Our Story

Today we found out that John probably didn’t sleep too well last night as yesterday he had to take several steroids pre-Chemo today. A side-effect of steroids is not sleeping. On Tuesday he had the second hormone implant (Zoladex), and blood tests. The results of the blood tests were very encoraging: prostate cancer spread is monitored by measuring PSA (prostate specific antigen). John’s readings since diagnosis have been 27, then 14 and today was down to 3 which is great news. Today he had to take more steroids and an anti-Sickness drug. Then he had a line put into a vein in his hand (a bit of a trial, so we now that he needs to be very well hydrated before the next treatment), and was ‘flushed through’ with a saline solution. This was then followed by the chemo drug (Docatoxil), and then flushed through with more saline. All new experiences and procedures for us, but is was humbling to see so many other patients having similar procedures. We hadn’t appreciated that everyone’s chemo drug is tailored exactly to suit them, and is mixed on site daily before being administered. We’ve been dispatched with a suitcase of more drugs: more steroids (I can’t see he’ll sleep for days), antibiotics, antifungals, and more steroids to take before the next chemo treatment in 3 weeks. More blood tests are required before the next treatment to check blood levels and PSA. We also had a consultation with the oncologist about the clinical trial that John may be eligible to take part in (he’ll be the first patient at West Suffolk if accepted). So today he had an ECG and will need another blood test before being accepted onto the trial. The trial is looking at the effect of a diabetic drug (Metformin) slowing down cancer spread. We should know next week if he’s been accepted. So now we sit back and wait to see if he’ll be affected by any side effects, which may include tiredness, some hair loss, mouth ulcers, metalic taste, loss of appetite, and susceptibility to any infection. He coped really well and so far seems fine…..We will keep you posted.
Thank you to everyone who has been in touch today and sent good wishes – it really does mean a lot.
Love to you all. Bim xx

It’s early morning on my first chemotherapy day. I was awake
at just after 3:00am and didn’t feel like I was going to get back to sleep. I don’t
feel worried about the treatment, but can’t really stop thinking about it. We have
had several weeks’ notice so I am actually looking forward to getting on with
it.

We have had a six weeks now since the diagnosis which has
given us time to get over the initial shock and panic. We have both returned to
work now and are starting to try to get back to some sort of normality. I have
actually only been back for one day and now will of course be off today for treatment.
They are being very good at work with no pressure to return before I am ready
which helps. My approach now is that I want to work as normally as possible during
my chemotherapy treatment but who knows what that will be? I had a long chat
with my boss yesterday and said that in a best case I will just need a few days
off for the actual treatment, in the worst I might not be in for 18 weeks. In reality
it will probably be somewhere in the middle.

Having had time to recover from the initial shock, I have
made a conscious decision that I want to make the best of every new experience
and try to find the humour in every situation, (I hope to post a chemo selfie later
with my new found selfie skills). I am sure there will be some low points along
the way, but we need to make sure there are plenty of smiles and laughs to
balance them with.

The good wishes from everyone has helped enormously and I would
like to thank you all. Needless to say that I could not be doing this without
my gorgeous wifey – Bim. Dan and Ellie have been great support as well.

Hope to add to this later today.