Update: August 2023
Hi
all – thanks for all the good wishes and strengthening vibes!
My
final chemo of the series is done! Started and ended earlier, as we'd already
completed the pre-check yesterday.
(Someone
asked if I rang a bell at the end: no, there's no bell. But there was one early
last year, when I completed a course of radiation therapy.)
Gail
fetched me after taking Julia to the airport. Fly well, Julia!
The
rest of the cycle will continue as normal; then there will be the PET scan; I
still have to be careful of infections until the end of October.
(Photo:
Layla, our other caretaker, who hasn't had much airspace lately.)
Lots
of love 🌹❤️
Thank you for all your beautiful birthday greetings!
A
handful of months ago, I wasn't sure whether I would even make it to the next
day, never mind my next birthday... Now here we are, on my 66th birthday, on
the 6th of August, after my 6th chemo treatment – the final one in this series.
Thank
you, thank you, thank you from Gail and me to all of you, for the huge part you
have played in this process and in getting me to this point. Your love and
support have been with me every step of the way.
I
love you all! 🌹❤️
(Here
are some photos of our quick visit to Muizenberg today - staying well away from
other people! https://photos.app.goo.gl/t9Sgc79dqQyM6JWy5
)
Hi
all
Amazing
what can happen, so very quickly!
Yesterday
(my Day 7 check), as my blood counts started dropping (which they do, at this
stage of the cycle), I could also feel the threat of some sort of upper
respiratory infection. They gave me a three-day antibiotic, but by today I was
really not feeling quite the thing.
So
here I am, back in hospital since late afternoon today, to be monitored and
receive intravenous meds, plus – probably – a blood transfusion.
Lots
of love to all of you 🌹❤️
Hi
again, from my hospital room that kind-of has a view (including a slice of
today's very blue sky) -
After
48 hours here, including a blood transfusion last night and lots of other meds
in my drip throughout, I'm doing better but still being monitored. My blood
counts have gone up as intended, I don't have a bacterial infection, and most
of the time my temperature is fine. It seems that whatever is still happening
(I feel a bit snuffly) is mainly a hangover from the recent Covid.
Under
other circumstances, I wouldn't even be in hospital at this point ... there's
been so much to learn about how one handles life in the chemo lane!
While
I have no complaints about the wonderful care here, I'm looking forward to
going home as soon as I can.
Thanks,
as always, for your loving support. 🌹❤️
Home!
(We
took a scenic route.)
I
left behind a lovely roommate, who is dealing with major issues of her own,
also with Danie's help. So glad to have been able to support each other and to
have had some good discussions.
So
good to be tucked up here, after a shower (there's no really safe way to shower
when one has a drip!), and to know that Gail, Neria and Layla are close at hand.
Thanks,
as always, for all the encouragement and support.
Lots
of love 🌹❤️
Hi
everyone –
I know it’s time for an update when
people start contacting me to find out how I am!
I’ve mostly been very quiet and
introspective this week – I’m still tired, and it feels like I’ve taken quite a
bashing in the last month, with Covid and then the second hospital stay as
well. Chemo does lower one's resistance, no matter how resilient one believes
oneself to be!
In the past 9 days, I’ve only gone
out once, to an appointment and a little bit of “retail therapy” (bought some
fabric).
But I have also done some medical
admin – following up several times with the medical aid when they are slow to
pay the bills (but they do pay in the end!), and making the appointment for my
PET scan (next week, Tuesday 29 August) and the consultation with Danie to hear
the results (Thursday 31 August).
I’ve done a bit of writing about this
journey of the past few months, and have just finished a longstanding knitting
project. The blog post of the first is at https://yvonne-tessa-taube-bulelwa.blogspot.com/2023/08/things-im-glad-i-didnt-know-and-other.html , in
case you are interested, and the one about the knitting project is
still brewing …
Lots of love, as always 🌹❤️
(Photo:
a piece of nostalgia for what blooms in Pretoria at this time of year)
2023 08 29
Thanks
to everyone who has sent good wishes or good vibes for today's PET scan!
We're
back home from our jaunt to the northern suburbs (Panorama Medical Centre). It
took two hours from arrival to departure, as one has to wait for the injected
radioactive substance to be ready to show up,
so the scan was only done in my last 20 minutes there. But all very
efficient and easy, with no discomfort or side effects.
And
now we wait.
Lots
of love to all of you. 🌹❤️
2023 08 31
Hi everyone! The PET scan results show that the lymphoma is in remission!
(Today has been a rainbow day, so here's a photo I took this afternoon, plus one of me when we arrived home during a "monkey's wedding".)
Here
are the details:
There
is no cancer activity in any of the nodes where the lymphoma was.
So
we are back to how I was in November last year: I still have what Garth the
oncologist was referring to as a chronic condition that we are managing – the
breast cancer that I've had since 2017, which metastasised in 2021. Those nodes
in my lungs are still active, in the same way that they've been for two years
(and we continue to treat them with Exemestane). The bones that were treated
with radiotherapy last year continue to be fine, with no activity. There is one
area on my left hip that wasn't targeted at the time (I'm not sure if it had
even shown up yet), which we will need to keep an eye on.
My
white blood cells are fine, but my red blood cell count is still a bit low,
explaining why I continue to get tired – but not problematic enough for a blood
transfusion. (How do we know all this? Well, ha ha, I thought I could surely
duck a blood test on arrival today but that was not to be! Another little
learning: one's passport into Danie's office is a full blood count!)
We'll
recheck all the counts when I go to Danie for a follow-up in about a month's
time, and again a month after that. I now also revert to CT scans every three
months, probably for the rest of my life, with a consultation with Garth after
each one. If anything seems abnormal between all these checks, I have to raise
the alarm immediately, as lymphoma relapses are not unknown and are aggressive
if they happen. (I asked Danie, who surprised me by being rather low-key about
everything, whether there would ever be a situation when he would dance on the
table, and he said, "Maybe in two years' time." Ever cautious, is our
Danie.)
On
the plus side, I can stop the low microbial diet immediately (Gail and I had a
celebratory lunch at the Old Bakery Market in Lakeside!) and can garden and
touch plants. But I can't go to concerts etc and must avoid people who could
pass any kind of infection on to me, until the end of October. That's also
about the time my hair should start growing back. I also have to take things
gently for a while, as my bone mass has been affected and I still have some of
the side effects that did land with me.
When
Gail and I thanked Danie for all of this, I said that I realised I would not
have been here to thank him if I had not undergone this process. He agreed. At
the time, he had told me that I probably would not make it to the end of the
year if I didn't, but when I said I probably wouldn't have made it to the end
of last April, he readily agreed. That's how near the end I actually was when I
met him on 12 April.
Whatever
happens next, I have no regrets.
Thank
you, thank you, thank you to everyone who is walking this journey with me.
Lots
of love
Here's
a poem that was shared on Facebook this week:
Do
not mistake the current chapter you are in
for
the completed story of your life.
Do
not mistake temporary periods of transition
for
your final destination.
Do
not mistake the current challenges you are wrestling with
for
the whole of your experience.
And
do not mistake the limited perspective you hold
for
the ultimate truth of the universe.
– Tahlia
Hunter
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