Friday 17 June 2016

Delays

I ended my last blog post by saying that my chemo had been delayed because of a chest infection and expected this post to be about how I'd started back on chemo a week later, however things haven't quite gone to plan. After my initial week long delay I returned to Velindre for my pre-chemo appointment which included having my bloods taken to check various levels were appropriate for the start of chemotherapy. As it happens my white blood cell level was a little low (the benchmark level to start chemo is 100, whereas I was sitting at 96), meaning that I would be facing a further week long delay in the start of chemo. I was however quite thankful for this as it meant I would be able to have a drink at the two Teenage Cancer Trust events that I was attending that week.

The first of the events was a trip to the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff to see Busted live. They were being supported by Wheatus who transported the entire room back over 15 years when they smashed out Teenage Dirtbag and A Little Respect. I would've been happy enough if the gig ended there and then, but there was more to come as Busted appeared and made the life of 11 year old me by busting out all of their classics from the naughties.

The following night the TCT had a cocktail masterclass planned in the Sports Bar attached to Bierkeller Cardiff. This made me especially glad for the chemo delay as making a bunch of cocktails only to give them away to everyone else didn't strike me as the most fun way to spend an evening. As the only member of the group with years of bar work experience I was first up and managed to not embarrass myself despite the weakness in my left side that very nearly resulted in a smashed cocktail glass and strawberry daiquiri everywhere.

Having recovered from my night of steins and cocktails I received my latest blood results and found that my white cell level had dropped further to around 48, meaning a further week long delay to give my body a chance to recover from the chest infection before blasting it with poison.

During this third week long delay I had a text from the Cardiff TCT organiser asking if I wanted to go on a trip with them in conjunction with the Ellen MacArthur Trust. Due to this I'll be pushing my chemo back a further week to enable me to spend part of next week sailing around the Isle of Wight with a group of other young people affected by cancer. Hopefully my blood levels stay up where they should be so that I can get back onto chemo the week after and get to work on shrinking Timmy even further.