This is mostly just the ramblings of a slight mad person - so suggest you skip it!
Having been told on Monday evening to expect the HER2 result imminently, Ian headed off to Spain for a golfing holiday at silly o'clock Tuesday morning (I absolutely insisted he went).
But .......................... Onco rang me early Wednesday morning to say the sample had gone to Birmingham for retesting and in all likelihood the results would be mid next week. She would be on holiday although would have someone covering for her, but she kindly wanted to let me know so I could manage my expectations! 😤😤😤😤😤😤😤
Now we are due to go to Australia at the end of October and the plan so far is for the belt and braces radiotherapy when we get back. There is a certain timeframe within which the benefit of R/T is considered at its optimum and we know that I'll be at the end of that when we get home but if all the preliminary stuff is done before I go then the zapping can start immediately we return.
But, as I've already mentioned, if this HER2 test is negative then a further sample will be sent to the USA for assessing the benefits of chemo and that'll take a further 10 days minimum.
The travel insurance won't cover all our losses if we leave cancellation until the last minute - we'd treated ourselves to Business Class so that pushed the price up. I know it's only money (as Ian would say) but if we're going to cancel at the end of the day then should we do it now and mitigate our losses?
Also it'll only leave us 2 weeks to prepare for the holiday - sorting out extra care for Mum (Alzheimer's), getting the house ready for visiting family, buying presents to take for new grandson and once again I can hear Ian saying that's not important, but it is - there are all sorts of little things I wanted to take, like an iconic red London Bus - not a real one obviously 😉, stinger suits (for Great Barrier Reef), the list is quite extensive.
And the big one - as my cancer is borderline HER2 positive - if by some miracle I can avoid chemo, should I not be having the R/T as quickly as possible to ensure maximum efficacy.
Not being able to talk it through with Ian, I went into a bit of a meltdown - well that's an understatement really - I totally lost it and ended up phoning a dear friend who dropped everything and visited me within the hour (you know who you are - a huge, huge thankyou 💖💖💖). Whilst waiting for her to arrive, I phoned Onco's secretary and asked her if she could find out some info for me to help in decision making.
Having been told on Monday evening to expect the HER2 result imminently, Ian headed off to Spain for a golfing holiday at silly o'clock Tuesday morning (I absolutely insisted he went).
But .......................... Onco rang me early Wednesday morning to say the sample had gone to Birmingham for retesting and in all likelihood the results would be mid next week. She would be on holiday although would have someone covering for her, but she kindly wanted to let me know so I could manage my expectations! 😤😤😤😤😤😤😤
Now we are due to go to Australia at the end of October and the plan so far is for the belt and braces radiotherapy when we get back. There is a certain timeframe within which the benefit of R/T is considered at its optimum and we know that I'll be at the end of that when we get home but if all the preliminary stuff is done before I go then the zapping can start immediately we return.
But, as I've already mentioned, if this HER2 test is negative then a further sample will be sent to the USA for assessing the benefits of chemo and that'll take a further 10 days minimum.
The travel insurance won't cover all our losses if we leave cancellation until the last minute - we'd treated ourselves to Business Class so that pushed the price up. I know it's only money (as Ian would say) but if we're going to cancel at the end of the day then should we do it now and mitigate our losses?
Also it'll only leave us 2 weeks to prepare for the holiday - sorting out extra care for Mum (Alzheimer's), getting the house ready for visiting family, buying presents to take for new grandson and once again I can hear Ian saying that's not important, but it is - there are all sorts of little things I wanted to take, like an iconic red London Bus - not a real one obviously 😉, stinger suits (for Great Barrier Reef), the list is quite extensive.
And the big one - as my cancer is borderline HER2 positive - if by some miracle I can avoid chemo, should I not be having the R/T as quickly as possible to ensure maximum efficacy.
Not being able to talk it through with Ian, I went into a bit of a meltdown - well that's an understatement really - I totally lost it and ended up phoning a dear friend who dropped everything and visited me within the hour (you know who you are - a huge, huge thankyou 💖💖💖). Whilst waiting for her to arrive, I phoned Onco's secretary and asked her if she could find out some info for me to help in decision making.
Thanks to my lovely friend's patience and understanding, I slowly got myself calmer and, bless her heart, Onco herself phoned me again early evening - her gut feeling is that chemo will be necessary which is why our meeting went the way it did (exactly as Ian had interpreted). I was happy for the cleaner or anyone to have phoned me back, but Onco bothered to do it herself and I feel very grateful to have been put under her care.
Ian and I Skyped later and turns out he'd been having similar thoughts so, regrettably we have taken the decision to cancel the trip. Whatever the final outcome - chemo or no chemo - making the decision has given us a feeling of control again and somehow better able to cope with the wait for results. 😌
Phew, feel better for getting that down.
