the ward - and then it was all over. 

I went home in the afternoon, had a couple of days off work and then had to wait for the results. A couple of weeks later I spoke to Alex, the Macmillan nurse, apparently the sample had been sent to a lab in Nottingham. More waiting.

In the meantime, I had my Covid booster jab - hooray! - and my birthday - hip hip hooray! We invited some local friends to join us for drinks at the pub - and it felt so wonderfully normal. So many people hadn't seen each other for so long. Then the next day, my actual birthday, we went out for a meal as a family.

The following day, Alex rang with the biopsy results. Which were negative. 

I was disappointed. Of course I was, and I still am. But in some ways, after weeks of waiting, it was at least good to have some clarity. We quickly decided that I would start the standard second-line chemotherapy treatment as soon as possible. I booked a blood test, a Covid swab and got dates to see the oncologist and go in for my first chemo session this Wednesday.

And then my younger son tested positive for Covid.

This also wasn't a huge surprise as it has been going round his school and others in his friend group had had it. We'd actually kept him off school since we had confirmation from the friend but I was hoping he would stay clear as he has had one vaccination. But it was not to be - a very definite Lateral Flow result was followed up by a positive PCR test.

Under the rules, the rest of us don't have to self isolate - my husband and I are double vaccinated and our other son is under 18. But we decided that the sensible thing would be to isolate as much as possible - and I certainly wasn't going to head down to the hospital knowing that I might be infected.

So last Friday I spoke to the oncology team and we cancelled all the appointments including the chemo for this week. And today I've confirmed that we will get it all going again in a couple of weeks.

So my first chemo session should be on Wednesday 10 November - just two days short of the first anniversary of my diagnosis. I guess that will be a moment for reflection.

*TLDR = Too Long, Didn't Read

This blog is dedicated to everyone dealing with Covid right now. 

And just because blogs look better with a picture, here's our dog, in front of the fire.