Tag Archives: cancer

pat’s tapas tour revisited

02 Thursday May 2013

Posted by in cancer, food & drink, friends, tapas, tapas tours, video

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ellen and hilaryJust over a month ago I got an email from a woman called Ellen who said she was an acquaintance of Pat’s from the Colon Club forum. Ellen had seen the video I’d made for Pat and, as she was going to be in Spain soon with her partner Hilary, asked about the possibility of doing Pat’s Tapas Tour. And well, I was delighted to do this.

So on Tuesday I met them at the Cathedral and we headed off to the first stop. It was quite an emotional experience talking to someone who had known Pat, even a little (Ellen had only had contact with Pat on the CC forum, looking for advice about her then partner, who has since died of cancer). But it was also fun to see how both Ellen and Hilary recognised the places we went to, as well as the food, and also some of the waiters and owners. And of course we talked about Pat… brought back so many feelings and memories.

Still miss you, Pat. And I always will. xx

all clear!

12 Tuesday Mar 2013

Posted by in cancer, friends, health & happiness, hope, hospitals

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pili and meHUGE sigh of relief… my PET scan was clear today and so I get another six months. I do wonder if this is becoming “routine” for those reading and – like with some people I know  – I get the “oh, don’t worry, you’re going to be fine!” thing beforehand and the “I knew you’d be okay!” afterwards. Which I know is a way of people saying that they are hoping for the best. But sometimes it feels like it is diminishing my own feelings about these tests.

I will be having PET scans every six months until next year and, if all is still well by that time, the scans will then be reduced to once a year. Why? Because I am still considered very high risk for recurrence. And why do I worry so much when I’ve had clean scans for the past four years? Because I’ve already lost a dear friend who was “cancer-free” for four years and another dear friend has been struggling through his latest recurrence for the past year or so. Trust me, these tests are very expensive. They don’t just do them as a matter of course – you have to be considered high risk.

Which is me.

botaniAnyhow, I went off in the rain early this morning and was thrilled to see that the lovely Pilar was a part of my PET team today. She is such a lovely person and a long-time friend. You may recall that back when I was sick on chemo and desperate about how I was going to get through the summer she gave me a month. So it was great finding out that she was on duty today. After my first run through the PET machine I sat with her in the computer room watching my scan images spinning around… first time I’ve ever done that. Pili showed me how this bit was like this, another bit like that. Kind of cool and also a bit freaky. Then we went off for breakfast and after that I had to go through the machine again (this almost always happens because I have a dodgy area that needs rechecking) and then suddenly I was okay!

But you know, after all the build-up of stress and worry it actually takes awhile for the Good News to sink in. So Peter met up with me and we went for a celebratory glass of Botani at the Vineria San Telmo, and then it was a walk home in the rain…

Now I’m here all cosy and thankful and kind of floppy, to be honest. This whole ordeal really takes it outta me. So I think I’ll just take it easy this afternoon and evening. The Next Six Months can start mañana…

pre-pet low carb day

11 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by in cancer, food & drink, hope, hospitals

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low carbApparently you are not supposed to eat carbohydrates 48 hours before a PET scan. Who knew? Well okay, I sorta knew as I used to read about some people’s pre-PET regimens on the Colon Club forum, but as nobody here had ever said anything other than I shouldn’t eat six hours before the scan I didn’t think it mattered that much.

Turns out that it is rather important as too much carb-sugar can skew the scan results, often ending up with false positives. Likewise doing any strenuous exercise 48 hours before a scan. I actually knew about the latter but can’t actually see the connection in the same way as the sugar connection – Sledpress, can you shed any light on this?

It also turned out that, coming home after two days of – let’s be honest – some rather intense tapearing in Málaga, I felt like I needed to detox a bit. So yesterday I eschewed carbs and went for nice light veggie and protein meals, which means that just by chance I am doing the 48-hour thing. But I wonder why I have never been told about this at the hospital here. Ah well, by this time mañana I will know if I am okay for another six months or if……

go figure…

20 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by in cancer, hospitals, tapas tours, work

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stethoscopeYou may recall back in 2008 when I was told by my then oncologist that I had maybe a year to live… and it turned out she hadn’t even checked my latest biopsy results! Well, it wasn’t long after that incident that I switched oncs and, thanks to Ricardo, started seeing Dr Ana, who happens to be deputy director of the oncology department at the hospital. Which was certainly a step up, and I felt in much better hands, but I still felt Dr Ana was a bit cold and so I kept our conversations as short as possible and talked to Ricardo about anything that I was really concerned about. Though Ana did ask me after awhile if I was back to work, which is how she came to find out about my tapas tours, but I thought this was just professional interest in my general well-being.

And so imagine my surprise when, during today’s appointment to organise my next PET scan, she turned to the trainee doctor sitting in and said… “You wouldn’t believe how incredible this woman is. First she was out of work after during and after her treatment and desperate about what to do next, but she picked herself up and started her own business, and now look at how successful she is! I am so proud of her!”

Huh? I mean, I was stunned. Guess it just goes to show that you never really know what people think of you. Though it took having a ‘third party’ in the room for Dr Ana to say this, but I got the feeling she was also saying it to me, and I  know that from now on I’m going to feel much more at ease talking to her. Cool, innit?