All done for now

So, that’s the chemo all finished for now. I say ‘for now’ as I know this will be back but hopefully I have got many years before this happens. I spoke to the Nurse liaison officer at the NAC about how long this is likely to last and he mentioned that some patients are getting an average of 7 years before a recurrence and also an article published in the ‘Blood’ journal, states, ‘the efficacy of Velcade (Bortezomib) has a 7 year remission in 55% of participating patients’, so let’s hope I’m in that 55% and for even more than 7 years before it rears its ugly head again.

Alistair and I went on holiday last week up to Callendar and had a lovely week with various members of the family joining us for parts of the week. I managed a few bike rides, not least a 26 mile ride from Callendar to Stathyre and back which started off in lovely weather but progressed to really cold wet conditions heading into Strathyre, where there just happened to be a lovely cafe, which was very warm and did lovely coffee and scones with clotted cream. We managed to get warm and set off back home but the peripheral neuropathy in my feet meant that my toes became completely numb on the way home which was surprisingly incredibly painfully and made the last few miles cycling quite unpleasant. Once we got back it took a long time to warm up but other than my feet the rest of my body coped with the exercise and I’m reassured that I’ll be able to get fit again. It’s now 10 days since my last chemo session and I’m starting to feel almost normal…. the pains and burning in my legs and feet are regressing and I’m beginning to come out of the chemo fog. I’ve still to see the consultants for a final chat about what happens next but in the meantime my life will carry on and I’ll try and get fitter and lose some of the steroid puffiness and extra weight I’ve gained from eating what I want and not exercising. I can’t totally blame the steroids.

One of the lasting side effects of the treatment however which is most distressing is I have gone off Champagne and Prosecco!!!! I’m hoping this is merely a change in taste buds but so far I’m not convinced. Gin and tonic has taken over as the drink of choice at the moment but it’s not quite the same and the toast to my finishing treatment was a mouthful and I didn’t enjoy it at all but maybe, as with all of this, time will tell if things improve.