Let's go round again, one more time.........

Sorry about the lateness of the update, but you will soon realise it's been hectic as usual.

We went to the Marsden on Friday and spoke to the Doctors there. They hadn't had any feedback from Bristol so basically we briefed them on what had happened. They were disappointed about the Radiotherapy decision but it's Bristol's call, but they wanted the circulation problem sorted out before considering the next trial. They like you to be "fit" before a new trial. The next set of trials are brand new, many are tablet-based but they are straight out of the animal labs, not tested on humans and so the first priority will be to establish dose levels, something which was much more advanced in the trial I have just finished. So the potential benefits could be low because of the dose levels or high because it's a new drug. That's the gamble. Anyway we left it, that I would sort out my leg in Bristol and report back to the Marsden on the 28th.

Over the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) my leg started to swell, oh no, not a DVT? It wasn't going down so on Monday I went to my GP. She didn't like the look of it and tried to get me in to the BRI the same day through A&E. However instead they said they would see me at 9.30 this morning in the old DVT clinic. Nice to see the old faces but not to be there again. Again I had to have another ultrasound, this time concentrating on the veins and not the arteries. The picture at the top of my leg is very muddled with all that is and has gone on. The old DVT has meant blood has been diverted through new pathways by my body, as part of the healing process, but it makes the flow much harder to track. The outcome was a probable small DVT has developed since last week, it cannot clearly be identified but they are pretty sure that's what is causing the swelling.

The DVT nurse contacted the Marsden and they decided to put me on Glexane, the stomach injections I was having before, once a day. Poor old Frank had hoped he would never see those injections again, but he will do them for me like last time. I don't know how long I will have to have them, that will depend on the vascular consultant review, which I am now waiting for.

So there we are, back on the DVT routine, something we had feared when my leg started playing up again. The good news is they are not proposing to use Warfarin and my ability to start a trial should not be affected by the use of Glexane. Phew!

Not sure when the next update will be, but keep looking there may be another one this week.

Sheila x