Had some technical issues with the blog which finally got resolved. So this post should have appeared at the end of 2021....which is 10 years after all this started. Had another all clear and… Read more →

We're very pleased to report that Sarah has just been given the five year all clear. Unbelievable how long ago she was first diagnosed. Since the end of her treatment she's had blood tests, scans,… Read more →

Once more I expose myself to pain beyond my ageing bones in an attempt to raise money for a worthy charity. During that difficult time we had the best medical care and wonderful support from… Read more →

..because today Sarah got the "all clear". Having had the full Pet-CT scan yesterday we got the results today, another gun powder plot foiled, no explosions...just a sigh of relief. Next test in… Read more →

Whoops. I missed the shortcut so ended up going up Leith Hill which is the biggest on the ride. Once I had successfully climbed that beauty (actually easier than Ditchling Beacon for those that have… Read more →

As I posted back in February late last year I decided to do one charity event a year with the view to raising money for a breast cancer charity. The Ride100 was announced. Essentially re-creating the… Read more →

Two quick updates. Firstly Sarah had more tests during May - the whole PetCT radioactive isotope dye thing. All clear. Hurrah! Roll on September and the two year anniversary. Secondly I broke my leg… Read more →

(whoops I wrote this a few weeks back and didn't publish it at the time). Another one of those moments that you hope not to have. Strange feelings in risky places. Calls made to doctors. Thankfully… Read more →

[caption id="attachment_322" align="alignright" width="214"] On the 4th of August I'll ride along here too. Gulp.[/caption] Like the fool I am I've signed up to do the RideLondonSurrey100 "race" on… Read more →

Last Friday Sarah had the biggie. The Pet-CT scan. Radioactive stuff injected into her that roams round the body and latches to any cancerous cells. The scanning machine, which resembles a gigantic… Read more →

Two frights in two weeks. A new weight lose program I wouldn't recommend. Last week after having listened to Sarah coughing on and off for four weeks I decided to raise the unpalatable thought that… Read more →

We saw the Professor this afternoon and he was pleased with the outcome and how everything is healing. Unsurprisingly but equally unexpected they checked for further cancerous cells but didn't find… Read more →

She got home about 10:30 this morning. A little tired and fragile but doing well. Still hasn't seen Prof. Mokbel so we don't know any more. We have an appointment to see him on Thursday so will… Read more →

The three of us went to see Sarah bright and breezy this morning. She is on really good form. Had a good nights sleep. She has a little soreness on the "new" side. Where as the old side is pretty… Read more →

I've now spoken to Sarah and she sounded fantastic. Everything has gone to plan. She was tucking into some biscuits and coffee...the cornerstone of a nutritiousness diet! We're all going to see her… Read more →

It's been a long day today. Sarah went off at 7am in a taxi with me looking after T&J at home. She got to the hospital to be told she was first up at 9am. Hurray! But then booo! Her room wasn't… Read more →

Bradley Wiggins might be getting all the limelight today but Tobin's Just Giving page closed over the weekend and he finally raised a staggering £1,985. What an achievement both in the race in April… Read more →

We got the results of Sarah's first post treatment CT scan at 12:30 today. And it was "a fail", ie negative, as in "there is no cancer". "Phew" doesn't fully justify our sense of relief. OK I'm a… Read more →

Sarah had the port removed from the implant today. Predictably it didn't go to plan. It was supposed to detach simply and then self seal. However it somehow broke and the saline started to leak… Read more →

We've had the first of those ups and downs I suspect will become common place until complacency sets in. Last Friday I came home and Sarah told me her breast had been itching in the same way and… Read more →

Previously Tobin had run 5K in 22m30s, today he shaved more than 2m off that time completing the race in 20m07s . He was a little annoyed at himself for not breaking the 20 minute barrier but still,… Read more →

Tobin's run's tomorrow. So far he's raised over £1,200 which he is really chuffed by. It's not too late to sponsor him, in fact you can up to three months after the event. I'll be taking photo's and… Read more →

Given updates here are going to be less frequent I've added a subscriber feature which means if you register on this site you'll get an email each time I add a new post. The email will contain all… Read more →

Long story short. Tobin got selected for the London mini marathon, running for the borough of Merton. The course is the final 3 miles of the real marathon route. Yesterday, off his own back, he… Read more →

Not the car insurer, no silly dogs here. The end of the beginning passed last week with Sarah's final radio therapy session. Treatment all over, with a little remaining cosmetic tidying up to come… Read more →

Sarah is dealing pretty well so far. Her skin has gone a little red and she does get a little more tired than normal. A good sleep and not being too hectic seems to put her right. She still has a few… Read more →

Sarah's completed 9 of her 25 radiotherapy sessions as of yesterday. On the whole they are routine. They've had the occasional issue with the machines but nothing dramatic, just seems to delay… Read more →

Last week Sarah went for a planning session where they map exactly in her chest and clavicle they are going to zap. To ensure they line up the machines correctly each time they've put a tiny tattoo… Read more →

£8,000 worth of syringes in here. Now worthless in case any if you were thinking of a touch of B&E.

Over. The end. Finished. Full stop. Chemo. Done. Those 16 weeks flew by. I suspect largely because, relative to others we've heard from, she got away with very few side effects. In about 4 weeks her… Read more →

As Gordon would say, "round 7. Done". Apart from a few hiccups administering the drugs yesterday, which slowed things down further, it was business as usual. It was a long day consequently. We left… Read more →

Number 6 of 8 sessions completed this Wednesday. What a nice Christmas treat! We took the children along so that they could see what Sarah goes through. They both seemed to think it helped understand… Read more →

Not enough appendages crossed Sarah's suffering somewhat on this new regime. First three days or so she was totally unaffected I think it's safe to say. After this though she developed flu like… Read more →

5/8th, sounds like some old money malarkey. Or imperial calibration. Either way we're on the back four in golfing terms. Waiting was the order of today. The taxol regime takes much longer. Three… Read more →

Follow up with the Prof today to inflate the bag. As in the bag in her chest. I'm not saying my wife is a bag. The result is no more walking round in circles for Sarah now she's been levelled off. We… Read more →

No but we're half way. Back at Harley Street, much busier here. Pretty much the same setup though. Sarah's relatively gentle trip down chemo lane was cast in stark relief today by the poor chap in… Read more →

Rob absolutely came up trumps with my second chemo treat - lunch at Heston Blumenthals din.ner up in Knightsbridge last Wednesday and it completely lived up to all expectations. Being a bit of a… Read more →

Nothing much new to report. No new symptoms from the chemo. Cold mostly gone along with more hair. Mouth ulcers persist but ebb and flow. Had first meeting with the genetics team at st. Georges.… Read more →

The last week has probably been the toughest so far. We feared they wouldn't let Sarah have chemo today because of her hacking cough. Ironically then fighting off the cold has increased her white… Read more →

What with the after effects of Monday's operation, the hair depleting rapidly, the mouth ulcers and now a cold Sarah has picked this is the worst its been so far. Not as bad as others have told us it… Read more →

The little op today didn't go to plan. The 10 minutes became 40. Nothing to worry about as eventually all sorted. Sarah's feeling a little weary and uncomfortable now the anaesthetic has worn off.… Read more →

Well, the hardest day for me has arrived and the wig is now a necessity and not just something stored at the bottom of my shoe cupboard! Please be kind and if I become obsessed with all of your… Read more →

Second trip to the surreal white leather, wood and chrome hospital slash boutique hotel. Same "chain" but different location. Almost next door to Lords with, no lie, valet parking. This one also… Read more →

My bad. Chemo is tomorrow though.

Sarah finished the last of her tablets last night, the mildest of side effects in summary. Just over a week and then round two starts Tuesday. Next Monday the minor op. A week of normality beckons.… Read more →

Nothing new. Possibly Sarah feels slightly fluie, if that is even a word. Also a little tired because she's not sleeping too well. We saw the consultant in the morning. Everything is progressing… Read more →

The Stones Roses may have reformed yesterday but today it feels like we're The Charlatans. Both children have been packed off in anticipation of what Sarah was or is going to go through but so far… Read more →

We arrived at about half three having had a nice lunch and some shopping. Apparently I'm not allowed to say she has a new jacket from Belstaff, so I won't. The treatment room has a TV showing… Read more →

Pre-chemo checks sounds like something you'd do before taking off in a plane. Although on this occasion it's "sign here that you agree to let us fill your body with toxins that have loads of horrible… Read more →

Nothing massively interesting to report. Healing proceeding well. There was almost 100ml of seroma fluid drained from under Sarah's arm. Apparently completely normal and has made her feel a little… Read more →

Rob is truly dragging me in to the 21 st century – I have never tweeted, I don’t have a face book page and have never read, let alone written on, a blog. Until now that is! When Rob first said that… Read more →

All the way from Paris. I suspect Jenna will ensure none of us get a look in.

We saw her surgeon this morning to get confirmation of what they found from the tissue they removed during the operation and also to check how Sarah's healing. The wounds (I'm sure there's a better… Read more →

Lying on the sofa eating these (courtesy of Serena).

Got home at about one o'clock. Arm must be better as she's already tidying up. Apparently also going to make a cake later today. And no I can't stop her. We're now going to get the histology from the… Read more →

Sarah just phoned to say the care nurse visited and that she will be discharged tomorrow. Drain will be removed in the morning and she'll probably be on her way back home by about 10/11. Sarah's OK… Read more →

Another visit from me and the kids this morning. Latte in hand. Although by the sound of it the food is fantastic coffee leaves a little bit to be desired. When we arrived the oncologist was there… Read more →

Sarah's in good spirits and looks like her normal self. Up and about doing her exercises to help the arm movement. The oncologist is going to visit Monday. She's slept a bit during the day… Read more →

The professor made his rounds this morning and reiterated what he said yesterday. In summary he's confident all the cancer has been removed. Sarah's soreness is normal and relates to the way that… Read more →

Sarah woke about 16:00 in some pain. They gave her two different drugs over the next two hours to address it. Her care nurse spent quite a lot of time with me and later at about 18:00 with Sarah… Read more →

Apart from the other news all seems to have gone to plan. There were two sentinel nodes they removed to start with. They tested the one that was large and it had the cancer. The smaller (normal?) one… Read more →

Sarah's care nurse just called me to share the bad news that the first lymph node in the ladder is positive for cancer. This means she will have a block of tissue removed around this node which will… Read more →

Her op is planned for this morning and I'm hoping she'll be awake and I'll be able to see her later. I'm going to take the children along tomorrow afternoon after their clubs and homework. Not sure… Read more →

Surgery confirmed for this Friday. She will be at the Princess Grace in central London. Operation in the morning should be awake and vistable (is that a word?) in the afternoon. Depending on how well… Read more →

No cancer detected anywhere else. Phew.

As previously I'm not going to say who but happy to share if you ever want to know. In a nutshell this guy was a little bit clinical. Neither of us warmed to him. On the plus side he yet again… Read more →

We visit a private consultant who speciality is breast cancer surgery. Won't say here who but if you ever need to know then get in touch. He's very reassuring and confirms what the NHS said… Read more →

We return to St. George's to hear how bad it is. Relatively speaking we get good news. The tumour is about 2cm, there's no sign it's spread to the lymph nodes. It's not hormone receptive - which is… Read more →

A few scans and some samples taken. Very quickly Sarah is told that it's cancer. Obvious signs of calcification in the milk ducts and "that lump" clear from the pictures she's shown. Now we're… Read more →

Implication being the lump being untethered that it's nothing to worry about. Referred to St. George's which is normal these days for any abnormality.

It's safe to say if we didn't already know of people with breast cancer we might not have been so swift to act. Now we know more about breast cancer we realise just how common it is. If you find a… Read more →

My thought is to document what's going on and how Sarah feels physically and perhaps emotionally. This is not going to be some gushing blog with erudite prose and musing on life the meaning and… Read more →