So much has happened - AGAIN!

I have just looked at my blog and realised how long ago I last posted. So much has happened since then, but I will try to condense it so as not to bore you!

Mike had been to Basingstoke and we were due to return there for his op in mid December. He had to have a scan before his return, and that revealed a lot more than we had hoped for. His cancer had spread to his stomach and we were told that the liver operation was completely cancelled. It was determined to be non-operable but manageable. We have been waiting for him to put on a bit more weight before he starts his chemo (still waiting but due to start sometime in March we hope). We have also seen the surgeon who performed his original operation and she is going to operate on Friday coming (16th) to tidy up his stoma which has prolapsed badly. He is also beginning to have trouble eating and keeping food down again, so we have a clinic appointment for him with the doctor who positioned the stent for him.

As if that wasn't enough to cope with, I went for my regular mammogram mid December (on a day when we had snow too!) A week later I was recalled - something which happened before, so I wasn't unduly worried. So on the Thursday before Christmas I went back and was told there was something there. They did a biopsy on the spot, but I had to wait all over Christmas and New Year to be called back again. I was told there was lobular breast cancer on one side and they requested an MRI to double check the spread. A week later I had another appointment when I was told that it was bigger than first thought, but that a mastectomy would be recommended. After chatting over my options we decided that I would follow their advice, but accompany it with a reconstruction at the same time. My reasoning being that it would be over in a single operation - albeit a major one. That would mean that whatever happened to Mike perhaps a year down the line, I would be in a position to cope with it all.

However in our area the reconstruction would not be carried out locally, so I would have to travel to Chelmsford (about 25 miles away), so a series of appointments followed there as well as local appointments. It was decided that I would need a Sentinel Node operation to remove nodes from the armpit to discover if there was any spread. At this point everyone seemed to think there was no problem and I was told it was 95% probable that there was no spread. BUT fate strikes again. With my operation date planned for 23rd Feb, I was called back yesterday to discover that the nodes had shown cancer cells, so it is likely to have spread further. It may mean chemo before any operation to shrink any tumour. To say I am devastated is a bit of an understatement. I already had an appointment for a CT scan of my abdomen to enable the plastic surgeon to know the position of the blood vessels ready for the operation, and I was advised to have the procedure as requested.

I now have to have a full body bone scan (to take place on Tuesday morning) followed by a full body CT scan (due on Wednesday evening!) Once those results are in, they will review and discuss the best way to proceed. So all our plans are now up in the air, it has been a full-time job trying to dovetail both our appointments, and now instead of being on the home run, we have to start all over again. If it wasn't for family and friends (real and virtual) I'm not sure that I would have made it through the last couple of months - so thank you all for your support.

Meanwhile my stitching has again saved my sanity through all this. My concentration has been shot needless to say, so I have been working only for short periods as I don't want to end up having to frog whatever I do managed to achieve! I completed another cone Santa. This one came from a magazine I was given. I have to finish it off, but here is the sewn piece.

I also completed two of the Christmas Hootie designs - the rest of these will be accompanying me once I finally get the go-ahead to go to hospital as they are quite small and easily transported. They will give me a head start on Christmas 2018 too!

I have been making slow progress on my next HAED design.It is a Storykeep - Magical Arrival by Anne Stokes. 

I have tried to use my tablet for marking off the stitches on this. I use a program called Ezpdf, which lots of people from the HAED Facebook page recommend. It's been fairly simple to use instead of marking off on a hard copy, but when it comes to a larger piece I'm not sure how it will be as I don't want to stitch a page and end up with lines showing on the finished stitching. We shall see I suppose. 

I have also been busy kitting up the next couple of things I want to start. I was gifted "Sea Turtle Spirit of Serendipity" another HAED 

 - as well as "Aveline".

I am busy in the evenings gridding a piece of 18ct white Aida for the sea turtle as that is full coverage, but I have ordered a piece of hand-dyed fabric for Aveline as I ordered it with no background. I have all the threads needed for both pieces, so hopefully, I will be able to start them soon.

So I had better go and see what is on tv tonight. Not into watching the Olympics, so let's find something else to watch. I'm busy knitting while watching tv, so will try and show you that next time.

Until then try and be good to each other - you never know when something unforseen will strike.

Take care

Sandie