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Help me live to see my grandkids grow

  • Still making great progress :)

      15 April 2023

    Hi Everyone

    I hope you are all doing well.

    I thought that I would give a final update on my journey. Currently, I am still cancer-free 😉🤩. I had a scan in December that was completely clear and another one in March that was also clear, so I am doing well. Of course, there is always a chance that the cancer could come back, but even my oncologist is hopeful that because I have had such a miraculous response to the immunology, that a return of the disease is much less likely.

    Meanwhile, I am continuing with the immunology. Normally, I have it three-weekly but recently (because we were coming to the UK), I had a six-weekly dose. If that is just as effective, I may move to six-weekly because it is only half the cost.

    Your generous donation helped me enormously when I was having to pay for the chemotherapy and immunology but they became free after 9 doses. Now, I am only on immunology and just have to pay to see my oncologist with each visit and admin costs (around $1500 each time) so that is a BIG change from $13,000 each time. I am so very grateful to each and every one of you who really helped me when I needed it most.

    Currently, we are in the UK. I managed to contract Covid on the way 😷 and so have been locked away in my bedroom for a week 😁. But I seem to have got away with a very mild dose. We had our boosters shortly before we left and I have been able to access antivirals here. I think that helped - and I am fortunate to have avoided Covid as long as I did.

    I have worked away this week while I have been locked in my bedroom and had food delivered and washing done 😂 so it hasn't been all bad.

    Next week, I am in the Netherlands all week on a speaking tour. It is pretty jam packed. I have 9 engagements over 4 days so I hope I don't get too tired.

    The week following that is Jeff's mum's 100th birthday. I am really looking forward to the party. I am sure it will be a fun day. We have other surprises in store for her as well. She is amazing; still in her own home, still climbing up and down the stairs in her home, sharp as a tack, still doing various household chores and still enjoying her clubs.

    Take care everyone - and many thanks again

    Christine xxx

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  • A special miracle

      22 December 2022

    As some of you know, I had another CT scan last Thursday. I met with Catherine, my oncologist, today.

    All the tumours have now gone including the remaining two that were in my liver. None have come back. I am so very lucky. Even Catherine described my recovery as miraculous.

    I will continue to be monitored and will continue with the immunology for a time yet but, at the moment, I am classed as being in remission. Next – and final goal – is to be diagnosed as in complete remission (No Evidence of Disease). Hopefully, that will come some time next year. Meanwhile, I think I deserve a BIG celebration 🎉🤩🎄✨.

    Thank you all once again for your donation which went a long way to contributing to this miracle.

    I hope you all have a wonderful holiday break at this special time of year.

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  • Just the very best news possible

      7 October 2022

    For those who don’t know, I had my CT scan on Wednesday. This one was critical (to me) because it provides a comparison with baseline so if the treatment was working, they can carry on. If not, then obviously the news would not be good.

    My oncologist phoned me this afternoon. She does not yet have the official report. This scan was in public and they have to retrieve the report from private in order to be able to provide an official report of any differences. However, my oncologist (who acknowledges that she is not a radiologist) does have the earlier scans and the new one. She has told me that there has been a significant reduction in the tumours to the point where many are now so small, they are immeasurable!!! You may remember that the ones in the pleural cavity were as large as 4cm x 3cm. These are now either really tiny or not measurable. The ones in my lymph nodes are either so tiny as to be immeasurable or have disappeared, and she could not even find the ones that were in my liver.

    I am so very happy. It has been a tense few days waiting for the results. Hopefully, when I have the next scan, they will all have disappeared. This was just the most wonderful news I could possibly have wished for.

    Thank you all so very much for your support and from many of you your continued support. It means so much to me to have such special people in my life.

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  • Time Out with my special man

      26 September 2022
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    We recently spent a wonderful few days in the Coromandel in a beautiful home gifted to us by some lovely people and courtesy of Time Out. Time Out is an organisation that arranges holidays for terminally ill people (not that I plan on dying any time soon 😂). Caring people donate holidays in their holiday homes for people like me. So very grateful.

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  • Kapow!

      4 September 2022
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    I continue to be incredibly humbled by the generosity of so many friends. The extra funds have certainly helped to ease the financial pressure at a time when there are a lot of other pressures.

    I am due to have another scan in October to see how much my tumours have shrunk but in a remarkable development, I had a squamous cell carcinoma (skin cancer) by my right ankle. which decided to appear just after my breast cancer diagnosis. It was becoming a cancer party! That tumour was over a centimetre in diameter. It has completely disappeared 😃. If the drugs can have that much effect on the outside of my body, hopefully they are having even more effect inside.

    I continue to tolerate the chemo fairly well. I certainly have days when I am not the energiser bunny I normally am but, overall, the effects are very mild.

    As promised, I have posted a photo with my new wig.

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  • More positive news

      8 August 2022

    I have now had a full round of my treatment: one week of chemo and immunology, one week of chemo, one week off. Fortunately, the side effects have been minor and I am feeling good. My hair has begun falling out 🙄 but fortunately, I got a new wig last week 😂 so I am all prepared. I'll post a photo next time. I had a further CT scan before beginning treatment so that the oncologist could determine how fast the cancers are growing. That showed that the cancers are either not growing or growing very slowly. That was wonderful news because it means that the treatment is not having to compete with fast-growing cancers so can focus on destroying what is there.

    Thank you once more for your generosity in contributing to my page. I would be really grateful if you could distribute it among your networks. Every donation is a huge help in my fight to save my life.

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  • First treatment round

      25 July 2022

    Thank you again for your kindness. I have really appreciated all the support that I have received so far.

    I had my first round of chemotherapy and immunology on Thursday and it went well. I have had a persistent cough for months especially when I eat anything - a symptom of metastasised breast cancer. The oncologist has said that it is because one of the tumours is close to my trachea. But suddenly my coughing when eating has stopped. I am so very happy because it seems like already the treatment is making a difference. I have another round of just chemotherapy this coming Thursday so am hoping that it goes just as well with only very minor side effects.

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