The calm before the storm of chemo 4

1. Ali and Chris are going to Scotland tomorrow with those nice people Neil and Lynda (!!). Oh - and all the kids. Meeting up with old friends for the weekend in an almost perfect location will be great. Better still Ali is looking good and feeling great at this point in the cycle and will probably drink and talk and eat us all under the table.
2. The mistletoe dose is now up to 40mg all at one dose - having worked up from a fraction of that. And the localised reaction is minimal and the feverish nights no more, so that's brilliant. Chris will have to work through his general aversion to all things medical at some point to start injecting her himself. This might need quite a lot of prayer!!
3. The feverish nights have gone but the wakefullness is still a problem. Not necessarily morbid thoughts but just being awake in the wee hours. Ali tends to go off to sleep OK but 5am is just a bit too early even for a keen birdwatcher. Asha and Kirin are not helping in this matter and still (as young kids tend to) take turns in waking in the middle of the night for a variety of reasons. The dilemas of 'sleep training' and stamina needed for it with one child are daunting enough, add in a second in the same room and a terminal illness for good measure and who'd want to be in their shoes??
4. They return from Scotland on Monday 5th and Ali's mid-way-point-scan is the next day. They won't know any results until the following Monday when they have a meeting with the consultant - who, in fact, they barely met at the last appointment due to under staffing. They had that meeting with a registrar instead which wasn't really what they had in mind and will mean that this rather 'key' appointment will be with a relative stranger.
5. Chemo no 4 will kick off on the following Wednesday (14th Dec).
6. As per the 'main blog' posts the holiday in Suffolk was fab. And Chris never had to dash to that tribunal after all. So please keep praying even if we're a bit bad at giving you regular pointers...

Sleepless in Suffolk

1. Ali has not been sleeping so well at night and while she's feeling good, physically, this provides a dilemma - how to live it up in the evenings and wake up at 5 in the mornings without getting too tired! She's also not been sleeping easily during her day-time lie-downs but she seems to be happier about that - she can always call it relaxation rather than siesta. But the waking early or not sleeping at night she could do without.
2. Chris and Ali are off to Suffolk tomorrow (Monday) for almost a week with a combination of seeing the folks in Norfolk and hot-tubbing it in a cottage in Suffolk, first with and then without the kids.
3. The week they get back is Chris's last in his job as it is (and has been until) now. After that he will reduce his hours and relinquish some management in order to be around more at home. He has to be at an employment tribunal the day of their next appointment with the oncologist so is hoping for a postponement!
4. The next meeting with the oncologist is Monday 14th November. This time they meet with Rebecca Bowen as Sarah is now on maternity leave. They would love for her to 'get' them and really connect well with them during this first meeting as it is the only time they will meet her before the meeting they'll have after the scan in December. Chris would really like not to have to dash straight off after their meeting to the tribunal.