Friday 18th June 2021
Woke up this morning having had a horrible, sleepless night filled with nightmares and anxiety.
Oh yes, it's that rotten time again.. CT scan results day for my husband Paul who was diagnosed with #mesothelioma (asbestos cancer) in Nov 2017..
On the school run my son was asking what thing today would make me really happy (he was referring to the football and all I could think about was Paul's health) Despite being half Scottish (my half, obvs)he will not be supporting Scotland against England in the Euros tonight.. but conveniently supports Scotland in "curling and rugby" ;-)
The appointment was at 10.30 this morning. Feeling sick and shaking, we watched our awesome consultant Mary oBrien arrive and after a few minutes of paranoid waiting, Paul was ushered in then v kindly told to let me in too.
She promptly and kindly put us out of our misery and let us know that Paul's scan is clear.
Paul looked like he'd been hit by a bulldozer and we both slumped back in our chairs ..shocked and dazed.. from sheer relief.
It's been 3 years since Paul completed his treatment of 6 rounds of 3 types of chemo, surgery to remove half a lung and radiotherapy.
We knew the treatment he was getting was in its infancy with no guarantees.. but honestly.. I'm not sure we thought he'd survive this far.. it's incredibly wonderful .. and humbling. We are expecting the cancer's recurrence at ANY TIME.. and never take Paul's time on this earth for granted.
We had a chat with Mary about ActionMeso, Erase Meso and what's happening in the area of genetic testing for mesothelioma.
I thanked Mary profusely. She headed up an incredible team of medical professionals to help Paul be here today.. and I know the huge part she played in the delay of his loss of life.
She has also been frontline for Covid since March 2019 and is AMAZING.
Paul's next scan is in 9 month's time (She had suggested 1 year but that seemed awfully long!?)
We came home, calling the family to tell them.. and texting our amazingly supportive friends.
Literally thank God!
Sunday 20th June 2021
A LOT of plans were hanging on Paul getting the all-clear.
We plan to get building works done in July to extend our side return and remodel our slowly crumbling house.. but the biggest bit of news is that Paul plus 3 pals are attempting the NC500 and their challenge for EraseMeso starts today!!
Check out..
Team Erase Meso : Tamsin Whipp, Nigel Shaddick, Ed Block and my hubby Paul Cook.
Nigel is Paul's fellow meso-warrior and mate so they are going for a world first for mesothelioma patients by doing this challenge.
It's extremely exciting and wonderful to see the pictures and videos flooding in. They've all been training like mad!
It's also Father's Day today. Cam did a Fake Fathers Day last Sun on the beach with Paul but we sent a card in his rucksack to open this morning. We count ourselves extremely blessed that he is still here and we can celebrate such things.. we know others have perished in the awful grip of mesothelioma...and it's so unfair.
Since I last wrote we have a new family addition. Sandy the Cavapoo joined us on Feb 12th this year and we are IN LOVE!
Both she and Cam have had bad tummies today and are laid up (negative covid test) but we are rooting dad on from afar!
We continue to appreciate EVERY SINGLE DAY.
Thanks for reading. xx
PS If you have time please check out
https://actionmeso.org/amd21/ We'd love it if you can join us and our fellow meso community for July 2nd virtually!! The ActionMeso.org working group have worked so hard to make this a fantastic event!
PPS Following on from the last post I have started counselling for CBT. It is helping enormously to talk.. and tackle my anxiety. I'm so thrilled I've taken this positive step. Just wish I'd started in 2017..
PPPS Massive thanks to everyone in research and at the NHS for enabling all our full vaccinations. Quite amazing and incredible!