Happy New Year to everyone. It’s been a while since I have felt like writing and I guess I just wanted to enjoy the holidays with Nathan and all our friends. We had a brilliant time starting with the great news that my PET scan had come back clear. I had put it all out of my mind actually and decided to not give it any thought and at least any of my energy. Well let’s reconvene as Dr Ivanov said, and we sure did…

Karen came to visit and it was great having her here with us, both here and in Cardiff, our 2 gaffs 🙂 We hosted here on Christmas eve with some good folk dropping by in the day, Loraine and Rob and Pammy and Keith. Later that evening we had Denis and Jeremy, Bernie and Tony and Frankie. It was a lovey evening and so much food. Shame about the roast potatoes, oh well, I don’t pretend to be a cook! haha! A memorable moment was when Nathan got Loraine to eat a chocolate brussel sprout with the wrapper on. Priceless! Haha!

Christmas day Karen, Nathan and I just had a very relaxed and chilled day and that evening Denis and Jeremy hosted at their place. An amazing meal as always and great company. A whole entire fillet beef, cooked to perfection with all the trimmings. Sometimes I wish I could manage something like that but hey we all have our strengths.

Boxing day meant Karen, Nathan and I were heading to Cardiff and we ended up in such horrible traffic it took us just over 5 hours to get there. All thanks to Denis and Jeremy for loaning us their Jeep to be able to travel all together. My car is not very practical for more than me and the boy. As soon as we arrived we headed off to Nathan’s parents and had a lovely time there with Nathan’s brother Matthew, auntie and cousin. Great food and such a welcoming family. Note to myself;  never have vodka with whole ice cubes, it just gets me every time lol! Crushed ice or nothing. I even fell asleep and I was so mortified about it. How to impress future in-laws. I’m weird there is no doubt about it. And no I was not driving home in case you wondered 😉

The following day we went to Louise and James’ as they were having a party. It was great to meet some of the peeps I had met a party in November at CJ and Sarah-Janes. Usual suspects in tow, Sarah Chainey and the girls, Ceri (Cheri!) and Matt, Keeley and her mum. Loads of kids which makes things interesting. Even joined in with putting together a little number haha! Got to love this group of Nathan’s friends they are so great to be with.

The next few days were spent visiting Caerphilly Castle, Penarth and spending time with Karen and Nathan. Nathan has to go back to work for a couple of days so Karen and I made him a nice dinner one night. Karen was our resident DJ too, which was great fun. Plenty of wine, laughter and the dogs (the boys) even dropped by for a sleepover (with Karen haha!) Karen picked up a nasty little bug and was really not feeling herself. I really felt for her as you come all the way here to end up sick. Plenty of things going around. Bless her and she had just got rid of a cold a few weeks earlier

Back to Crawley to prepare for NYE celebrations. Our poor Bernie has fractured her wrist and is in a cast. What a way to end 2016. My mentor out of commission and it’s funny how these types of things make us realise how things can change from one minute to another. Nathan made his famous Chilli and even a veg chilli for Frankie, bless him. He is so good in my kitchen (or any kitchen!) Way better than me. Tommy was also with us, along with Denis and Jeremy. Was so gutted that Bernie and Tony couldn’t make it. They are also very special to me.

New Years day was quite chilled with more chilli and jacket potatoes and lots of champers and wine (and Vodka) to wash it all down. Sofa time for the Karen, Nathan and I and we watched Saving Mr Banks which is an amazing movie and caught up on the Strictly final. Love days like this where you do fuck all!

Karen heading back home on the 2nd and the day before decided she was not feeling that well so upgraded herself to Business Class. It was going to be the only way to try and rest during the flight. Nathan and I headed back to Cardiff, hit some more traffic as you do! We are really between 2 homes all the time and it’s great. I love him so much. It was actually the first time we had spend this amount of time together. It was amazing actually.

Some us time on the cards and our last day together was spent having lunch at the Hardwick in Abergavenny which was awesome and then a little tour of the city centre. Breathtaking views as we made our way to Brecon and had a nozy around there too. We even got close to snow on the mountain top, it was really special. My boy knows how to show me around. I really enjoy seeing the sights with him. Got to love a Welsh man! Thank fuck for Nat Nav!

During the day I missed a call from an unknown caller. I thought it had to be the doctors office as they never show their number. I didn’t realise there was a voice mail until we were almost home. Dr Ivanov wanted to see me the next day in Crawley. Ok well you can’t just forget about it can you. Bang …. back down to earth I came.

Dropped Nathan off at work this morning and headed back home to get ready for my appointment. Denis by my side as always and we headed into Crawley Hospital and were greeted by Jonesy a lovely Scottish nurse. She was full of life and personality. I love people who are passionate about what they do, even if has been over 30 years. Check my vitals and take some more blood why don’t you. But it was made very pleasant. Why on earth are you in Crawley she says haha! Why are you I ask! lol

Now the time has come to meet Dr Gleb Ivanov, I sense that I am not being called in for pleasantries. He does have a great sense of humour which I really appreciate. So he has conferred with his colleagues and the verdict is in. The recommended course of treatment is chemo over a period of a few months followed by a stem cell transplant (they use your own cells I just learned), hospitalisation for up to 3 weeks and then they hit you with the intense chemo then re-inject your cells back into you as you will need them. This all sounds horrific. In fact it is invasive. There is a 2% risk of not even making it through. That means out of 100 patients they lose 2, not good if you ask me. I am feeling really healthy and my PET scan was clear there must be another way. I am not sure I am up for what is being suggested.

Today I am told the only place the PET scan does not give any detail of, is in the bones, so I will need a bone marrow biopsy in the coming weeks. They wanted to do it tomorrow but I have so much on right now it will be scheduled as soon as it can be. I ask what are my chances if I don’t agree to this course of treatment, no one knows. This is the most frustrating part. If I knew what I was dealing with I could think more clearly. It’s just not what I had been hoping for.

Dr Ivanov feels my pain and thinks I should seek a 2nd opinion with Dr A who is the top guy in London. Game on, I can’t just accept this and not have more options. This is my life we are talking about. Everything is at stake here and I want to have some say in what is going to be done with me. I have used my private health care to get referred as qucikly as possible, but am told Dr A is a very busy man.  Dr Ivanov once again says we will reconvene.

Denis drove me back home and I am ok actually, a little numb, but thinking there must be another way. Nathan calls me and I give him the news. He is my wing man, just says we will get through this. It’s exactly what I need right now. Back to work in the morning and roll on the weekend. Enough for today and thanks to all who read me, hope I don’t bore you too much. Time for a drink. X Cheers!