The one where I pick a fight with BUPA

As you'll probably recall, I had my radiotherapy at NHS Northampton General Hospital and they were absolutely fantastic, a cohesive caring team who made a potentially dreadful experience enjoyable - I haven't laughed so much in months! What I wasn't expecting at the end of it was a bill to arrive for £2,500 with a demand that I make a cheque for said amount to the NHS......! Needless to say, I was dumbfounded and immediately got onto the blower to BUPA to find out what was going on.

BUPA "Did you pre-authorise your radiotherapy?"

Me: "No, I had it on the NHS"

BUPA: "You should have pre-authorised it"

Me: "But I've been paying taxes for 19 years, nobody else in that waiting room had to pay for their radiotherapy"

BUPA: "You're a private patient"

Me: "So why didn't I get private radiotherapy?"

BUPA: "We don't offer private radiotherapy"

Me: "Why didn't you tell me I would get a bill for it?"

BUPA: "You didn't ask"

.... and on and on and on it went. All I can say is that they have picked a fight with the wrong girl, this whole experience has taught me a very important lesson, private medical insurance is great if you've got a bit of a poorly knee and want a comfortable stay after your operation, for critical illness you can't beat the NHS. Cancer on private insurance is an administrative nightmare (I had a bill for £3.50 the other day for "dressings" as I had a plaster during my final round of chemo and it hadn't been authorised.....)

Don't get me wrong, there are many elements of private cover that are brilliant - chemotherapy at home, the best anti-emetics known to mankind and access to some of the best medical professionals in the UK; what tarnishes the experience entirely is the requirement to manage your own treatment at a time when you just need them to be on your side (oddly enough, that's their slogan).

I'm still not allowed to talk about what's happening on 29th September but I have offered BUPA a choice, sort this out before then or they will find my rants about them will go viral, internationally viral....!

Damn, it feels good to be back!

#fightlikeagirl

Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you...

The only excuse I can come up with to explain my blog tardiness over the last couple of weeks is the admission that my life is starting to merge into some sort of normality and therefore should not demand any more attention than it did before we started out on this journey together. Whilst I am still under the care of an Oncologist, I am - for all intents and purposes - no longer a cancer patient. 

My post-treatement scan is due to take place in the first week of September, I’ll continue to take Tamoxifen for at least the next 2 years and will have annual mammograms but those are the only things (coupled with my ‘vigilance’) which will act as my safety net. They advise you be vigilant for symptoms that the cancer may have reoccured or spread but not to allow it to take over your life, that’s easier said than done. They could just as easily have said “off you go into the wilderness, there’s a chance you could be mauled to death by a bear but don’t let that worry you….. just keep an eye out for bears”.

Our trip Rhodes was a perfect way to end the chapter, it’s the first time we’ve succumbed to the package holiday experience but rather than feeling trapped by the walls of the resort we finally got some quality time together just the 3 of us. Sun-worshipping was well and truly off the cards as my chest has gone a lovely shade of purple and has started to peel but I was assured by Mr Rashed this afternoon that it looks very healthy indeed (he must have seen some nasty sights if mine looks healthy…. no photos, it’s not pretty!) 

I was forced to spend my time sitting in the shade drinking the all-inclusive cocktails and sniggering as the lifeguards chased after Erica as she hurled herself into the deep end of the pool (no idea where she gets that from!) Here's a video of Nathan and Erica enjoying the evening entertainment.

What else? Oh yes, the barnet… it’s taking on a life of it’s own! They say that your hair grows back very differently following chemotherapy and I am never one to disappoint. It seems to be coming back some kind of weird ash-blonde but it could be growing back green for all I care, with each passing day I am starting to look more GI Jane than Jabba the Hutt!

All I can say about the teaser from my last blog is to watch this space.... until 29th September...

#fightlikeagirl

The one I'm not allowed to talk about......

It's probably not the best blog title in the world but believe it or not my inability to talk about what I was up to last week is contractually binding! What I can say is that it was a fantastic way to mark the end of my radiotherapy and you will hear all about it at the end of September which is when I will likely go into hiding!

As I embark on my two year course of Tamoxifen with the hot flashes that are synonymous with the menopause initiated by the chemotherapy, I still can't quite believe that for all intents and purposes the hospital side of my treatment is over. We went to see the Oncologist this evening and agreed that we'll have the CT scan in the first week of September, he's not expecting to find anything sinister in the pictures and I'm adamant that I will remain positive no matter what happens. As I have probably mentioned before, breast cancer cells are notoriously shady, they don't show up in blood tests and that means the only way we'll know whether or not I'm cured is if no further tumours develop within the next 5 years - it's probably the worst waiting game of my life but I am determined not to let it worry me (that kind of bullshit is easier said than done!)

I also celebrated the end of radiotherapy with a trip to see yet another Plastic Surgeon, we discussed (at length) the various reconstruction options available and agreed that I will most likely be going for a very simple transverse rectus abdominis muscle flap procedure (or TRAM flap to the rest of us), in the simplest way that I can understand it, the surgeon will replace the saline expander which is doing a fantastic job of faking a boob for me with fat and muscle from my belly and will reattach the blood vessels in order to keep the tissues alive. There is no doubt that it is a major operation which will likely take between 8-10 hours and will require a 10 day stay in hospital but by the end of it I will have a beautiful new boob, a 'lifted' healthy boob and a tummy tuck....! How awesome is that?! He paid me a backhanded compliment as he said there isn't quite enough fat on my belly to be able to plan the procedure anytime soon, it normally takes between 6-12 months following radiotherapy for the skin to heal, so we've agreed to aim for January by which time I can spend Christmas stuffing my face as I will be "growing a new boob!"

So, in a nutshell, life is certainly starting to get back to normal and we're all very excited about our family holiday to Rhodes next week. Thank you for not forgetting about us and for all of your lovely messages of support.


#fightlikeagirl