Is that a light at the end of the tunnel?

125 days ago I was told I had cancer. A lot's happened since then!

Story so far

I've had 2 ultrasound scans, 4 biopsies, an MRI scan and a CT scan.

I've met with my surgeon twice, and oncologists 5 times.

I've had 5 rounds of chemo (4 different drugs) and spent over 15 hours with a -4 degrees head freezer on my head.

I've had 5 blood tests (2 of which took multiple attempts to actually get blood out) and 7 cannulas stuck in me. I've fainted 4 times and had 1 vein burst.

I've spent 15 days on steroids, 11 days on anti sickness medications, and injected myself to boost my white blood cells 25 times.

I've lost loads of hair, and had a lot of tantrums about it. I've also now almost entirely lost my eyebrows and eyelashes. But I've got used to wearing a wig, learned how to create fake eyebrows, and learned how to deceive people into thinking I have eyelashes by using liquid eyeliner.

I've kept a blog. (This blog!) I've written 47 posts since being diagnosed (don't know when to shut up). The blog has had 30,000 hits so far!

A lot of those hits are on my challenges to The Sun newspaper about their use of Page 3 models for a breast cancer awareness campaign (9,708 views on my original open letter to The Sun and 5,198 on The Sun's Head of PR response to me). My original letter to The Sun also made it onto The Debrief and Buzzfeed. I also met with my MP to discuss it and got her name added to the No More Page 3 politician's letter.

I ran a 5k on chemo and 100 people sponsored a total of £1,530.50 for Breast Cancer Care and Cancer Research UK.

I've also made new friends and had lots of fun times etc etc.... (It's no wonder I'm knackered!)


Coming up next

13 more days until my last chemo. (1 blood test, 1 cannula, 3 days of steroids, 5 injections).

Then I will be having as normal a December as possible. I might disappear from the blog and Twitter for a while (yes, I might shut up for a bit! Thank fuck for that!)  I'll do my job in the day, and then in my spare time I just want to watch Christmas films, eat too many roast dinners, and chill out with my dog and my friends.

At some point in early January will be the operation. (Eek! I think the numbers for that might be something along the lines of 1 cannula, 9 hours in surgery, 6 days in hospital, up to 6 drains for up to 2 weeks, 2 weeks before I can make my own cup of tea, 2-3 weeks before I can have a shower!)

Then I think at some point in February will be radiotherapy (3-5 weeks of going to the hospital for a 5 minute appointment every Monday - Friday!).

And then.... I think I'm cancer free (I'd bloody better be!). And no more cannulas. (There bloody better not be!).

Can't wait dudes. Can't wait.