See you later January.

Firstly, I would like to announce some incredible news! I had a lot of scans and tests at the start of January which included a bone marrow test, and CT scan of my whole body. This was to see if the tumor had spread to any where else and I am very pleased to say they ALL came back clear WOO! This is a huge relief and will hopefully make the treatment a lot easier!

On the 21st January I went up to UCLH to get my PICC line fitted. This is a short surgical procedure (about 30 minutes) done under local anesthetic where a long tube is inserted into a large vein and positioned just above your heart. Admittedly it does sounds slightly grim and I cried like a baby at just the thought of it, but I promise it is completely painless! Having a PICC line is slightly similar to having a Cannula but it kept there through out your whole treatment and taken out once you have finished. If you are having treatment I highly recommend having this done as it means not constantly be poked with needles as they can use the PICC line for blood tests and various other things.

My PICC line and having chemo!

The next day I started my second round of Chemo, this was slightly different to my first round as it was over five days instead of two. Two types of drugs were used during the course, one of them took 1 hour each day to insert and the other took 3 hours. So in total I was in hospital for at least 4 hours everyday. One of the drugs used can cause irritation to your bladder which meant I was to also have a huge bag of fluid attached to me for the whole 5 days to flush out the drug as quickly as possible. Although I have to admit getting up 5-6 times in the night just to go to the toilet did not help my mood the next day at all! (Apologies to all the nurses who had to witness) Compared to my last chemotherapy this time was a lot more tiring and I did feel slightly worse afterwards which the nurses did warn me about as the drugs are slightly stronger.

The dreaded bag of fluid!

During the 5 days I was also fortunate to see a Physiotherapist to help get started on improving my walking after recovering from my surgery. She firstly monitored my walking and then gave me exercises for my stomach, legs and bum to help strengthen my muscles. My stomach muscles hadn't been used because of the numbness and my legs had become very weak from lack of exercise where I was recovering from my spinal operation. Exercising my legs again to help gain strength in them has improved my balance already. Although the nerves in my spinal cord are still regenerating and I've been told that can take up to a year to heal I definitely feel an improvement in my balance just from doing the exercises already.

The second round of Chemo really took toll on my hair and although I was starting to enjoy the new pixie cut look I knew it was time to say a final farewell... I had my second appointment at Bloomsbury so I asked the stylist to also shave the rest of my hair off, admittedly this was a little upsetting and scary but I reminded myself if Kylie Minogue can do it so can I! Afterwards I focused my attention on my new wig and when the stylist brought it out to show me it looked amazing! It was a chocolate brown color which is darker than my original hair color but t felt great to try something new while I have the chance! The stylist also cut and styled it to my taste which made it look really natural. Overall I am so pleased with my new hair and it has given me my confidence back, I feel more like the old me again!

Me with my new wig! Can never take a serious selfie haha.

Coming the end of January has enabled me to reflect on the last couple of months and I have to admit it has been eventful to say the least. Although I do come across as mostly positive in my posts there has definitely been times which have been really hard. However I have learnt that is OK to cry, and in fact makes you feel a whole lot better afterwards! It is all part of the healing process and for anyone who may be reading this who is about to start their cancer journey I will admit the beginning is definitely the hardest but it does get a lot easier and having an amazing family and friends showing their support has definitely given me the motivation to keep going! I am thankful to be one month down on my treatment already and although I still have a way to go I am determined to get through this and not let cancer beat me!

Found this very true. Remind myself of this on my bad days.