John C McAlister, that's a very kind gesture,
and if she reads here, I think
♥♥♥ maggilove ♥♥♥
will be touched.

to those who are not in the mailing list


Greetings all.

Things have been a tad hectic since I last wrote. Kicked off with the pre-chemo assessment on Friday 11th, where I got to see the chemo unit and meet the staff who would be handling my treatment. There was some discussion as to whether the chemo could proceed due to the open sores on my back, where it had burned and blistered.

On Monday 14th, I was at the hospice where I will likely spend my last days, for a meeting with a consultant to review my medication. Dr Shah immediately noticed that two of the medications on my list were conflicting. One of those has now been dumped, along with another that was causing unpleasant side effects, with the other "conflicting" med increased to take up the slack. He then explained that the painkillers I was on were great for muscular type pains, and should be continued, but that the pain that has been dogging me for months is nodular (nodes are being squeezed against the spine and organs by the tumour) and requires a different type of medication entirely. I started on the new meds Monday evening, and the effect has been amazing. I slept for five hours straight that night... first time in a year at least.

On Tuesday, after a long wait and examination by two nurses and one doctor, it was decided that my back had healed sufficiently for the chemo to proceed. Dr Mukherjee then came to have a chat with me regarding the combined therapies. He is going to provide me with copies of the research data, but was able to convince me that any potential benefit to me would be far outweighed by the additional toxicity. I went ahead with the single drug treatment.

I had a bit of an upset tum for a couple of days, and have been soooooooo tired all week... not sure if that is down to the new meds, which are pretty powerful, or the chemo. Either way, I have slept most of the time.

Had bloods done this morning, and a marker CT scan this afternoon. Second dose of chemo tomorrow... wish me well.

BTW... for those who asked...the Yantra mat is a padded mat with thousands of plastic spikes that is used for accupressure.

Mags xoxox

Yes, it came here as well.
My e-mail went to ♥Maggilove♥ at once.
I told her that Guitar Man is away for the time being.

We have news from Maggi:

Hi All

Sorry it has been so long since my last update. Thank you for all the lovely emails, news, photos, links etc you have sent. They are always appreciated.

The second bout of chemo hit me hard, as I said last time; but the third all but wiped me out, with simultaneous vomiting and diarrhoea starting just minutes after I got home from the hospital.

I had a week off from chemo last week, but that week was stressful in its own way, with the annual meeting at school to discuss my son's Statement of Special Needs in particular and his future in general.

Yesterday I met with my oncologist for review prior to the start of my second cycle of chemo. Got my CT baseline scan results... the news was not good. Whilst the pancreatic tumour has not grown significantly since diagnosis, I now have lesions on my liver that were not there before. The monster is spreading.

My blood test results were not as good as we had hoped... the cell counts have not fully recovered, and I am dehydrated to the point that my kidney function is impaired. I also had symptoms suggesting possible clots on the lung, so the doc ordered an immediate pulmonary angiogram and IV fluids to be administered before and after yesterday's chemo. This meant 2 cannulas rather than 1, and they had trouble with both... 9 attempts in all, and then the second tissued so the angiogram has to be repeated due to contrast issues preventing proper analysis of the arteries. I was sent home with a carrier bag full of Heparin injections, which I have to adminster twice daily.

I left the house at around 10.30 for my appointment with the oncologist, expecting to be home in time for lunch, and finally got back - black and blue, in agony and extremely nauseous (I had not eaten all day, and had missed several lots of medication) - just before 6 pm...

The good news is that this dose of chemo has not had any dramatic effect. I have slept almost round the clock, as usual, but no other side effects so far.

Mags xoxox

As Maggi said in her most recent e-mail
emails, news, photos, links ... are always appreciated.
So even if you have been in touch with her before,
you could send her a note,
a picture you like, some music you find fit, a link to your hometown ...
to
(((((♥♥♥ maggilove ♥♥♥)))))
maggi@mbee.co.uk
and say you saw her e-mail here.
Thank you.
Those who can pray, please do so.