The good, the bad....and the (un)lucky!

Let's start with the good.

I had an appointment with my Surgeon to obtain the results from pathology.

When the surgeon removed the tumour, she also removed a 'margin' around the tumour and took out some lymph nodes. The good news is that there was no cancer to be found within the margin, nor in the lymph nodes...so in theory the cancer has been removed from my body.

There is still some further treatment, in particular radiotherapy to kill off any tiny cancer cells that may still inhabit my left boob, but all in all it is very good news indeed.

The not so good news is that my appointment with the surgeon involved me being wheeled there in the company of a nurse, rather than walking in under my own steam.

In the last blog I mentioned they had found a DVT in my left leg, and put me on a dose of blood thinners. Unfortunately, the tablets did not get enough time to work and, yet again, breathing and dizzy spells caused me some problems.

The DVT diagnosis was on the Friday.

On the Monday I made an emergency appointment with my GP, who then made an immediate appointment with the Acute Medical Unit at Southmead Hospital (where I have stayed twice before).

So off I trotted with an expectation of getting home later that night.

Oh no. What a fool am I.

Again, my blood pressure was raised; infection markers were high and my heart rate was running away with itself. The breathing was also an obvious issue.

The medics admitted me. Stuck me on a heart monitor. Pumped me full of antibiotics and extracted a few more tubes of blood.

They also told me they thought the blood clot in my leg had broken away and it was likely in my lungs - pulmonary embolism. But it did not really explain the high infection markers.

A scan - this time using radioactive contrast in the nuclear department - showed a pulmonary lung infarction. The blood was not getting through to every part of my lungs because of the clots, and hence the lungs were not working properly and the resulting breathing difficulties.

But the scan also showed the pneumonia in the right lung had not gone (or had returned) despite the previous treatment.

So double trouble with breathing - a pretty fundamental requirement for every day living.

The treatment for blood clots (DVT or PE) is blood thinners. I will be on them for 6 months. I was also put back on antibiotics to clear the pneumonia again, and, in all, I spent another 5 days in hospital, having only been out of hospital for less than a week.

It is truly beyond my comprehension as to why my body keeps failing me.

I regularly ask my Doctors. But they don't know. They just say I am unlucky. That I have endured more side effects than any of the other patients. That my type of cancer, and my immune system has opened me up to everything.

But also, that I am strong and can fight it.

Unlucky. There's a word.

I was lying in my hospital bed on Thursday night and received a phone call.

I had previously entered a competition and purchased a ticket (for the cost of a cup of coffee), and was told that I had won a car.

I know, but it was true.

A 2020 Ford Focus sporty number plus £1000 to cover the cost of insurance and tax.

Cash was in the bank on Friday. Car was delivered on Sunday.

So....as it goes,I am not entirely unlucky!!