Update 11 - 24th July 2008

Hi everyone.

My apologies to some of you that have sent emails but not received individual replies from us. Life has been quite difficult for some time.

As you know the first line of chemotherapy treatment only checked the development of the cancer. i.e. It didn’t shrink or kill it. It stayed the same size, which was in a way a small success.

However, the consultant confirmed that there was no point continuing with the same treatment as it would not achieve the desired effect.

Liz started a new course of chemotherapy on May15th, using a different type of drug. The consultant informed us that the success rate was a lot lower than the first treatment.

The plan was for Liz to have 3 or 4 cycles of treatment each of three weeks, followed by another scan to check on progress.

We were informed that there was a strong possibility that Liz would lose her hair after 3-4 weeks. She tried using a ‘cold cap’ during the first infusion, which was designed to freeze the hair follicles whilst the drug was being infused. Unfortunately it didn’t work, and most of her hair fell out in week four….right on time.

Because we expected her hair to fall out we had already organised a smashing Revlon Wig, along with a number of headscarves/caps which she feels very comfortable in, both around the house and when we go out.

The main side effect of this regime (apart from hair loss) is diarrhoea and constipation, during which time Liz eats very little and loses weight, despite me pumping lots of high protein/calorie drinks and food into her.

When the D & C stops she naturally feels very weak and extremely tired for a few days until she recovers. Clearly it is very unpleasant, but as usual Liz never complains, just suffers in silence. It is very difficult for me to know what to do for the best, other than to administer all the drugs at the right time and try and stock up with food that she might like….such as clotted cream ice cream with scrummy Canadian Maple Syrup at 11.00pm!

On Sunday June 2nd we attended ‘Race for Life’ event to support a friend who used to work with Liz. She was running to raise money for the cancer charity, and was running ‘for Liz’. She did very well, coming second out of around 2,000, which was an excellent result, and in the process raised a good sum of money.

Friends continue to ‘pamper’ Liz with face massages, finger and toe nail polish (two different people!), and more recently she has had an enjoyable Head & Shoulder massage via the local hospice (another one planned for next week).

It was Liz’s 65th Birthday on 17th June. Julian came down for a couple of days, and on her birthday we went out for a very nice meal, wearing her new wig!

We decided a year ago that we would organise a Garden Party at Wheelwrights around the time of Liz’s birthday to celebrate not only her 65th but also her retirement, and the fact that we had lived in the village for 21 years. In fact we were also able to celebrate my retirement which was brought forward by a couple of years due to Liz’s ill health. We decided to go ahead with the party even though Liz was unwell. In fact she coped very well and enjoyed the day immensely.

The day was a great success, with 80 friends and family attending. The weather could have been a little better, but at least we did see the sun on several occasions and it didn’t rain. In fact the weather has been generally quite poor on the weekends either side of the party.

Julian supplied a very large Gazebo for the food, which was done by outside caterers. We also had several smaller Gazebos for the drinks and live musical entertainment etc.

We brought a French Flautist down from London to play a wide range of popular and classical music whilst guests were arriving and having their two course meal. Several guests bought one or more of his three CD’s. We first heard him playing in Sherborne High Street a couple of years ago. He has worked with a number of well known people including Shirley Bassey and Michael Ball, as well as a number of top orchestras. Liz was unaware that we had booked him until he arrived in the garden, so it was a really nice surprise for her.

On July 16th Liz had another scan to check on progress.

On the weekend of the 18/20th July we visited some friends near Winchester and stayed for a belated lunch due to the awful traffic around Wimborne and again on the M27 just north of Southampton. In the afternoon we travelled on to Guildford for the weekend with the boys and their families. Liz’s appetite was very good over the weekend, in spite of still having problems with her stomach. On Saturday we visited Polesdon Lacey a National Trust property, going for a pleasant stroll (Liz in wheelchair) around the grounds with their spectacular views over the English countryside.

Liz was in a lot of discomfort yesterday (Wednesday) and today, so we went to see our GP, who felt it was probably being caused by a build-up of fluid again, which he thought might need draining (three months since last time).

This afternoon (Thursday) we had an appointment with the Oncologist, who unfortunately confirmed that the scan taken last week showed that there had been some deterioration since the last scan 10 weeks ago. In other words the chemotherapy had not been beneficial and that there was no point continuing with the same drug. The tumours had grown a bit, not what we wanted to hear.

He outlined his next course of action, which is based on a 12 weeks course of ‘continuous’ infusion 24 hours a day, with two added drugs every six weeks. This treatment will require a permanent ‘line’ to be inserted in a vein.

The Oncologist has quadrupled the quantity of steroids she is having, to try and reduce the effect of the tumours, particularly the primary one in the bowel. From the symptoms Liz has he thinks the primary tumour is in effect almost blocking the bowel and inflaming the whole area. Fluid and gas are being produced which is causing the constipation, wind, fluid build-up and stomach cramps.

Hopefully the symptoms will reduce once the tablets kick in.

The next problem is fitting a PICC line into a vein in her arm for the continuous infusion of the drugs. Her veins are in a very bad way because of all the blood samples and injections she has had. They found one good vein today which hopefully will allow them to get the line into place on Monday. They will thread it up through the vein and into the area around her heart.

If they can't get it in, she will have to wait for the surgeons to find a theatre slot, give her a general anaesthetic and implant a 'central' line under the skin near her heart.

She will have a small bottle of drugs on a belt around her waist. The drugs are administered automatically 24/7. We will need to go to the hospital once a week to have it topped up.

This is planned to commence next Monday (28th).

Because of the type of drugs it may be necessary to come off Warfarin, which unfortunately means I will have to give her an injection of Clexane in her stomach every morning which is not very pleasant for either of us.

That’s all for now, apart to thank you for all the cards, emails, flowers, chocolates and biscuits and garden produce which arrive almost on a daily basis! Your kind thoughts and offers of support are really appreciated by all of the family.

Depending on how things go it might be sometime before you receive the next update. However, please feel free to email or write as Liz enjoys hearing your news, but please don’t expect individual replies as they are very time consuming.

Wishing you all the best.

From Dick on behalf of Liz and the family