Back in June I entered into the ring to start my boxing match with ‘Cyril.’ There have been rounds that I’ve found simple to win, others that have felt like a bit of an effort, and those that have been extremely challenging. And then there were the ones that felt just completely impossible to win. The final round of the match was on Monday when I had my repeat CT scan. Shopping and lunch with my aunt followed my scan!

And the winner was announced on Wednesday, when I met with the professor in charge of my chemo for the scan results. He confirmed that the scan showed no evidence of ‘Cyril,’ which means that I am now in remission!! That’s the word I’ve been waiting for and it felt just as good to hear as I thought it would. Wining this match doesn’t mean the end of my treatment, but it marks a huge milestone for me, and one that I’m so proud and grateful to have got to. 

 For the next year, I will be back at the Marsden every three weeks for my Avastin – the maintenance IV drug I’ll be on. I had my first one on Wednesday after my scan results and my veins and blood behaved themselves so treatment went smoothly. Once again, I had my usual dose of IV magnesium for 3 1/2 hours, but the time past very quickly because I had my trusty colouring book and was chatting away with the wonderful nurses and doctors on the ward. I finished this long day at the Marsden with my third session of acupuncture. This is helping to reduce the intensity of the hot flushes and night sweats that I get due to the menopause. Before heading back home on the train, I had a celebratory burger with my dad and sister. I am so proud of myself, as eating in a restaurant is no longer as anxiety inducing as it was a few months ago, and I can enjoy doing this a lot more now. 

Last week, I shared some of the things on my ‘Normal List’. I wrote it to help me deal with the fact my treatment is now every three weeks, to stop me worrying about what my tumor markers are doing and my future health. It was also to help me get back into all the important non-cancer things in my life. They may seem like small things, but they’re things I’ve not been able to do until now. The list seems to be working well. So far I’ve ticked off:

 

I have also added some new things to the list this week. I’m going to visit the school I work at on Monday 21st November and I’m also planning a trip to a Christmas market. I find that when I’m doing something from my list, I’m focused on the activity,  and all of things that worry me seem to temporarily fade away. I have become eager to tick things off my list, and take a selfie of myself or a photo so I’ve got a record of what I have done. I’ve included some of the selfies and photos I have taken so far…

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The list is really helping, but I know from my experience so far, feelings come and go and you always need to keep mindful of what you might need or what might be helpful at different points on this journey. This week I was reminded about the importance of asking for help if I am struggling to cope.

Back to the boxing match and my win! There are so many people who have helped me to win this fight: my medical team, my family, my friends, Chai Cancer Care and every single person who has supported, and continues to support, Finding Cyril. And possibly most important of all my body has helped me. I am so thankful to my body because it did an incredible job at letting me know that ‘Cyril’ was there, and then in helping me fight it. 

So now I have started my next match, but this time with the experience and knowledge from having already got through the first one…

Match two statistics 

 Aim: To keep ‘Cyril’ out of the ring so that I can hold my position as the champion

 Player: Laura and her body

 Team members: Avastin, Royal Marsden medical team, family, friends, Chai Cancer Care, my Finding Cyril blog and my ‘Normal List’

The challenge of this match is time. It’s going to be a very long one and I have no doubt that there will be bumps along the way, and times when I feel my position as champion is being challenged. But I won the belt in the first match, and I will also win it this time round. I wear my belt from the first match every day. It’s my scar and it is proof that I am stronger than ‘Cyril.’ The belt from the second match will be the joy of achieving all of the things that I want to, whilst also dealing with any obstacles that the match may throw my way. 

As my oldest sister told me on the 9th June when I was diagnosed, “Cyril messed with the wrong b****!”