Some thought we were joking about the mistletoe!

On Sunday, Elaine is going to the Park Attwood clinic in Worcestershire for a week to 10 days.

She will be treated with Viscum Album or mistletoe! Viscum has apparently been shown to stimulate and strengthen the immunological defence systems and thereby support the body in fighting the effects of cancer.

The clinic is run on anthroposophical principles; all medical staff are properly qualified.

Elaine has also transferred from Calderdale Royal to Leeds Cookridge, and expects to start conventional chemo within 2-3 weeks.

Elaine often looks tired and lacks her normal energy, but the prospect of going to this clinic has raised her spirits once again.

Had the result of the scan this afternoon.

Things have got “substantially” worse – with more cancer in the liver, more on the para-aortal node and some “spots” in the lungs. Although Dr J said it had developed as she would have expected, this news could not have been more unwelcome.

Dr J advised that it was important to start chemo within the next 2-3 weeks. However, she confirmed that the response rate to chemo is still only 50%.

Elaine feels strongly that she doesn’t want to go to Calderdale Royal, after all that has happened, and that we’re prepared to drive to Leeds Cookridge, under Dr A. It will be a long drive. She warned us that we may find that gruelling but that she would support us, and if we wanted to return to Calderdale at any time, that would not be a problem. We would need the agreement of our local practice GP. Some discussion and reflection needed here.

All those who raised eyebrows at the organic, vegan diet and the wide spectrum of witch’s concoctions may well feel vindicated, but who knows whether that hasn’t held back the speed of advance. And no other cancer patient in the crowded waiting room this afternoon looked as healthy and glowing as Elaine.

There’s still the mistletoe treatment!!!

I had my scan yesterday, and we should know the results when we see Dr J on Tuesday.

It’s been a tough couple of weeks and both of us have felt too fed up to write anything. After an inspiring weekend in the Lakes two weeks ago, I’ve had a series of bad nights, and then my foot started getting more and more painful, so by yesterday I couldn’t walk hardly at all. Our GP had ruled out gout when I asked him, and we accepted it was the result of the diseased para-aortic node pressing nerves. I was also getting more and more tired. If I did any activity, I needed to sleep. We both thought it was the onward march of the cancer and were feeling very low about it.

Chris had been pressing me to see the GP about my foot for some days but I couldn’t see the point. Yesterday it was so painful that I agreed and saw a different doctor in the afternoon. Dr M said it was gout! (What Chris had been saying from the beginning of my foot problems in April). It was a much easier diagnosis yesterday as the foot was hot and inflamed. Dr M also said that the foot was probably infected – which is likely to be why I have been tiring so much.

And since taking the antibiotics and anti-flammatory tablets (treatment for gout) there has been a very definite improvement. So we’re smiling again.