I understand a few people have enquired about me, so thought I would post to avoid repeating things.
Just before Christmas, the seroma that I have had for the last three years since my MX, became infected after yet another aspiration at the Princess Royal. Anyway, amazingly they sent an ambulance from Sevenoaks in Kent, all the way out to Sussex, which then took me up to Charing Cross Hospital. Unfortunately once in hospital the infected seroma ruptured, leaving an enormous puss filled hole in my chest, and because all the tissue had dissolved they told me it would never heal on it’s own, and that plastic surgery was the only option.
In addition to this, because I had passed out at home, they did an MRI of my head, and discovered that I have 5 brain mets - so repair of the seroma became an emergency, because it’s not possible to have chemo if you have an open wound. Consequently, having gone in with an infected seroma, I suddenly found I had serious progression and required emergency surgery (so off I went to theatre, where they performed a trans flap op (muscle from the back was posted into the hole).
Unfortunately, when I went to theatre, the anaesthetist couldn’t find a vein, so had to put the anaesthetic through my portacath. That was fine, accept that it seemed to then block my port, and which necessitated another op to replace the port. The problem then was that as they couldn’t find a vein to put a general anaesthetic in, and my port was faulty, I had to have the replacement done by local. Thankfully I was so drugged up and delirious from the infection, I wasn’t really too aware of things.
Anyway, after 3 weeks in hospital with continuous IV antibiotics, 2 operations, and 5 blood transfusions, I’m home and feeling fine (thank you Charing Cross you’re fantastic). My wonderful Prof, has now got funding approval for Lapatanib for the brain mets (as it’s one of the few drugs that can cross the blood brain barrier), and I’ve been on this with Capecitabine for four weeks now. They are also doing MRI’s every few weeks to check what’s happening with the brain mets, and if the Lap/Cap combo hasn’t stabilised things, or shrunk them, they are going to do stereotactic rads. Initially they were going to do whole brain RT, because they thought it was in the dura as well (membrane), biut it isn’t, so stereotactic is the way to go, because it spares healthy tissue and so can be given at a potentially curative dose. I hope I can now have a break from all this. Better still, I hope God see’s fit to heal me and all of those who are suffering from this cruel disease.