I'M IN REMISSION

Day 217- Thursday 7^th June  2012

The day I get the all clear! I'M IN REMISSION officially and no spread anywhere else so still stage 3.

I am finally cancer free…………….now just need to stay this way. No more hospital visits or scans until the end of August- freedom!

So happy I am numb. Don't know whether to laugh, cry or dance around. Champagne is in the fridge and celebrating with a few friends coming round for lemon and chocolate cake!

I would like to thank everyone for their support and love, it has kept me going, and to all the staff who have helped me at American Hospital, thank you for keeping me alive!

Need to let the good news sink in so will write more tomorrow.

nothing to report

Day 216- Wednesday

'normal' day- exercise and work!

The doctor who can read my scan is off sick so will get results tomorrow. Everyone is texting and messaging me about my results, should I be more anxious?

Another PET scan

Day 215-Tuesday

Off for my PET scan. The whole process is rather boring- get injected with radioactive glucose, lie in a bed for an hour, then lie on the scanner for 30 minutes. They are not scanning my brain as apparently MRI is better for that, so will have to see what happens to my symptoms to see if that is going to be necessary. The results will be ready for tomorrow lunchtime. If I am all clear then I won't need to be at the American hospital until the end of August, that’s nearly 3 months hospital free!

Spend the afternoon by the pool. Lovely and relaxing. I have to try to avoid being too close to all the children as I am radioactive for 8 hours!

Cook spaghetti bolognaise tonight and I manage the whole meal on my own!

Worst cook

Day 214- Monday

Woken at 6am by Buddy and can't get back to sleep. Decide to get up and do the cross trainer and some pilates. My plan is to organize a routine to follow, working on different areas each day. Need to be strict now as I have less than 2 months until we are back in England. Still too fat to fit into any of my dresses so need to buy a new one today as we are going to Matt's school's party next weekend.

Meet yummy mummies 'D' and 'J' for lunch. Can't believe how much baby 'G' and 'A' have grown. Both very well behaved and adorable. Nice to hear other people's news and not just talking about myself!

PET scan tomorrow so I am on a no carbohydrate diet today and all I can think about is cake! Tomorrow is my last scan for the time being. I am being scanned head to toe as I have made such a fuss about the pins and needles in my hands and feet!

My second attempt of cooking dinner fails- I drop the chicken on the floor as I get it out of the oven and have to start again! Need to remember how to cook!

Jubilee

Day 213- Sunday

Yet another bad night with Buddy. He has us both up at 1.30am with his barking, and then again at 6! He is driving us mad! We need to somehow get him to sleep out of our room and not barking in the middle of the night because he is bored. We need mum back!

Trying to watch some Jubilee celebrations but our TV keeps breaking. England looks very gloomy and wet. Typical bank holiday weekend weather.

Busy day at work…

My car arrives

Day 212- Saturday

We have a terrible night with Buddy. We keep him off the bed but he wakes every hour or so and starts to play or wash himself. This doesn’t disturb Matt but wakes me every time. Eventually, at 6am, he is up for the day so I have to get up to let him out in the garden and feed him. Get back into bed and the barking starts. We both spend the next few hours getting up and down to sort him out. Matt gives in and gets up to walk them. I remain in bed to try and get another 30 minutes!

 Matt wakes me with the best news. Professor W from Newcastle has emailed us. He reports they can still see the small spot on my liver but he thinks it is benign! It fact he writes….'At the moment we don't think Laura has ever had secondary spread of colon cancer to her liver'. He wants to see my scans in 4-6 months time to see if anything changes with me being off chemo. So for now the best news. Now I just need my PET scan to be clear on Tuesday and I am on my way!

Then we get even more good news- my car is ready, finally! Matt picks it up and drops it off at work for me. So excited! I love it! In the end the mistake didn't cost us too much. We just had to pay the difference to get the 2013 model which comes with power steering as standard. It drives like a dream and looks so cute!

After work I can't be bothered to cook so I meet Matt at the golf club for curry night! Really delicious Indian buffet and Matt gets to watch England! This could become a regular Saturday thing!

Meeting Cookie

Day 211- Friday

We didn’t know what to do with Buddy last night. We decide he can sleep in our room in case he misses mum. He ends up jumping on our bed after an hour and when I try to move him he whimpers. I feel sorry for him so he spends the night at the bottom of the bed and I spend the night with my legs bent up! Can't have this again!

Had a great time last night. Sat talking to a group of pregnant women. Feel sad as this should have been me. Hard feeling to describe. I am not jealous, the opposite, I am really happy for them but I feel so disappointed that cancer got in the way of me being in this position. My life has been off track and I am not where I wanted to be. We can't even think about babies anytime soon. We need to build up our savings again, really wait for me to be in remission and get through my next set of tests in 3 months time, and then see how the chemo has affected my fertility. So I need to be patient and just enjoy this independence before, hopefully, we become parents.

Today we pop along to watch one of Matt's student in a gymnastics competition . I really enjoy it and can't believe what these little girls can do. Then we head over to see 'R' and 'J' and I get to meet Cookie, their gorgeous cat, for the first time. I was told to stay away from kittens whilst on chemo so I never got to see him when he was small enough to fit into a hand. Now he is a huge fur ball who loves to chase the laser light!

We decide to have a movie night. It is really strange getting use to a quiet house! No mum talking throughout the film!