Thanks for taking the time to visit my website. I'd like to tell you a little bit about myself. I'm a wife and mother of 3 young children, Matthew 13, Ellie 10 and Freddie 6. I was first diagnosed with Breast Cancer in 2001 at the age of 36. Following Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy, I was in remission until a chance MRI scan in Feb 2005 for an unrelated problem, detected that the Cancer had returned. I was then diagnosed with Secondary Breast Cancer. The likely prognosis given in February was 18 months to 5 years. I then had to undergo aggressive Chemotherapy, but following the results of a recent bone scan, it was found that the Cancer is still spreading.
The treatment in Germany will cost thousands of pounds and for most people like myself, the opportunity for this is a dream. Many of my Family and Friends want to make this dream a reality and are making tremendous fund raising efforts, because without them, I would not be able to seek the treatment that I so obviously need and which is not being offered in this country.
Family Sponsored Walk
Approximately 60 people took part in the Family Sponsored Walk today and what a wonderful time was had by all. The weather was a mix of sunshine and clouds with the odd drop of rain but this didn't deter the crowd walking from the Bottle & Glass, Binfield Heath to the Bird in Hand at Sonning Common. In total everyone walked 11k through woodland and fields and we didn't lose anyone along the way. Having said that, Steve lost me and Freddie the day before when we were putting up the direction arrows to mark the first half of the route. Neither of us had a mobile phone so Freddie and I were beginning to think we'd have to walk home!
I'd like to thank the following people:
Wendy Hines for all her help in organsing the walk and for suggesting the majority of the route (also the book "Pub Walks in Oxfordshire" came in handy).
Stewart Proudman for all his help in designing the sponsorship forms etc.
Julie Denton for doing a car boot sale to purchase the John Lewis gift vouchers. Congratulations to Tony Wallis for winning the raffle prize.
Last but by no means least, I'd like to thank everyone for taking part and to those people who have sponsored the walkers.
Radiotherapy
Went to the Royal Berks hospital today for the radiotherapy to my left hip. I was marked up for it on Monday. It doesn't hurt but the areas where I was treated were itchy which is very normal. The nurse said that it could take 10-12 days before I start noticing a difference. My left leg and hip hurt more in the late afternoon and evening rather than in the morning.
Charity Golf Day
58 golfers took part in the Charity Golf Day for the Wigs to Wishes trophy. The weather was excellent although initially there were a few drops of rain thankfully not enough to prevent some very good golf. Everyone who participated said they had a really enjoyable day and even those who don't normally play golf had a great time.
I'd like to thank my dad, Geoff Killgallon for organising the event and collectively we'd like to thank everyone for their kind support and generous donations including,
Leaderboard
Calcot Hotel
LEAH in Caversham
Yellow Pages
Friends and fellow golfers.
A big thank you for the help in the organisation and administration goes to Jeff Gardner, Dave James, Len Jenkins and Kym Kennedy and others who contributed so much to make it a very successful day.
After allowing for bacon baps and £1 off the first drink (£290)and green fees (£240) for non-members of the Club at Mapledurham and including some cash donations from people who were unable to play on the day, together we raised the sum of £1430 for the Wigs to Wishes Fund. This sum was well beyond what we anticipated might be possible and we are truly grateful to everyone involved.
Thanks also goes to Victoria Jennings for the fantastic banner which will be great for other fund raising events also.
Family Fun Day at the Prince of Wales - 27th July
Kate Wilson and Helen Donahue have been busy organising a family fun day at the Prince of Wales on Sunday 27th July.
There will be live performances from: White Sunday (doing an acoustic set) - These guys played at the Prince on Friday also Liam O'Brian and Headline.
There will be various things for the children to do including a Bouncy Castle, Face painting and Games
A Raffle will be held with some fantastic prizes donated by local businesses.
There will be a bbq in the gardens - Food donated by Niki and Gary (landlady/landlord of the Prince), all profit from this will be donated to the fund.
Well done to Kate and Helen for organising this event. I know they are really pleased by the response they've had from those who really want to help.
Events like this will really make a difference for me. The treatments I'm undergoing in Germany at the moment are very expensive but the results are so encouraging.
Oncology appointment
Went to the Berks today. Had a good discussion with the Registrar Oncologist. Dr Dallas is so easy to speak to. She gave me a prescription for the chemo (I have to pay for this as a normal prescription charge). She also gave me the results from the hip X-Ray. I've got a hairline fracture on the hip which she feels is the cause of the pain I am experiencing. She's suggested that one course of radiotherapy should help resolve this. As there is more tumour than bone the fracture is unlikely to repair itself but the radiotherapy will help with this. I think it will kill the tumour around the problem area.
I've informed Dr Dallas that I intend to have laser treatment (LITT) to the liver in Germany. I asked if this was available anywhere in the UK but Dr Dallas was a little vague and thought that they were doing something at Oxford but maybe not using heat treatment but freezing the tumours.
Had the Avastin today but because I'm having the laser treatment on 15th July, I can't have the next session of Avastin in 3 weeks and will have it in 6 weeks instead as Avastin can cause excessive bleeding if any operations are carried out.
Summer Lunch
Another fund raising lunch was held at Liz Hicks house which was organised by Renee Tyrell, Tracey Hart, Sue Darcy, Liz Hicks, Carly Burn, Dawn McGowan and Linda Pinker. Considering the weather forecast wasn't looking too good for the week we were blessed with fine weather and lovely food.
I would like to thank all those involved in organising this event and to everyone who attended. I think we can all say what a lovely afternoon we had. We even got to combine the lunch with a birthday celebration. Happy Birthday Nicky.
Reply from Dr Draczynski, Leonardis Klinik
I emailed the results of my bone scan to the Leonardis Klinik on Friday evening and got a quick response this morning.
Basically Dr Draczynski said that when comparing the recent bone scan to one in 2005 (almost 3 years), it does not come as a surprise that there is a general increase in uptake. Something that should be done is to rule out any jeopardy for fracture. This is a particular concern for the thoracic and lumbar spine probably to some lesser extent also for the bony pelvis. This is an issue that I can address on the 18th June at my next Oncology appointment. Dr D then went on to say that given the fact that my liver obviously looks much better and we are looking into doing 2 laser treatments, the bony issue now has to be addressed.
Also the combination of Xeloda (chemo I'm due to start on 18th June) and Avastin is excellent for bony disease. He suggests that we wait and see what the effect of Xeloda and Avastin will be and restage by a regular bone scan in about 3-4 months and do the tumour markers on a 4-6 weekly basis.
The only thing urgent right now is to see whether any of these structures are prone to fracture. Otherwise I need to continue with the treatments.
This news has made me feel a lot better, but isn't it funny how the Berks remain silent on the results with no suggestions forthcoming and that I have to wait 3 weeks to discuss it with them. Communication is crap in this country!
Golf Charity match in memory of Jono Kirton
Steve took part in a golf charity match today alongside over 70 other players in memory of Jono Kirton who died prematurely 4 years ago. This was organised by Jono's friends, Dave Cleal, Dave Allen, Mark Allen and Paul Webb. Steve and I would like to thank them for their generosity as a large proportion of the money raised on the day has been donated to my Wigs to Wishes fund.
Bone Scan results
As I'll have to wait until my next Oncology appointment on 18th June to get my Bone scan results, I decided to see my GP today to get the results off the main system.
I'm really disappointed as there appears to be more spread in the bones. The report reads as follows:
Comparison is made with previous isotope bone scan from July 2005. Today's examination shows disease progression now involving multiple thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, several lower anterior ribs with diffuse progression throughout the bony pelvis, more prominent on the left. There are probably also deposits in the calvarium bilaterally.I didn't realise that I hadn't had a bone scan at the Royal Berks since 2005! I suppose there is going to be more spread since then. The last bone scan I had was in Germany in October 2007 where they give you a printed picture so it is hard to compare to two results. The GP was surprised by the term "calvarium bilaterally" and she had a look on a medical google page. The report is saying that there is possible spread in the skull. She was quick to point out that this is not the brain! This is definitely a new spread.
I have however sent the result to the German Onc by email this evening and will have a chat with them about it next week.
Approximately 60 people took part in the Family Sponsored Walk today and what a wonderful time was had by all. The weather was a mix of sunshine and clouds with the odd drop of rain but this didn't deter the crowd walking from the Bottle & Glass, Binfield Heath to the Bird in Hand at Sonning Common. In total everyone walked 11k through woodland and fields and we didn't lose anyone along the way. Having said that, Steve lost me and Freddie the day before when we were putting up the direction arrows to mark the first half of the route. Neither of us had a mobile phone so Freddie and I were beginning to think we'd have to walk home!
