Is There Life after Diagnosis/Chemotherapy Part 3

2005 we did the Moonwalk again and this time my husband joined us. He too wore a decorated bra! The three of us crossed the finish line in about 6 hours. These 3 Moonwalks had raised quite a lot of money for breast cancer and I was very proud to be involved.
A highlight of 2005 was another holiday win, to Austria again for a week, but this time to Zell am See. We were given a suite at the Hotel Romantic, just a short walk away from the lake. My white cell count had risen, my remission was ending, but I went on holiday and had a great time. We took a cable car up the Schmittenhohe Mountain and it took us 5 hours to talk back down. After that walk I could only walk or climb the stairs at the hotel with difficulty as my muscles had ceased up. We took a boat out on the lake, and rode the largest funicular railway in Europe (the world?) to the Mooser Dam. We ate strudel and drank hot chocolate with cream. However, I was not as careful as I usually am and one night was very sick and unwell, probably from something I had eaten. Like all our holiday wins it was wonderful, and not just because we didn't have to pay for a thing!

Treatment started just after Christmas and was FC again. However, this time my body did not accept the treatment so well and after 2 cycles (in 2006) I was in hospital with Septacaemia and I was very ill. My daughter had planned to visit from her home in France, and instead of the shopping trip we had planned, my daughter and 2 granddaughters were visiting me in hospital.

It seemed FC had not worked well this time and so we planned to recuperate for a few months and then start Campath in July. Campath made me feel sick, gave me fevers and I coughed my way through the 11 weeks of Campath until my doctor said 'enough!. I had wanted to continue to make sure we got all the CLL, but pneumonia put me back in the hospital. After my recovery my counts were very low for a long while.

Is There Life after Diagnosis/Chemotherapy Part 2

Still in 2001... We took a week in the Canary Islands in May and in September we booked 2 weeks on a Mediterranean Cruise sailing from Southampton in England. This was our first ever cruise and was brilliant for someone who is not always feeling well, as by this time my CLL was having an impact. However, we joined in the ballroom dance classes and when I needed to sit out or didn't feel well enough, there was always a partner for my husband. He also joined in the line dancing classes and at the end of the cruise the passengers put on a display. (I have been line dancing for many years and have always enjoyed it very much. It has been 2 or 3years since I gave up my line dancing at home because I couldn't keep up any longer and I really miss it, but this was one things I continued to do through the years). During the cruise we visited Barcelona, Corsica,and Portifino amongst other places. I was to unwell to visit Pisa unfortunately and had to get some antibiotics from the ship's doctor, but it was lovely trip.
The day after we came home I had a hospital appointment. I was coughing and was diagnosed with Pneumonia.

2002 I was not feeling well and treatment started in March. Six months of Fludarabine and Cyclophosphamide. It settled into a pattern, FC for 3 days followed by a week of feeling/being sick and then starting to recover. It was not the best of times. As the months went on the treatment affected me more and more. However, we had short breaks away from home. My sister lived by the sea and went away a lot. We had a key to come and go as we pleased which was lovely. Just before the end of treatment we went for a cottage holiday in the Yorkshire Dales. It was lovely but I couldn't walk far.

2003 I spent a wonderful week with my sister in south-west Ireland as well as short breaks to France and in England.

Before Christmas that year, my sister said she was going to do the Moonwalk in May 2003. She is a breast cancer survivor and the Moonwalk was held in London, at midnight. It is a marathon power walk and not a run and decorated bras are traditionally worn for the walk. I agreed to do it with her, so we chose to do the half marathon and I started training. I would walk 1 mile and then turn round and come home. As I got fitter, my husband would drive me 9 miles to the garden centre, I would have a look around, a cup of coffee and then walk home by myself with my CD player, singing. Well, we did it and I have the medal to prove it. It was a wonderful night, walking past all the London highlights, Buckingham Palace, Harrods, along the side of the the Thames, London Bridge etc. You would be surprised how many people came out in the middle of the night to cheer everyone on.



2004 we did it again! Another 6 months of training for the walk as I was not at my best, and another medal. It would take us 6 hours to walk the 13 miles and my husband would meet us every 3 or 4 miles with hot coffee to spur us on.
2004 also bought trips to Venice and France and a 2 week Caribbean Cruise in December. We visited Aruba, Antigua, St Lucia and Barbados and well as other islands. My husband scuba dived and I snorkelled. I also fulfilled an ambition to ride a horse in the sea in Jamaica. I am terrified of horses and this was a big deal for me, but I did it and I have the photos to prove it!