One down, five to go!

Well, a fine week weather wise I think has helped Steve's recovery from chemo last wednesday. Considering all he is doing very well. Just tired and a bit nauseous but ok.

We've had a lovely weekend with Alex who looked after us splendidly from cooking us yummy american pancakes for breakfast to looking after the scraps so Mummy could scoot off for a tactical nap. He will be very much missed, especially by Bella! We are counting down the days till the next time, luckily just a month - Xavi's birthday in fact.

Grandma and Grandad Roebuck are arriving on Wednesday which is great and Bella can't wait to see them. All very busy here chez Roebuck with lots of visitors, but very much needed! There are plans afoot to abandon, i mean leave, the children with the grandparents for a night or two whilst we escape down to my parents house near the spanish border for a well earned rest but all depends on how Steve is feeling next weekend.

Will make sure Steve gets on soon to give you all an update.

First treatment

Steve went off this morning to the hopital du jour at Purpan. He was in good spirits despite being a bit anxious. It all starts again today. It was very sad to wave him off in the ambulance with Xavi and Bella in my arms, knowing when he comes back he will feel so rotten and the kids just don't understand why Daddy can't play anymore..

We have had a lovely couple of days and braved toys r us yesterday to buy Xavi's birthday presents. Its a month away but we wanted to do it now when Steve is well so he has some real input into it all. Luck would have it that he will be having chemo the day of or the day before his birthday so will not be on top form. At least this way he knows he has been a real part of it all, especially after missing out on two christmasses and Bella's birthday due to his illness. Last night pancakes were consumed by all, Xavi and Bella are big fans and it was just so nice to have some time together as a family before it all starts again!

We have to stay positive, only six treatments, five more to go. My lovely brother is out this weekend to give us a hand, can't wait to see him and i know Bella will be so excited to see Aleeex! Here's hoping that its not too onerous and he copes with it will, roll on June!

9th March

So chemo starts again on the 9th. Its been confirmed as 3 months (cycles) and one cycle consists of two treatments 15 days apart.

Steve hasn't been great this week. He has had a lot to take in and unfortunately his back is giving him a lot of trouble too which means he hasn't slept for a few days and has a lot of pain. I have been up to the doctors today and have some stronger pain medication for him so hope this will help tonight as he hasn't slept a wink in 48 hours.

Hopefully this will start to kick in tomorrow and he can enjoy a few nice days with the children before the chemotherapy starts again.

Will keep you updated

Anna x

Back on the rollercoaster.......

 Hi all,

After having all of about two weeks of full health it seems we are back on the rollercoaster that is chemo.

The good news is they haven't found any more cancer, its still clear. The bad news is that during the scans taken to determine the radiotherapy site they discovered my oesophagus (sp!) and upper digestive tract are very enlarged due to my autonomic problems. This means they would be in direct contact with the radiation which would cause severe long term side effects to these organs. So much so the radiologist who does all the Hodgkins treatment has refused to do it. If the happy trigger radiologist refuses you know it could be bad!

So the only alternative is three more months of chemo, the standard recommended treatment for a patient who does not have radiotherapy. As you can imagine a big blow for us all when we thought it was all over. But it could be worse, the prognosis is still the same, it would just seem that the Roebucks' bad luck is still running.

So, it looks like chemo will be starting in the next week or so and running through to the end of May. Obviously we have had to cancel a lot of plans to go away and see people and we will be battening down the hatches and just trying to get through the next few months hoping that this will really be the last of it.

What I have to hold on to is how much better I have felt over the last few weeks. Its taken a good month to recover from chemo but the last few weeks I've been eating well, put on a couple of kilos, been able to look after the children a lot more so I have to hold on to how good it can be when the going is good.

We will be updating the blog during this time (and trying to be a bit better about it) so keep in touch and we will keep you updated.

Love to you all,

the Roebucks!

The plan

Hello all,

Steve is recovering from chemo, good days and bad days......It usually takes a good ten days so we are hoping that by the weekend he'll be feeling better.

They decided to stop his IVIG treatment for now. They want to see how he recovers from the chemo and how the treatment of the cancer will help his autonomic problems so they will wait till after his radiotherapy and then we'll be back to the neurologist in a few months to see if he has improved and what further treatment is required.

Steve is pretty happy to have a break from hospitals and being poked and prodded. He has a scan on the 3rd Feb to check the cancer is gone and then a few weeks of radiotherapy concentrated on the area of the tumour. So a few more weeks of waiting and then hopefully we can relax a little. He's looking forward to the spring, he really feels the cold at the moment. Then we can get him into the greenhouse that Justin and Jake have been working so hard on building for him and i'm sure he'll start feeling better. I never thought my husband would turn into Alan Titchmarsh but there you go! There are worse things in life i guess!!!

Resting up

Just a quick note to say Steve is doing very well, he's very tired and feeling a bit sick and spent most of today in bed but apart from that he's been very chipper. As usual found the strength for a few glasses of champagne last night and was able to eat too.

Annoyingly his IVIG antibody treatment, which he was due to have over the weekend, has been cancelled. Apparently you have to have it for 6 months in hospital before you can have it at home. So the last time Steve had it at home no one was covered for insurance and we'd have been in trouble if something had gone wrong. So, poor Steve, who was really pleased that his hospital days were over, will be back in hospital for 3 days next week to have his treatment. Really frustrating, but at least he will be able to come home for the nights in between. The hospital here is great and all the nurses are lovely but I think Steve has had enough!

Children doing very well, both sleeping 12 hours a night (thank you!!) and so Mummy is slowly feeling human again too!!

Roll on the 6th January....

....Steve's last chemotherapy session! We will all be pleased when this stage is over. Its been gruelling to say the least but we are very thankful it was only 3 cycles and not 8.

We all had a good christmas, especially after last year. I think we were all amazed to see Steve up on Christmas day, even finding the strength to force down a glass of champagne! But considering he only had chemo on the 23rd and then endured the 2 and a half hour journey down to my parents house we were all impressed. It was a lovely break away from it all for all of us.

So next chemo on the 6th and then radiotherapy for 10 days. Hopefully that will be the last of it and we can concentrate on getting Steve better and putting some weight on.

A happy and healthy new year to you all x x x x x