Wednesday 13th January 2010

Life isn't much fun for Jane at the moment, well, less so even than usual. After a whole battery of tests over the Christmas and New Year break, the docs have diagnosed avascular necrosis. If I have it right this means, in layman's terms, that the bones are dying in places. In Jane's case, it is affecting the ball part of the ball and socket joint of her hips. The consequence is that she cannot really get free of pain at all. She is really struggling to move about and can't get proper rest even in bed. Jane thinks it may be one of the side effects of chemo.

Meanwhile she is still on chemo. She has been referred to the orthopaedic department but hasn't yet got an appointment. We are due back with the oncologist on 25th January and I hope to have some more positive news by then.

I took this picture out at Little Durnford in the Woodford Valley when I was walking on Sunday.

God Bless

Saturday 2nd January 2010

Happy New Year! I just wanted to post a quick message regarding Jane's condition. She is in a great deal of pain at the the moment as a consequence of really bad arthritis in her hips. We saw the palliative care doctor at the hospice just before Christmas but despite the prescription of a whole lot of additional (to the morphine patches) painkillers nothing seems to be working. We were at the hospital three times over the Christmas holidays for x rays and scans and the physiotherapist has visited at the house.

It's a really painful time for Jane and she is not able to walk very far at all at the moment. We'd be really grateful for your continued prayers at this time. If I could finish on a brighter note, the chemotherapy seems to have had a good effect on the cancer and Jane's pain is not caused directly by any growth in cancer activity and so for that we should be grateful.

God bless.

Saturday 19th December 2009

Merry Christmas! Jane has another 4 days of chemotherapy before she gets 2 weeks off for Christmas. It seems to be doing some good according to the results we have seen since this round of treatment started back in October. However, she is in a great deal of pain and we have been back to see the palliative care doctor at the hospice and, as I write, we are awaiting a prescription of painkillers to try and improve the situation. The oncologist will review the situation in the New Year and decide what to do next.

Both Lydia and Leo are at home now and last night they decorated the Christmas tree. We shall go to Canterbury for Christmas to see Jane's family and especially to see Jake but we shall be back in Salisbury for the New Year.

We wish you all a very blessed and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Love from us all.

Tuesday 24th November 2009

Jane saw the oncologist yesterday having had an MRI scan and x-rays a week or so ago. Her most recent blood test indicates that the chemotherapy is having a beneficial impact in lowering the blood tumour markers although Jane is experiencing considerable pain and nausea. The scan indicates that the cancer is present in Jane's neck and she may need radiotherapy for hips and neck but we agreed that unless something unexpected crops up - no radiotherapy until after Christmas.

The oncologist explained that the way the cancer manifests itself can be expected to change and so we have to be prepared for that and flexible in the way that it is treated - no wonder I was confused by what was happening. So, it is something of a mixed picture but it could be far worse than it is. We'll keep you posted; we see the oncologist again in a couple of weeks time.

God Bless

Monday 16th November 2009

Jane saw the oncologist today. The cancer count in her liver has dropped a little. It is too early to tell if the chemotherapy she had a week ago has had any real impact. However, she is in a great deal of pain in her hips and so she had an x-ray this morning and went back for a lengthy and painful MRI scan this afternoon. She starts chemo again this evening and she may need some additional radiotherapy on her hips in the near future. It was a bit of a bleak day really. The oncologist showed us a scan and the cancer seems to be fairly well spread.

Jacob is also continuing his valiant fight against leukemia with his fair share of problems from side effects of the treatment.

So, could we ask for lots of prayers for them both.

Love from us all.

Saturday 24th October 2009

Jane started her course of chemotherapy this morning. The plan is that she should undertake 3 cycles each of 3 weeks consisting of 2 weeks of chemo and a week to recover. We'll see how it goes. I have attached a couple of pictures from our recent holiday in Turkey.

I think some of you know that Jane's nephew, Jake, is really ill with acute lymphoblastic leukemia - please pray for him and especially his immune system too.

Love from us all.

Saturday 10th October 2009

We haven't blogged for a while but there has been some news that I want to post now. Jane took quite a while to get over the radiology that she received back in July. She still seems to have really achy hips despite the treatment. More recently she had to have a brainscan but, mercifully, that has come back clear.

However, the tumours in her liver have doubled in size and the markers in her blood have gone up sufficiently that the oncologist has advised more chemotherapy. She will start on 23 October for an initial course of 9 weeks. We are going on holiday with the children for a week before the treatment starts.

I am not posting photographs because I know that some of you download onto laptops whilst on trains etc. No pictures means you can download more quickly - in any case there are plenty of pics in the archives. That said, if we get any memorable pictures on holiday we may post a couple.

In the meantime, thank you so much for all your continuing prayers; they mean a great deal to us and they work.

Love to you all.