Rads Recap - Week 4

Got back from my fab hen weekend, totally shattered but haven't laughed so much in ages - Thanks girls!

Monday - Anyway, back to normality of sorts today. Mid-afternoon appointment so wfh'd around it which was good as meant I could be a bit dozy! Am starting to really feel the fatigue now with lots of travelling every day. Luckily today's appointment was only 15 minutes late. It's also the last of the DIBH rads today as tomorrow I move onto the boosts.

Tuesday - Today I had my first of the boost sessions. Was an early appointment & I was actually seen earlier than my appointment time! As I don't have to do the DIBH on the boosts (the rads machine is just aimed at my scar instead of the whole breast) it was a much easier and quicker process. I got in, laid on the bed with my arms behind my head, had a few dots drawn around my scar and then the rads machine came close to my scar, made a noise for about a minute and I was done. 4 to go!!
After my appointment I had a catch up with Dr Zap's Registrar who had a look at my skin. She was very pleased with how it looked and said that as long as I keep moisturising with my Aqueous Cream(this is the cream that is recommended as a moisturiser to use during and after your treatment. It does not react with the radiotherapy. It is available to purchase from all chemists and some supermarkets - I got mine from Boots) then I should be lucky in that my skin won't break. Fingers crossed!

What the new machine I'm being treated on looks like:

Wednesday - Nice and quick today, no breath holding, just zapping the boost on my scar area. 3 to go!

Thursday - My skin is definitely more pink now & I'm super tired. It's good to have the long Easter weekend as a rest :-) Only 1/2 hour delay today. 2 to go!

Rads Recap - Week 3

So the magazines in the rads waiting area are kinda old.....

Yes that does say August 1996!!



Monday - Delayed by 50 minutes today. I've started to go a bit pink and sore now. I'm half way through though (Hooray!) so have expected this. I'm using Aqueous Cream 3 times a day so fingers crossed my skin doesn't break.

Tuesday - An hour and a bit delayed today - the waiting is SO boring because once you have the treatment, it's done within 10 minutes. Am really, really tired today as well, think it's starting to catch up with me. 

Wednesday - Massive delays again but at least I can see the end in sight! Fatigue is really catching up  with me now. So tired I had to have a nap when I got in!

Thursday - Feel more refreshed today but going to work, to radio & then home is really tiring. Rads perfectly on time today

Friday - Early one today as am off to airport in an hours' time to go on my hen weekend :-)



Guest Blog Post

Back in February I was contacted via this blog by a man called Cameron who asked if he could write a guest post for my blog:

Hi Joanna,

Thank you so much for your response! I came across your blog and really identified with some of your writing. My name is Cameron Von St. James and my wife was diagnosed with an extremely rare and deadly cancer called mesothelioma. Normally when diagnosed with mesothelioma, a person has a life expectancy of about 3-12 months, but after intense treatment and recovery she is still here over 7 years later. There are many steps to take as a caregiver when dealing with any type of harmful disease. Would you allow me to write an article for your blog about my personal experience as a caregiver to my wife? We struggled through so many hardships during this tough time, but found a way to make it through. I'd love to share our story of hope with your readers who might take something away from it. This is an important message to get out there so please let me know if you would be interested in seeing it and sharing it with your readers.

Thank you for all you do in making a difference,

Cameron

I know that what he is writing about is not about Breast Cancer but as I have such a strong readership base & number of pageviews, if I can help spread his message then why the heck not!

Please see below for Cameron's post:

Being a Caregiver to My Wife Strengthened Me

I will remember November 21, 2005 for as long as I live.  This was the day that my beautiful wife Heather was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma.  This cancer shook our small family to the core when we received the news of Heather’s diagnosis.  It came at such an unexpected time because everything had been going great.  We were just celebrating the arrival of our daughter Lily three months earlier.  Whatever joy we had at the birth of our daughter was cut short by this tragic news.

At a time when we had planned to be preparing for the holidays, we were seeking out treatment options for Heather.  We could go to a local university hospital, an excellent regional hospital, or to a mesothelioma expert in Boston.  We chose the expert in Boston, Dr. David Sugarbaker, because we wanted someone who had extensive experience in treating this form of cancer.  All we could do is pray that he would be able to help Heather.

Heather was struggling with worry and I also was trying not to fall apart.  I had a few moments where I nearly gave in to panic, but I mustered up as much courage as possible and made a determined commitment to be the best caregiver for her.  By becoming her primary caregiver, I had taken on a huge responsibility, and I never could have done it without invaluable support from wonderful family members and numerous caring friends in the community.

I stayed by Heather’s side as she went through seemingly endless rounds of surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatments.  A few times, I just sank to the floor and cried and gave in to my worries and fears.  But somehow, we managed to make it through even the worst of all these events and Heather is now cancer-free. It has been over seven years since the mesothelioma diagnosis, and she remains happy and healthy to this day.

We are so grateful to people who so generously gave their support and time to help us make it through this terrible ordeal.  I also learned a lot about being a caregiver and about sacrificing for someone else.  My experience in being a caregiver strengthened me and gave me much more confidence about what I could do and what I could handle.

I ended up going back to school once Heather’s recovery was complete.  I studied Information Technology and I even had the privilege to give the graduation speech for my class.  I know that being a caregiver to my wife equipped me to take on other challenges in life, and I shared these lessons with my classmates in that speech.  Now, I hope that by sharing my story with others, I can help them in their own battles today.

Update: 03/07/2013:

Hi Joanna,

How have you been? I just wanted to reconnect and let you know about a project that my wife and I are involved in that I thought might interest you. Heather and I participated in a short video about her cancer experience, and I thought it would make a great follow up to the article of mine that you posted a while back. We’re hoping to use this video to continue to spread hope and awareness to those who need it. If you wouldn’t mind sharing it with your readers, Heather and I would be so grateful. Here is the link to the video: www.mesothelioma.com/heather

Thanks again for your help! I hope all is well.

Cameron

Useful link: https://mesothelioma.net/mesothelioma/

Rads Recap - Week 2

So by the end of this week I will be half way through - Let's go!

Monday - Yesterday was Mother's Day and as I had an early appointment today it made sense to stay at Mum's overnight and then go on from there. Woke up and overnight it had snowed! Luckily it wasn't too thick and mum had offered to drive me. Got to the appointment in time, delay of only 1/2 an hour today! So confused how they can be late when my appointment was the second of the day! Ah well.

Tuesday - Snowed even more overnight. Horror stories of people stuck on the A23 for 7 hours so today's appointment was cancelled. Means I get one added onto the end on Rob's birthday which is pants but ah well.

Wednesday - Today Michelle had the day off so she kindly offered to drive me in. We left extra time because of the snow and I was actually seen EARLY! Stopped for a bite to eat on the way home and then into work for the afternoon.

Thursday - Work in the morning and then Col kindly drove me in. Running an hour late today & then the journey home was a bit pants as we got stuck in rush hour

Friday - Appointment in the middle of the day today & Rob was able to take me in.

Now for a fun wedding-tastic weekend of final food tasting, groom's party fitting, make-up trial & dress fitting!

Rads Recap Week 1

So I've now completed my first week of radiotherapy. My skin has been holding up okay, although it has gone a little pink and dry. It's bloody tiring going to work and to Guildford every day but needs must.

My first appointment on Monday was a bit of a pain because I turned up ready to go, having arranged all my rads times with work, asked my mum to help me out with some of the driving and fitted the rads times around other appointments (wedding dress fitting, final wedding tasting, hen party & holiday to the Norfolk Broads); so imagine my delight (sarcasm...) when they gave me a new schedule of times, all different & with 3 more added to the end which meant I now have rads on Rob's birthday and fecks up the Norfolk Broads holiday.... Not impressed.

I was nervous anyway and then to have been given that new sheet and then to be told that the machine had broken down earlier that day and therefore was running 2.5 hours late was not a good start :-(

Tuesday was better, they were (only!) running an hour late and they gave me a more concrete timetable and had managed to change the times of the important days. Still was looking at 3 extra sessions though #NotImpressed

On Wednesday it was all okay, had an early appointment (09:06) so they didn't have time to run late! They also changed the time of my wedding dress fitting and wedding tasting appointment back to what they were before which is good. Still have the extra ones at the end though, boo. Still, one more over and done with and then straight onto work.

Thursday I had a booster mark up where they drew on me with permanent pen to get the exact area they need to do extra zapping on when I have my boosts at the end of the 3 weeks. I managed to speak to Dr Zap himself (as he was doing the boosts) and asked him why all my times had been changed and why I had the 3 extra boosts added onto the end. He said that 8 boosts was the new standard but that he was happy for me to have 5 instead so that means I'm back to finishing the day before Rob's birthday - wohoo :-)

On Friday my appointment was perfectly on time but it meant I was out of there at 5pm. 5pm on a Friday in Guildford is not a pretty sight. Took me 2 hours to get home #IHateRushHour

Still I'm now 1/4 done - Huzzah!

Meeting Dr Zap

Maybe I should read this whilst in the waiting room....?

 

Today I went to St Luke's Cancer Centre in Guildford for the radiotherapy planning for the next stage of my treatment. The point of radiotherapy is to target any cells that may be left in your body after chemo and surgery. The amount (strength and duration) you need varies from person to person. I'm having 3 weeks worth with a weeks' worth of booster added onto the end.

  

Macmillan do a great information booklet and have a lot of info on their website about Radiotherapy. Click here to link to their site.

  

To make sure that the radiotherapy is as effective as possible, it has to be carefully planned. Planning ensures the radiotherapy rays are aimed precisely at the cancer, it makes sure that the cancer gets the prescribed dose of radiation while normal body tissues get as little as possible.

  

I arrived at my appointment and was taken through a consent form which detailed some of the side effects of radiotherapy, the reasons for having the treatment and a bit of information about the whole process.

 

I am having a new type of radiotherapy called Deep Inspiration Breath Hold (aka DIBH). It's for people with left sided breast cancers and the idea is to reduce potential cardiac damage from the radiation. Basically if you breathe in, you fill your lungs and rib cage with air which pushes the heart further back and therefore away from the radiation dose. During my treatment, I will have to hold my breath for 12 seconds. It's harder than it sounds because you're not allowed to exhale at all or let any air escape from your nose. The radiographers can tell exactly how you're doing on your breath holds because you have to wear some goggles that look like something from a computer game and have a little box taped to your chest. The box records your breathing and movement and then the goggles are connected to this. On the screen in front of your eyes you see two lines. One is a static blue box and the other is a yellow line which moves up and down in time with your breathing. When you do the breath hold, the yellow line moves up and the idea is that you get the yellow line into the blue box and it goes green. You then have to keep the line green (by holding your breath and staying very still) for those 12 seconds. If your green line drops out of the blue box and becomes yellow, the radiation will automatically shut off, it's very clever! Try holding your breath now and time it, it honestly feels longer than you think!

Here's some more information about DIBH

  

I had to undress my top half and put on my dressing gown and walk to the radiotherapy room (which was freezing cold!). There was a CT (computerised tomography) scanner there which basically scans you and takes a series of x-rays which build up a three dimensional picture of the area.

                                                           A CT Scanner

                     
I then had to lie on a fairly hard bed and was moved into a very specific position with my arms above my head (Dr Zap had already asked me if I had full arm movement, this is important as your arms have to be out of the way of the radiation).

They then put the goggles on me and I did a couple of test DIBHs to make sure I could get the yellow line to go green.

I was then taken into the CT scan, which is all open and nothing like the MRI Scan and had to do 2 x 12 second breath holds whilst staying as still as possible. You have to stay still so that the measurements are accurate and your exact position can be recorded. This record means the radiographer can check you are lying in the correct position every time you have treatment.

Once the treatment area for radiotherapy is finalised, the radiographer will make small tattoos on your skin. Nothing like as bad as it sounds I promise! They literally look like pen dots. I have 3 black ones. One in the centre of my chest, one on my left side and one on my right side. These show the therapy radiographer where to direct the radiation beams.

After that I was all done so got dressed & collected my treatment schedule, last one is the day before Rob's 30th.

I start on March 4th, bring it on.

 

 

 

Olivine

This evening I went to Olivine & Alison - a lady I met at the BCC Brighton Forum - came along too which was cool and she seemed to enjoy it.

Having not been there since November, it was a good opportunity to let them all know where I was in my treatment schedule (last time I went I was a fortnight post last chemo), to pick their brains about radiotherapy (my next lot of treatment) and to show off my hair!

When we got to Olivine, Marilyn. gave us something called a Big Box of Love, you can read more about the idea and how the company was born here. It was an enormous box and me & Rowena unwrapped it and I read the letter enclosed out to everyone. We then all got to unwrap a pressie :) I got a fab lavendar bath set, Alison got some bath salts, Rachel got Bathing Honey, there were nice notebooks, a make-up set, make-up bags and other bits - was really generous and what a lovely idea to send to people when they are having treatment to pick them up.

Sometimes at Olivine, we have someone coming in to talk to us, in the past there has been nutritionists, crystal healing, my new hair; and tonight we had a lady come in from Pretty Permanent Make-Up.

She spoke about what permanent make-up is and about the different types of permanent make-up that you can have. Although not my cup of tea (I'd be too scared of the needles!), the results did look pretty fab :)

High Five!

Today was results day of WLE #2. I'd managed to almost put the thought to the back of my mind and then as Andy came down to stay after a work meeting in Gatwick on Thursday night I didn't really think about it until I went to bed. So after a very restless night and all morning feeling sick, Rob drove us to Redhill for my meeting with my surgeon and BCN.

Sat in the waiting room at 10h45, waiting for my 11h00 meeting, I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest it was going so fast. Annoyingly they were running 40 minutes late, which didn't help my nerves one bit.

Eventually my name was called, my legs were so wobbly I thought I was going to fall over as I walked to the room. As soon as I walked in the door (I didn't have time to even sit down or take off my coat), my surgeon shook my hand and said "We got it", I think I didn't hear him properly so I said "sorry?" and he said "we got clear margins".... I promptly burst into tears and high-fived him!!

What is a clear/negative margin:

He then told me that I would need 3 weeks of radiotherapy (aka rads - which is the minimum time they can give it to you for) and (as my BC is ER+) to take Tamoxifen for 5 years. I have to start the tamoxifen straight away and the radiotherapy will start 6-8 weeks from the date of my operation, so that will start around 5th-19th March.

My BCN then had a quick look at my scars, one where I had my SNB during the first operation and the other where I had both WLEs (they went in the same incision during the second op) and she said both were healing nicely. The reason there is the 6-8 week wait from the date of the operation, is that they need to make sure the skin is completely healed before they start rads on it.

I have a planning meeting on 11th February when I'll find out a bit more about what radiotherapy. involves. Until them, I'm off to celebrate!!

Fundraising

There are a few people I wanted to big up for fundraising already done, and others who have sponsored events coming up that I wanted to highlight:

First of all, my work (PLB) have chosen Macmillan as their charity for 2012/2013. They have done a fab job so far with various events and received this nice letter from Macmillan back in November.

PLB staff have raised lots more since then, such as a group of runners (Willem, Clare, Cathy, Rob, Laura, Mike, Suzanne, James and Guy H) taking part in the November Brighton 10k. Everyone finished and the team raised a fantastic £675 for Macmillan. An amazing achievement and thanks to all who sponsored the team :)

Also fun events like "Get Your Baps Out" - cooking sausage and bacon sandwiches on the BBQ at the start of a freezing December!

 

PLB not only fundraise for Macmillan, in November some of the guys in the office were sporting fab "mos" for Movember and  raised a fantastic £1150 to increase awareness of Testicular and Prostate Cancer. If you click here, you will see the we have even got some Mosista's involved on the last day :)

Two of my friends Robin & Michelle are both being Dryathletes for January. The Dryathlon raises money for Cancer Research. Basically neither if them can drink for the whole of January! Please dig deep and sponsor them if you can :)

In February, my friend Caroline is running the Brighton 1/2 marathon in support of The Olive Tree who have been a wonderful lifeline to me. You can sponsor Caroline by going here

Another friend Bob is running the Great South Run in October in aid of Macmillan, you can sponsor him here

Thanks to all the lovely fundraisers and to all of you who sponsor them!

WLE #2

Today I had my second WLE which I needed because they didn't quite get clear margins on the first op. Mum, Rob and I checked in at 07h00 and this time (because of the massive wait last time!) had prepared ourselves for sitting in the waiting room for a long time.

I was taken to register with the nurses at about 07h45 and as last time, she ran through various questions with me & measured me for some sexy anti DVT stockings and got me to wee in a little cup.

About 08h30 I met with my surgeon who explained exactly how the operation would work. Then I met with the anaesthetist who explained to me how the GA would work. He said they would put a cannula in my hand & then I would have the GA injected. He explained my arm would ache a bit & then I would fall asleep. As before, I told him that I was nervous because my veins aren't very compliant now after having had chemo, & he assured me they would be gentle! I also told him that last time I came round from the operation I was sick and he said they would give me extra antiemetics this time.

I then sat down for about another 45 minutes and then was called in to have my operation. It was a bit of a surprise as last time I didn't go through until about 14h00. I was taken through to a room to get changed. I had to leave my knickers on but take everything else off, put on my sexy stockings, hospital gown and then also my slippers and dressing gown which you are told to bring to hospital with you.

I went upstairs (in the lift) to surgery and then lay down on the hospital bed. The anaesthetist talked to me for a little bit and tried to put two cannulas in my hand (where the veins were not playing ball) and then on the third attempt my veins obeyed. The GA felt a little cold going in and then the next thing I knew I was waking up (it was 10h50 so the operation lasted just over an hour) on the recovery ward.

It felt like I was waking up from a massive dream and the first thing I asked was if I had a drain in, and I didn't - woo! I had an oxygen mask on for about half an hour and was also given some painkillers by drip because my wound felt a little sore. After my mask came off I was given some water, and then about 40 minutes later I was taken to the day surgery ward.

At the day surgery ward I was given a sandwich and a cup of tea and told to rest for a while, and that Mum and Rob could come and collect me about 14h00. One tip I'd give anyone reading this, is to take something to read, because just lying there waiting is very boring! Last time, because of the norovirus outbreak and lack of beds I had to just wait on the recovery ward (rather than go to the day surgery ward) and therefore I thought the same would happen again this time so brought nothing to read with me, mistake!

The lady from Medi-Home came to see me and said they would visit me at home for the next few days until they officially discharged me.

Once I had got my strength back up, I got dressed and sat in the chair in the day ward so that my bed could be made up for the next patient. Mum and Rob turned up about 14h00 and we waited for my BCN Carole who had a brief chat to me and gave me my follow-up appointment letter for 01/02/13. Fingers crossed for clear margins this time!

By 15h30 I was home, much better than the 21h00 last time :)

Food For Friends

Today I met up with some of the girls (Nicola, Amie, Kate, Hannah & Carolyn) from the Brighton BCC Forum I went to in November.

We went to a lovely vegetarian restaurant in the Brighton Lanes called Food for Friends, the food was delicious! I had Sweet Tofu Pockets to start and then Butternut Squash Gnocchi for main. Amie had a delicious sticky toffee pudding for dessert but couldn't manage it all so I knidly helped her out ;)

It was really nice to see all the girls, catch up with them and compare hair growth!

Op Update

On Friday I went for the results of my operation and I got mixed news. The great news is that following the SLNB, the lymph nodes do not contain cancer cells meaning that the cancer is contained and has not spread.

What happens after a lumpectomy is that the tissue that has been removed is examined to see if there is a 2mm margin of healthy cells around the cancer. This is known as a clear or negative margin. Unfortunately in my case there wasn't a clear margin (known as positive margins - ironic because it's not positive news!), which means that I need to have another operation (scheduled for 22/01) to remove a bit more tissue. Apparently this happens in around 20-25% of cases following a WLE.

Although obviously I'm really pleased about the lymph nodes, this journey just seems never ending!

Bragging Rights

Just had an email from Macmillan telling me that my Community Guest Blog on their website was the most viewed guest post of the last quarter of 2012 :)

 

 

Merry Christmas!

Pixie's Christmas Sacks

Back in August I bought some Pixie's Happy Bags and when I found out Pixie was doing some festive ones called Pixie's Christmas Sacks I couldn't not buy some!

 

These ones come in festive sparkly organza bags and contain:

 

A Snowball - To remind you to have fun and not take life too seriously

A Christmas Tree - Because nature is beautiful

A Reindeer - To remember the magic of Christmas

An Angel - To watch over you and send blessings your way

A Snowflake - Like you, special and unique

A "Merry Christmas" - Because that is what I wish for you

 

 

Pixie has now raised £9,000 (!!) for Cancer Research

 

 

At Home

First day back from the hospital, am reading up on the necessary After Surgery info.

I'm wrapped up tightly in a corset and I still have the horrid drain in but hopefully it should come out soon.

The Medi-Home nurses will come to the flat and check my wound, dressing and drain until they can officially discharge me.

Lovely flowers from Grandma Dilly

Christmas floral arrangement from Amanda & Paul

Pretty flowers from Gma & Gpa

 

Fagin investigating the balloons from SJ

 

Some of my cards:

 

 

 

The Op

Mum, Rob & I checked into the hospital at 07h00. We were there for about 15 minutes when a nurse came through & explained how the day would work. Then about 07h30 I was taken through to register with a nurse who ran through various questions with me & measured me for some sexy anti-DVT socks. Then I met with my surgeon's registrar who explained exactly how the operation would work.

About 09h30 I went down to the x-ray department. I had 2 mammogram photos taken & then 2 local anaesthetics (ouchy!) in lefty. They then inserted 2 wires, one in the area of the marker coil, the other in the area of microcalcifications. Feeling pretty tender I walked back to the waiting room and about an hour later I met with the Home Care nurses. The HCNs will be coming out to the flat for as long as I need them to check the wound, keep an eye on the drain, dressings etc & once they are happy I can officially be discharged.

About an hour later I met with the anaesthetist who explained to me how the GA would work. He said they would put a cannula in my hand & then I would have the GA injected. He explained my arm would ache a bit & then I would fall asleep. Having never had one before, I explained how nervous I was & he told me I would be very well looked after.

Then I met with my BCN Carole who gave me a pressie (shower gel, tissues, Polos, a pen, notepad, chocolates & a Get Well Soon card) & explained next steps (exercises to strengthen the shoulder & arm & that I was to relax lots) & that I might be a bit smurfy (blue face for a day or two, smurf wee for a day & blue boob for between 2 weeks & a few months) after the op due to the blue dye used in the SLNB.

About 13h30 I was feeling pretty hungry & thirsty having been nil by mouth since 20h30 last night. Then I was called to go for my operation. Eeeek! I kissed mum and Rob & walked down the corridor to get changed into my hospital gown, dressing gown, sexy anti-DVT socks & slippers.

I then walked down the next corridor & into the operating theatre. I lay on the operating table & they tried twice to put a cannula in my hand before finding a good vein. Once they had it in the anaesthetist chatted to me about my job & the next thing I knew I was coming round from the operation.

I don't remember falling asleep from the GA so it felt bizarre when I came round to be told it was all done. I vaguely remember Rob calling the recovery ward about 16h25 but was so foggy I couldn't be sure (later found out he did call & I wasn't dreaming). I was surprised to see I had a drain in as with WLEs you often don't need them but they told me I had a fair bit of oozing (yuck!) during the op. not sure how long it'll be in for but I can ask the HCNs tomorrow. After about 5 minutes I was sick a few times but this is a fairly common SE of having a GA.

The recovery team bought me water, a cup of tea, a sandwich & some jelly & ice-cream. I had a pretty sore throat from having had a tube in my mouth so couldn't really eat the sarnie but the ice-cream was great! Then after dozing a bit more I was taken downstairs (about 18h30) to see mum & Rob.

After waiting in the discharge lounge (sounds gross!) for about 15 minutes & having a smurf wee I was free to go home :) Michelle & Leanne kindly did Fagin duties so there were no stresses there whilst we were away.

I have a follow-up appointment on the 4th January to ensure they got 2mm clear margins otherwise I'll need another op. Fingers crossed!

Home from Surgery

Will post properly tomorrow, but hip hip hooray for being home!

Nuclear Medicine

Today I had a Nuclear Sentinel Lymph Node Scan with Nuclear Medicine in preparation for my operation tomorrow. I went along to the hospital and had to take off my top & bra, put on the gowns and lie down on a padded exam table. I then had an injection of a weak radioactive dye (technetium-labelled sulphur colloid) in my left boob close to the nipple. The injection itself didn't hurt but when they injected the radioactive tracer liquid it stung a little. I thought that I was going to be having the blue dye (to show up your lymph drainage) but that is actually a different injection & is going to happen tomorrow at the same time as my operation.

I then had to massage my boob for about ten minutes so the tracer liquid could move quickly through my system & as soon as it was draining properly they were able to start taking images (a process known as lymphoscintigraphy). I was still lying on the table when a radioactive slate was put underneath me and I was moved forward under a large camera. They took 3 photos, 1 on top, one slightly to the left and one to the side. The images are taken to show which nodes are receiving the liquid, which in turn indicates where the sentinel lymph node (SLN) is, so that the surgeon knows where to find it tomorrow. They then marked me under my armpit with an X again to assist the surgeon with locating the SLN tomorrow. The tracer liquid also means the surgeon can use a Geiger counter type thing during the operation to assist in the node finding.

Then I was free to go. Next blog post I'll have had the WLE.......

Pretty card from Hannah:

Pre Op Assessment

Today I had my Pre Op Assessment. I wasn't really sure what this would entail but apparently it is something everyone has before they have any type of surgery to ascertain that they are fit and healthy enough to undergo an operation. From speaking to other people it seems that everyone's assessment is different but this is what happened in mine....

Before I had my appointment I had to fill in a questionnaire which asked me lots of questions about any operations I had had before, lifestyles, allergies and general health. When I got to my meeting at the hospital they went through my questionnaire, weighed me, measured my height, tested my blood pressure, took my pulse, swabbed my groin and up my nose for MRSA and they also explained what would be happening in my operation next week. They also tried to take my bloods but my veins weren't behaving so after a few attempts I was sent over to phlebotomy where they managed to do it straight away using a Butterfly Needle. I am going to ask for those all the time in future rather than be a pin cushion!