Last week's news was all a bit shitty, and I have been on a bit of an emotional roller-coaster since, only really getting through it all with the continued support of my wife, family and friends. The day after the oncology meeting I got a call from the scheduling office to fix the start date of treatment, and based off that, I booked a flight to take a holiday, figuring a change of scene and some sun would be good for both the body and the soul. The next day my wife and I headed up to Bath for another meeting with We Get It. There were a mix of familiar and new faces, and I found myself sat next to another colon cancer patient. We traded stories, and I lost massively in what became a game of Cancer Top Trumps. By the time he finished describing his situation, I felt almost lucky to "only" be dealing with my particular problems.
During the meeting I got a call from the hospital: the nurse passed on concerns from the oncologist as to my proposed trip, and the impact on my treatment cycle. This threw us into a bit of a tail-spin, and we decided to call back after the meeting. This took the entire journey over to a friend's house, and almost 30 calls. By the time I got through to the nurse, the oncologist had already left for the day, and so we were facing the weekend in limbo, not really sure what plans we could make. We had plans that evening, and tried to take our minds off it with a trip to the cinema, and dinner after with friends. As an aside, the film was the Kapadia documentary on Maradona: well worth a look.
The next day we had old friends down visiting, and spent a lovely night and following morning catching up, and bringing them to up to speed with where everything was at. Doesn't get any more cheery however many times I tell it. Monday brought a drive to Heathrow to drop my wife, and then immediately turned back around to drive back. The entire round-trip was all rather depressing, particularly the solo return. I did have a stop for another CT scan on the way back, and happily this was all completed in under 30 minutes. I chased the hospital on Monday, but got no news. Another day of waiting.
Tuesday brought another visit from another friend. Someone I hadn't seen since my "not having cancer" days. Whilst we were out a lunch I got a call from the hospital: the good news was I was given the nod to travel. Finally some good news, and it meant I finally had a plan.