On The Rise Again

Hi everybody.

Unfortunately I have some bad news.  I took blood again last week to measure my tumour marker and it has doubled in the last 5 weeks – it is now 73.  I am absolutely devastated but ready for the fight.  The hospital is arranging for me to have another CT scan to see if there are any visible tumours and I have an appointment with my consultant on 26th January to discuss the scan results and my options for further treatment under the NHS.

Needless to say my brain started working 100 miles per hour and I have come up with a plan.

Just recently I read a book called ‘The Journey’ from Brandon Bays and I was really fascinated by it. She developed a method where you reach your deepest self, discover what your unresolved issues are and find out on an emotional level why you are not letting go of an illness.  A good friend of mine tracked down a practitioner in the UK who does sessions using the techniques from The Journey, so I’ve arranged to see her to see if she can help me.  That is what I am doing this weekend.   I am very excited about it and hoping I can find some answers.

Furthermore, I’ve contacted one of the clinics in Germany that I’ve been in touch with previously to arrange a date for me to go out for treatment.   Thanks to all the generous donations I am able to start treatment at this clinic.  I’ve chosen to go to the Lentz clinic, which offers a unique treatment called Immunepheresis that is only available in Germany.  Immunepheris is an immunotherapy type treatment that helps the body’s own immune system to fight the cancer, so it is non-toxic with no side-effects.  It works by using a dialysis machine to filter something called TNF blockers from your blood.  TNF blockers shield cancer cells from your immune system, so by removing these, it weakens the cancer’s defences, thereby allowing white blood cells to attack the cancer.  The treatment is proven and has got very promising results.   I am trying my best to avoid chemotherapy as I have hardly recovered from the last one – after nearly 8 months of chemotherapy treatment I only had 3 months of stable disease before the cancer started growing again.

On the other hand, the good news is, we have set a date for the big day - our wedding.  It is scheduled in for the 14th March (this year of course).  I am so excited about it and looking forward to becoming a “Mrs”.  It’s going to be a very small wedding with just family and very close friends, but a very special day.  I need to get better by then as that date cannot be changed!  I do not want to change it.

As you can see there’s a lot happening.  I will keep you updated on my progress.

Thank you for your help and generosity.