A happy pic for today

The first-time expectant parents - Tim and Meascha Eddy - my son and his wife. Baby due 5 November. It sooooo exciting!

The Next Phase

Oncologists and surgeons are not conveyors of happy news. I ought to know that already! Anyway, the oncologist says that I am now on chemotherapy indefinitely. I seem to recall him saying that exact same thing to me over a year ago. We'll see about that!

There is a variety of drugs that can be used in a variety of combinations and I will be starting on the first 'cocktail' next week. It's a combination of tablet and injection in a 3 week cycle - 2 weeks on and 1 week off with the single injection session happening in week 1.

Side effects are expected to be minimal and if they do get too bad, then the cocktail changes to another combination of drugs. And I won't lose my hair.

The one happy piece of news from today is that he (the oncologist) has some patients who are still alive after being on these drugs for as many as 5 years. Now here's the challenge - to see if I can beat that and by how much! And he says that my quality of life will not change much.

I'll keep you posted.




This to remind me how I felt before this news -- and how I will feel again very soon!

More about that other 50%

Professor Morris, the surgeon, is not my friend any more! He is not willing to operate as he says that there is no guarantee that he will be able to reach all the tumours in the lymph nodes.

He recommends 3 months of chemotherapy, which is designed to shrink the tumours in both lymph and liver. This should then make the situation operable.

Hmm. I would have preferred an op only, not 3 months of chemo and then an op. And the chemo is not guaranteed to work anyway! It didn't last time.

I have an appointment with the oncologist on Wednesday afternoon. I'll make another entry here then.

Thanks for reading. And for your supportive comments. No happy pics today!

New Email Address II

OK. So, now I've discovered that my gmail address only shows when I sign into the blog to make an entry. Sorry to confuse you. The gmail address is terrie.baxter@gmail.com. I'm using both email adddresses for a while but will eventually convert completely to the gmail address. Today is a stunning sunny, blue sky Wollongong day, so I'm going out to enjoy it while it lasts. Have a great day. :)

New email address

You can see at the top of the BLOG page that I have a Gmail email address. I will gradually move over to this address, but please feel free to use the terbax@tpg.com.au address as well.

That 50/50 Chance

"There's a 50% chance that your cancer won't come back now. We'll monitor you regularly and it will be easy to zap the new small tumours, if they do come back, and keep it under control" These most welcome words were delivered to me by Professor David Morris following my liver surgery in January this year.

Well, 50% is only 50%, isn't it? Last month I had my regular CT scan and blood test, which had all been clear and very encouraging until this point. In early September the tests showed new tumours in the liver and some in the lymph glands close to the liver. Professor Morris sent me for more extensive tests which showed even more (yuk!), and said that they could be removed by more surgery. He encouraged me to go on my planned overseas trip and come to see him again on my return.

Which I did - and I saw him last week.

Further tests showed further growth in the existing tumours and more new tumours. (yuk again). He is examining the scans more closely with colleagues next Monday and will call me to let me know if he considers that they can all be removed with an operation. If not, then other treatment options will need to be considered - the most likely being chemotherapy.

So I am spending this week keeping myself, and particularly my mind, very busy - not dwelling on what might be. I have an appointment with the herbal doctor today (Thursday) and will discuss it all with him too.

Please keep your fingers crossed for me, and say a prayer - if it is your custom.

Back in the Gong

Good morning from Wollongong! France is a very nice country. Paris is a wonderful, historic city. It was fun to be there. The Rugby World Cup atmosphere gave the whole experience just that little something extra.

My time in the Dordogne with my friend, Wilna, at her Chateau Lalinde was very special. We are the best of friends and Wilna is the supreme hostess. I felt like 'a Princess in a castle' the whole time I was there. My room even had a little tower window through which I could view the beautiful river with the white swans and ducks and pigeons that were constantly on the river. It was magic. Leigh and Bob spent a week with us there and then the week in Paris with me.

And now I'm home and it's all a wonderful memory. And I can dream and make plans about the next visit to France. But it's great to be home. I have the house to myself for the next week which will be a treat. Dad has gone to Hong Kong and will visit Nikki and Sam and the children while he's there. Tim's first baby is due in 2 weeks, so there's lots to plan for. Meanwhile, today will be 38'C, so the challenge will be to stay cool!

A few memories of a wonderful time in France

Good food................


(good wine).....................(shhhhhhhhhhhhh....)













Lovely sunshine, loooooong leisurely meals..........

















excellent discussions ----------

(with a captive audience it is always easier..............)














wonderful sights to see and things to do...........















picking up strange men along the way..............

(as is the custom...............)













La vie est
belle!................
















and a fond farewell --------------


until next time!

A bientot!

After seeing and doing lots of Parisian things, including walking till I can't walk any more, today I leave Paris and France to head home. Yesterday was spent at Versailles - magnificent!
Because there is a general strike in France, we are leaving one day early to avoid the chaos. This means an overnight stay in Tokyo, which will give me a chance to recover from one flight before taking on the next. I will just stay at an airport hotel at Narita and have a quiet day in transit.
Photo: Hervé Gac
I have just bid farewell to Leigh (my sister) and Bob and am having one last stroll in the streets of Paris before I go to the airport. Next time I write here will be from my desk in Wollongong.
A bientot!

La Belle France

PS

With the demise of the Wallabies and All Blacks in the rugby,
I'm now an avid follower of
Les Bleus!

Act II Scene 2 : The disappearance of a blog.....

Hi everyone. This is for those who have asked me where my previous blog has disappeared to. The answer is: 'I don't know!' One day it just wasn't there any more. I looked and looked for it to no avail. So, now I have started this new one. Let's see how long it stays with us.


I am currently in France, staying with my friend, Wilna Wilkinson, in her chateau on the Dordogne River in the south west of France. Life is good. My sister, Leigh, and her husband, Bob are here with me for a week. Today they are out cycling along the river visiting the magnificent villages in this area. I'm having a quiet day in!

On Friday we 'remove to gay Paris' where we have rented an apartment for a week. I'll be back in Oz on the morning of 20 October after two overnight flights! Not looking forward to that sojourn, but at least I've treated myself to business class seats.

It was exciting going to the World Cup Rugby game, between Australia and Canada, in Bordeaux,recently. The game wasn't particularly spectacular, although an Aussie win was good, but the atmosphere was tremendous. It was fun to run into people I know from all over the world. Amazing!

This entry is a test and I'll send the link to a few people to see if it works. Menawhile 'au revoir, mes amis'.