Still working....

Ok, I admit it - I chickened out.  I was going to allow myself 10 days break from Sutent but by day 8 I was starting to panic and by day 9 I caved in and started taking it again !  I know it silly but Im so worried about the tumours growing again during the break. 

Today I went back to see Dr P and it was complete mayhem in his clinic.  All the testicles were there as usual (I forgot to ask them where they all were last month) plus a load of prostates and quite a few kidneys.  This is the first time Ive met up with any other kidneys at clinic and I have to say they all looked pretty poorly.  They come from all over the midlands to see Dr P and a lot of them cant get funding from their PCT, and they certainly wont now.

The clinic was packed, standing room only, and was running about 3 hours behind.  Im fairly sure the kidneys were there because of the news last week of NICE's decision, a couple of them were in with Dr P for over an hour and came out very distressed.

The lovely WI ladies were bringing round tea and coffee and sandwiches - I was worried I would be there all night.  Fortunately Dr P's registrar, Jo, was there as well, asking if any patients would be happy to see her.  Few accepted, they all wanted to see Dr P.  I shoved my hand up quite happy to be seen by Jo, she knows her stuff.

We chatted for a while about how the past 8 weeks had gone and she was really impressed I had managed 7 weeks before taking a break.  My Hb is a bit low (not surprising) but that will soon be sorted out with a few juicy steaks and some spinach - nothing to worry about she said.

Then she examined my lumps.  And pronounced them all to be still shrinking - and they are 'squashier' which apparently is a very good sign. 

This is BRILLIANT news.  I could have kissed her !!

So its all been worth it, all the grotty days and sleepless nights.  Sutent is still working and whats more its working well.  I shall have a CT scan next month just to check my internal lesions are responding too, but the signs are very very good indeed.

She wrote me a prescription for another 6 weeks and said it was basically up to me to decided when I had a break - and they would see me again in 6 weeks.

So thats it - Im in cycle 5 now.  And Im feeling really well, just in time for our holiday to Turkey on Monday.

And how very, very lucky do I feel today.