I had yet another scan this week. Same old same old you might think, but this
scan mattered more than most. Basically, the rest of my treatment plan
depended on the result. Assuming they
saw what they needed to see, I’d be all systems go for the stem-cell
transplant. I need that to happen,
because my medium-long term prognosis is pretty shit otherwise.
Like all other scans, tests and pokey proddy experiences,
the worst part for me is waiting for the results. Having said that, the feeling of having wet
yourself when they inject the contrast dye during the scan is not one I can say
I enjoy…
Luckily, I had some distraction from my wait in the guise of
the Big Quiz.
Cancer Research ran a ‘Big Quiz in November’ fundraising initiative
last month and as soon as I saw it, I thought “that’s got my name written all
over it.” I love a quiz, I love bossing people about and I love a night in the
pub – so the Big Quiz would tick all those boxes very nicely thank you. I duly contacted CathCath, our friendly
landlady and suggested her pub would be an ideal venue: luckily she and our
friendly landlord agreed.
So, Tuesday night arrived.
I’d had the all-clear to attend from the lovely nurses on West Ward at
Royal Berks, so I got my make-up trowels out and started trying to make my face
sufficiently visually pleasing that the no-hair situation would be somewhat
mitigated. The results were passable, even if I do say so myself. CathCath had decorated the pub with lots of Cancer
Research balloons and banners and we had several confirmed teams, with some
stragglers expected also, so all boded well for a successful evening.
As quiz MC (I like to pretend I’m down with
the kids…) it was my job to ask the questions, try to keep some sort of order
over 40 odd people, most of whom were getting gradually pissed as the evening
progressed and do the scoring. Suffice
to say, the first half went smoothly, the second was more challenging as the
volume had increased exponentially with the booze!
In the end, I think
everyone had a good laugh and most importantly, we raised a fantastic £323.40! J At my insistence, this has been topped up by
a very contrite Mr. J, who went out for a boozy Christmas lunch with friends
instead of taking me out to celebrate our 13th wedding
anniversary! How very dare he! Therefore, the final total raised is £450,
which is a fantastic result and most importantly, is more money to help fund
the people working so hard to find a cure for this bastard of a disease. Thanks to all who came along and got pissed
on a school night for a good cause. ;-)
The end of the week sees me back in West Ward for another
transfusion – apparently the chemo is attacking my red blood cells as soon as
they make an appearance, so I need a little help from my anonymous friends –
thank you again to everyone who donates blood.
People like me would really struggle without you.
So, back to the scan.
I got the results yesterday and it’s GOOD NEWS!!! They needed to see a minimum of 50% reduction
in the cancer in order to put me forward for the stem-cell transplant and they
got that – and more! To say we’re
delighted is an understatement – we’re bloody ecstatic!
It’s going to be a tough and occasionally downright nasty
road ahead for the next couple of months, but if it buys me a few more years to
persecute Mr. J, then that’s all good.
