Scans, MC’ing and more blood...

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 13^th 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.