15 February 2010 - Appointment at QE Hospital

On 9 February Deb had her 8 MRI scan since completing her radiotherapy treatment. This was just under 2 months since her last scan on 14 December. The scan was originally arranged to look at Deb's back (the doctor had thought that Deb's back pain may be due to osteoporosis). When we got there we were told that they would also scan her brain. On the 15 February Deb had her blood test and we saw Dr Sanghera.

Scan result

The result was good. The grade IV part of the tumour was about the same size as at the last scan. We compared the latest scan with the scan from a year ago and the overall bulk of the tumour is definitely significantly reduced.

Chemotherapy

On the 9 Feb 2009, Dr Sanghera thought that Deb's tumour was starting to progress and her chemotherapy regime was changed. So Deb has been on continuous chemotherapy for exactly a year. (+ 4 months of monthly cycles). Dr Sanghera was concerned about the time that Deb has been taking the chemotherapy drug (temozolomide). Although Deb is tolerating the drug well, it will cause long term damage to the bone marrow and there will be a build up of other toxic effects. This may mean that Deb will not be able to take the drug later on when she really needs it. The control of the grade IV parts of the tumour and the reduction in overall size may not be due to the continuing action of the chemotherapy but could have been caused by the radiotherapy and the initial chemotherapy treatment. After a discussion it was agreed that Deb would continue with the chemotherapy for now but we will stop soon (Dr Sanghera does not want to go beyond 18 months with the treatment).

Steroids

Over the last month, Deb has reduced from 2mg per day to 1mg per day. She did have one or two headaches and has felt more dizzy but now seems to have settled down. With the agreement of the doctor she will now try to slowly reduce further to 0.5mg per day and maybe give them up completely.

Back scan

We did not get the results of the back scan. This will be looked at separately by a specialist in this area and a written report will be sent to us.

Flynn has gone - for good this time!

Bertie - on his own in Sutton Park






On 29 January, I had a phone call from the Dogs trust at Evesham (I had put Flynn on their waiting list) asking if I still wanted to rehome my dog. I was uncertain what to do and asked if I could have a few days to discuss it with the family. Over the weekend the dogs fought several times. Once when I was still in bed and Deb couldn't separate them. They both had blood on their coats. This made up our minds and Deb and I took Flynn to the Trust on 3 February. As we walked him down the long drive to the kennels he was jumping about without a care in the world. As we handed his lead over to the handler he was wagging his tail. As he was taken down to his kennel he looked back but still had no inkling he would not see us again. It felt so cruel but it was the right decision. Deb and I are happier, the cages are gone, we don't have to constantly close doors behind us or worry about what the dogs are doing. Bertie is happier; he gets all the attention, has the freedom of the house and doesn't have to worry about his ear being chewed off. And perhaps Flynn is happier. Perhaps. But I still feel I have let him down.