It almost feels like each time we stop and breathe and look forward to some normality something is waiting in the wings to put an immediate stop to everything!
We were so excited about Eleanor’s upcoming theatre opportunity but sadly cancer doesn’t care about you, it doesn’t care about the people who love you or your desperate need for a normal life.
Eleanor’s most recent scan has shown growth of her main tumour, barely 3 months after a whole year of treatment. To say we are devastated is an understatement, for many reasons, but most importantly we really feel that her body needs a more significant break before we subject it to more treatment. Although Eleanor tolerated the year of Vinblastine well she is still suffering from significant fatigue and neuropathic pain and is having regular assessments with a pain management team. The short and long term side effects of chemotherapy are a whole blog post in themselves… maybe I will do one at some point!
After a consultation with Eleanor’s oncologist he has decided that Eleanor should start a 3rd line of treatment as soon as possible. Eleanor will embark upon an 18 month treatment regimen comprising of 12 cycles of Irinotecan and Bevacizumab followed by 24 weeks of weekly Vinblastine.
18 months of regular hospital appointments. 18 months of side effects, 18 months of missed school sessions, 18 months of weekly blood tests, 18 months of worry and 18 months of cancelled plans and being slaves to our calendar!
18 months. Here we go again…