(updated 29 December)

Update from Yvonne,

October to December 2021

 

Life never stops happening when you're busy making other plans!

 

Just after the sale of our Pretoria house was confirmed, in July, and eight weeks before transfer was likely to go through (and Gail and I were likely to move to Cape Town, with her also selling her Joburg house), I cracked three ribs. At first I didn't know that that's what it was, but Wilhelmien Martin, my very thorough physio, sent me for an X-ray and there it was.

 

Of more concern, though, were a couple of shadowy nodules lurking behind those ribs – difficult (but not impossible) to see on an ordinary X-ray. She sent them to my doctor (Raoul Goldberg, as before), who agreed that we needed to check further. As only physicians (and not GPs) are allowed to request CT scans, we needed to ask Dr Aaron Ndlhuni – the surgeon who did my mastectomy – to request this, which he did.

 

Shall I tell you about my weekend of waiting to discuss my results (due to not knowing that the GP closed early on Fridays), during which time I became convinced that I was about to die? ... Nah ...

 

Raoul Goldberg told me that the scan confirmed that there were two nodules in my right lung and one in my left – all small, maybe even calcified. I was in no immediate danger, but action was needed in case they reactivated. He told me about the treatment that he has brought into South Africa since I had my last brush with cancer in 2017 (2017-18 update), and it sounded like it chimed with my thoughts and needs around this. It's hugely expensive, though, and medical aid won't pay for any of it, so I needed some time to think about it.

 

Dr Ndlhuni surprised me with a phone call, the evening after my discussion with Raoul. He said he always follows up with his patients, even if they've received results elsewhere. I had expected him to remonstrate with me for not at least taking Tamoxifen, but instead he told me I'd actually done really well. He said he often has patients returning after less than my four years, even when they've taken all the usual treatments. (Food for thought ...)

 

I reckoned that my options would be to simply wait until this took me out, or to have one of the usual treatments like chemo or radiation that I consider to be poison and don’t trust anyway (although I do respect people’s individual choices about these, and acknowledge that they do work for some people), 

or to have the treatment that Raoul was offering. I decided to go for it. (More about what it entails, below.) We would do it shortly after Gail and I arrived in Cape Town.

 

(This was one of the many reasons we decided to rent in Cape Town, instead of trying to buy a house on top of all our other pressures.)

 

We hadn't yet answered the question of how I'd managed to fracture three ribs without even knowing how it happened. It was possible that there was some metastasis in my bones, although I was hoping against hope that this wasn't so – especially as my ribs were healing well. We agreed that I would have a second scan, focusing on my bones, after arriving in Cape Town.

 

Now came the process of packing and moving (a parallel story – whew!). We brought in Belinda Pretorius to do mine for me, as I wasn't supposed to lift things, etc. She was a star!

 

One is also not supposed to get stressed when there's the potential for cancer anywhere in sight – coupled with an interprovincial move including a cat and a dog, selling furniture, and a not-so-nice house buyer ... har-de-har-har-har!!! 😂🤣😂

 

After missing out on a whole lot of circle dancing time due to my ribs, I was at last able to have two farewell sessions just before we left. I'm absolutely thrilled that they are going to carry on dancing! Thank you, thank you for that, Jenny Janisch and team!

 

We somehow got to Cape Town on 11 September, both extremely traumatised by the move and by discoveries about the house we're renting (including that the landlord was in such dire financial straits that the house could be sold within a couple of months). As we were finding it difficult to settle in under these circumstances, I agreed with Raoul that my treatment would start a week later than originally intended.

 

The next step was a second scan, focusing on my bones. My wish for a clear scan was not granted: there was metastasis in my 8th rib, and also shadows on my 2nd and 5th lumbar vertebrae. A blow, but I’m still in no immediate danger.

 

I had the Sono Photo Dynamic Therapy (SPDT) that I had decided on, from 4 to 13 October – it’s a short but intense process (see below, or skip that if you don’t like such details!).

 

I decided to wait until January to do the next scan (because it's not good to have too much radiation over a short time), which will tell us what has happened. (Yes, there are some middle-of-the-nights when the wondering happens a bit more, but mostly it's OK.) I continue to have regular Vitamin C infusions (drips) and to use Iscador (mistletoe) injections.

 

My rib is almost entirely better. I had started having twinges and pain on the other side and in my back, which were disconcerting (wondering whether life was always going to be physically painful from now on), and then Raoul referred me to a fantastic (and popular) chiropractor, Kim Needham, and I had my first appointment just before the year-end break: she said that the twinges and pain were the result of overcompensating for the rib injury. After just one adjustment, almost all my pain was gone! What a relief! Some of it creeps back sometimes, but I'll continue to see her in January and am hoping for further relief.

 

There are many good things for us, like these:

 

• We've had it confirmed that our home's lease is no longer under threat, so we can settle more easily – one less stress to deal with.
• There are beautiful places for Gail, Neria (our dog) and me to walk, locally.
• My part-time work (done at home) is always interesting.
• And the Pretoria circle dancing group continues to dance, which I'm thrilled about!

 

Gail has been the most wonderful support through all of this, and so has everyone who knows about it. A huge thank you to all of you!

 

All further good vibes are welcome!

 

 

My experience of Sono Photo Dynamic Therapy (SPDT)

 

This was written during the treatment, hence the use of present tense:

 

SPDT is a short but intense process over 10 days, with treatment sessions on days 1 to 3 and 8 to 10. I take “activator” drops twice – about 36 hours before the sessions of day 1 and day 8. These drops are the most beautiful colour: a deep blue-green. They latch onto all the problematic cells in my body – be they in my lungs or bones or anywhere else, and the rest of the treatment finds these cells and zaps them. After using them, I have to stay out of the sun until the end of days 3 and 10, in order not to dilute the effect of the infrared sunbed. (After the treatment: as much sun as possible.)

 

At each treatment session, I get ozone injected into my vein (which I hate because it makes me cough), then I lie in an infrared sunbed, then there is ultrasound treatment on the affected areas, and lastly a lymph compression "massage" (being zipped into a spacesuit / giant moonboot-thing from the waist down, encasing both legs and feet, which inflates and deflates regularly over half an hour – it’s actually very soothing). Khanyiso (Nunu) runs the infrared bed and the massage suit, and brings water, hotwater bottles, blankets, Swedish bitters, and whatever else is needed – all with such down-to-earth kindness. She’s an absolute star.

 

Then straight home, where I spend the afternoon sleeping or reading, and my temperature climbs VERY high, which it is supposed to do. I sometimes get intense chills and aches – also expected, as this is all about my immune system going into very high gear.

 

My day 1 was Monday 4 October, and 13 October was the last day – day 10. Over those ten days, the effects escalated to a particularly high intensity at the end.

 

Although it’s a short treatment, and nothing like the types of treatment that many people go through, I found it exhausting and am still experiencing some post-SPDT tiredness.