Frozen

When I say "frozen", I am of course not referring to the film. If you have escaped watching the latest creation from Disney, then I shall assume you haven't got children. Not that it is a bad film. In fact [whispers] it's actually quite good, but the songs just produce ear worm after ear worm.

What I mean by "frozen" in this instance, is my inability to blog for the last few months.

I have written this in my head several times, but for some reason never managed to get to the iPad and get it down on paper, so to speak.

Since January, we have been okay, all in all, but, and I can say this now I think I am coming t the other side of it, but I have been very down in the dumps, to the extent that I have probably been heading towards depression, and I don't say that lightly.

I have continued with the gynae investigations, which so far have shown that everything is okay, however the issues that I have been having haven't gone away completely, therefore my consultant is quite keen to try and get things properly sorted out, which I am very grateful for. Apparently Mr Morris doesn't like mysteries any more than I do. So, long story short, I have another procedure coming up in the next few weeks to have a better look, shall we say, and hopefully I shall have some answers after that.

So, that has been a bit stressful.

I have also had some genetic testing done to establish whether or not I have a BRACA 1 or 2 defect. The testing started with a probability analysis, which was higher than I thought it would be, as I thought we had a fairly weak family history, with just my grandmother having had breast cancer. As it turns out, prostate cancer can be the sign of a BRACA carrier in me, and as my uncle had prostate cancer that increased our risk as a family.

So, I have had the blood test and I am delighted to say that at present time, they can find no BRACA default, therefore we might be clear from that worry. Unless it is another genetic factor that hasn't been discovered yet..... Best not to worry about it now right?

What else? Oh yes, the small matter of having completed all of my remaining Herceptin drips, all 17 in total, which I have been amazed at. With my heart issues I never expected to manage it, but I guess the Perindopril must have done something right!

I was very emotional at my last one, I must say. What was particularly poignant to me was the fact that one of my chemo nurses got married and became pregnant whilst I was there, and when I left, she was nearly full term. It was a very vivid indicator of the effluxion of time, and a good reminder that life goes on regardless.

I do miss the fabulous nurses, but not the trips up to hospital. I really hope to never have to set foot in the chemo ward again.

I have also been considering reconstruction over the last few months, and had an initial meeting with my plastic surgeon, which went well and we even had a date booked, but I chickened out a little bit, and was waiting for the genetic testing results before finally committing to the operation, so everything was put on hold. I do have another meeting booked for 10th September, so be prepared for some venting of thoughts on my blog in due course. Seriously, I can talk myself in and out of the procedure on a daily basis, such is the state of my confusion and indecision.

On another positive note (isn't it lovely that there are so many?) I managed to complete the Paris marathon in April in 5hrs 50minutes for Walk the Walk, and the Moonwalk in London, during the wettest weekend in May I have ever seen, in a slightly slower time (due to queues on bridges and bad conditions) in 7 hours. My lovely husband joined me for the Moonwalk, and it was fantastic to complete such a challenge with him. He may slightly regret saying to me that he would be curious to see how fast he could run a marathon, as I have applied for places for us both for the London Marathon next year!

I must say, that both challenges were just that, challenging, but I am very proud of the fact that I did them both within a month of each other.

Family wise, everyone is very well. My daughter finished her first year of school and, mostly, had fun, and my son is still as boisterous and full of energy as ever!

My lovely husband is still just that, despite having a tough year coping with me and hours of marathon training, and his brother having marriage issues that have resulted in his mother going to lice in Australia on and off for the next 2.5 years to help look after one of her grand children. I will extrapolate at a later date.

So. All in all, lots of positives. I have been exhausted over these last few months which is normal apparently, but also possibly down to being slightly anemic too which my GP diagnosed a couple of weeks ago. I'm waiting for the tablets to kick in and looking forward to having more energy and a bit of my old bounce back!

I think I'll leave it here for today, otherwise I'll still be writing in an hour's time.

Besides which. I need more coffee. 

Have a fab Bank Holiday weekend, and I promise I will write again soon.

I shall leave you with a photo which will hopefully make you smile!!

My children and I, and me with some hair, the day before I did the Paris marathon!