Busy week: Birthday, Chemo#5, and good news too!

Yep, the week has definitely been quite eventful!

Let's start from the weekend - HP and Tony both turned up on Sat 13th June... HP wanted to shop, and Tony had lots of friends to visit - or at least, that is what we all told Husband! And, to show that these were REALLY their reasons for being here, Tony went visiting on Sat afternoon, and Sun morning... while I took HP shopping on Sun morning and early afternoon, while Husband stayed at home to rest - in anticipation of the drive we had to make to SG on Mon 15th June.

We got home around 3.30pm, and my brother and his wife and ALL three kids had arrived already - Husband was expecting them, as I had told him that we would be having a "small", family only, birthday dinner for him which I would be catering :-). 4pm the caterers turned up - yeeeeks, one hour too early!! - but luckily it did not take much persuasion to get Husband to go and lie down and rest until such time as my parents and my sis and her family turned up! PHEW!! BECAUSE, if he had seen all the stuff the caterers had to set up, he would have KNOWN that there was more than just 'family' turning up that evening :-p.

So, to cut a long story short - he went to lie down; the caterers got on with setting everything up; at 5pm (pretty much SHARP), my parents had arrived, and my sister and her husband were downstairs gathering all the other guests who were coming for Husband's 70th birthday party (unknown to Husband, of course!!), and they all arrived en masse, using all three available lifts, to come up. Everyone kept very very quiet, all gathered in the living room, and then I went into the bedroom to get Husband up - telling him that my parents and sister had arrived. He came out of the room, was greeted just outside the bedroom door by my Mum, kissed her, turned to his left (the living room), and LITERALLY his jaw just dropped with everyone standing there yelling SURPRISE!!!!!!!! All in, including the family, we had 42 people, and I am happy to say that Husband really enjoyed himself. The food was good (Banana Cafe.. excellent food and staff), the birthday cake was gorgeous and delicious (Thanks to Mama Min!) the company was great, and Husband got a TON of chocolates which should keep him happy for quite a while. Also got some lovely plants for our balcony :-). (Photos were taken, but not by me, so when I get the photos from our friends who DID take the photos, I will put some up on the blog!).

Monday we had to drive to SG, and HP came back with us (Tony, unfortunately, had to leave the night before). We had to get some paperwork done in SG which, if we did by mail could take 1 - 2 months to get complete, but if we did in person, would take less than one month. Stayed with Tony, got our errands completed on Tuesday, and on Wednesday drove from SG to Melaka, to my brothers place, where we stayed the night. My #1 niece cooked dinner and it was absolutely scrumptious... potato/leek/ham soup, with crusty garlic bread, followed by pasta primavera. Yum!

Thursday morning we headed to the hospital for chemo #5. As always, prior to the chemo, we go to the Lab for them to take Husband's blood to do blood tests, following which we go for breakfast, then we head to the oncologists clinic in the hospital for the actual chemo. We always have to wait at least a couple of hours following the blood test, as chemo will not start until AFTER the blood test results are ready - at which point we get to see the oncologist, and then Husband has the chemo.

So, I can almost hear you asking "What's the good news?".
Well, for the first time since chemo started, the cancer marker in the blood WENT DOWN!!! So, bearing in mind that 4 chemo cycles have been completed, the cancer marker in the blood (prior to each chemo cycle) were as follows:
- before chemo #1 it stood at 145
- before chemo #2 it stood at 195
- before chemo #3 it stood at 243.5
- before chemo #4 it stood at 258

This time, BEFORE chemo #5, it dropped down to 199.3!! In TWO weeks on the new chemo regimen, it had dropped back down to what it had been after the first chemo! This is such good news and, for the first time, Husband feels like all the costs of chemo are worth while because finally we are seeing something positive..... No, he is not insured. Yes, we have to pay for all this ourselves - this is what gets Husband so angry.. the money that he has saved up to enjoy his retirement is getting burnt on medical expenses. Personally I can think of nothing better to spend our money on than getting him well, but he doesnt agree with me. Good thing it is my opinion that counts in this matter and not his!! :-D

2 more rounds of this chemo regimen, then Husband will have to do another CT Scan to see what is happening inside his soft organs and bones. My fingers are crossed that things will just keep getting better and better.

Does his back/bum still hurt? Yes - that has nothing to do with the cancer, that is still the after-effects of the bed sore, the treatments, the therapy, the surgery, etc, and the pain, though it is getting slowly better, will take months to dissipate. Mind you, every day now he will try and lie on his back for a while, and on some days he is able to lie on his back for an hour at a time...so that is also good progress!

That's it for now folks.. till next time, stay safe, stay HEALTHY!