An email update from Lyndall.........

Hi all,just before I get to blog hopping I just wanted to post an update email I got from Lyndall.Some of you have asked how she is,so I thought it best to post Lyndall's email.



Hi everyone,

I cannot believe that it’s been over 6 weeks since I sent my last update email. The time just goes by so quickly, someone told me this week it’s only 10 weeks until Christmas – can you believe it??

Since I sent my last email the benefit night held to raise funds for myself, Chris & Noah took place on 10th September. What a fantastic night it was! We had a great time catching up with everyone that was there and enjoyed the entertainment by Elvis and Cosimo. Noah had such a blast, he hardly spent any time with Chris & I during the night, he was too busy running amuck with Alex (his cousin) and Sebastian (his mate) – sorry to those of you who got home to find your red heart lollypop was missing from your goodie bag, I’m unsure exactly how many the kids devoured!! A huge thank you to my friend Sue for conceiving the idea and making it happen and to my Mum, Margaret, my sister Melissa, friends Lyn, Michelle, Cheryl and Kellie for their involvement in the night, we will be forever grateful. We will also be forever grateful to all of those people that contributed financially to this evening – thank you so much.

On Monday 12th September I commenced the first round of the my new chemo regime. This involves being in hospital from Monday to Saturday, going down to the oncology unit daily for my chemo then going back to the ward. I need to be treated as an inpatient because I have to be kept on fluids for the entire time I’m there to ensure my body is being flushed sufficiently as one of the two chemo drugs can tear away the lining of my bladder. For the week that I’m in hospital I don’t feel too bad, I have no nausea (thanks to the copious amounts of anti-nausea drugs I get given) and I get plenty of rest so I thought I’d be okay when I went home – WRONG!! I had some mild nausea and was extremely tired for 3 – 4 days, my Dad came to stay and help me with Noah while Chris was at work. By about Thursday I was starting to feel normal again, which was really nice but I was not looking forward Monday as I knew it was going to happen all again.

Monday 19th September I was back in for the second round. The blood test I’d had on the previous Friday had shown a white blood cell count of 0, which means they can’t proceed with chemo so I was half expecting the oncology nurses to tell me to go home for a week – no such luck!! On Monday morning, my white blood cell count had miraculously recovered and chemo could go ahead – YAY!! (Yes, I’m being sarcastic.) So again, I was in hospital until Saturday afternoon and then went home. Unfortunately, this time I experienced all the side effects that chemo can throw at you and felt the worst I have ever since starting chemo back in April. Thankfully my Mum was able to come and stay with us to help Chris around the house and to give me that motherly love I so needed. On the Tuesday after the long weekend I went back to the oncology unit for a blood transfusion and by the end of the day I was feeling a lot better. On Wednesday morning I spiked a fever so was back in the oncology unit for the day but thankfully got to go home in the afternoon with some oral antibiotics. When I got home on Wednesday I received the very sad news that my friend Ilana, who had been battling neck cancer for the past 18 months had passed away that day, aged 34 years. Needless to say, the last fortnight has been very challenging and Noah has really struggled with me being in hospital, it’s so hard to see him going through all of this but he has so much love and support around him Chris & I just have to trust that this will be enough to help him get through this chapter of our lives.

It’s not all bad though, the last 4 days I’ve felt really good and have spent some quality time with Chris & Noah and have also managed to catch up with some friends, which has been lots of fun.

Tomorrow morning I head back for my third round of this regime, which is the last round before my CT scan to see how things are progressing. I figure, if it hurts this much it’s gotta be killing this tumour!!

I will be in touch again once I have the results from my CT scan, hopefully that should only be a matter of a few weeks.

Love to you all. Lyndall xx