So it’s been a very busy few weeks since my last blog – apologies for the delay for those of you who have been waiting! I’ve been well though and have a lot to catch you all up on. Get comfy, it’s going to be a long post…

22nd March 2019 – This morning I went into Peter Mac for a PET scan. I had a bit of scanxiety going into it because even though I was very positive about the scan, there’s always that tiny little voice in your head that says “what if it’s not working”. The process for the PET scan goes like this… I have an injection of a liquid radioactive material, which they had to put a cannula in, instead of going through my PICC line. Then I wait an hour for it to go through my body. Last time I had a PET scan the only rule was that I had to sit down for the whole time, but this time around they were a lot more strict. I wasn’t allowed to talk, read or use my phone. They even sent Anthony out of the room so we wouldn’t talk!! So much for reading the book I specifically brought with me today… Once the hour is up, I’m off to do the actual scan. It goes for about 20mins and all I have to do is lie down and stay completely still. Last time I fell asleep so I was hoping to squeeze in a quick powernap 😴 But after a minute or so music started playing really loud and there went any chance for a nap!

The scan finished and we left the hospital and headed straight to Echuca for a weekend on a houseboat with 10 of our friends! I figured what better way to avoid scanxiety than to hang out with friends all weekend. No sitting around at home thinking about the scan results until Monday morning.

The houseboat was awesome! We ate sooo much food, laughed til we cried, played every board game we could find and enjoyed the peaceful surroundings. We even managed to get ourselves stuck on the river bank in record time 😂 Today was a great day and I only had a couple of little pangs of pain in my liver. They reminded me to take more THC – I’m up to 5 drops a day now!

23rd March 2019 – Slept fairly well but not for long enough as I woke up pretty tired. More games, delicious food and lots of kneeboarding and wakeboarding today! It was also my ‘birthday party’ and I chose to have a hat/headwear party. I underestimated the lengths my friends would go to for this party theme. It was great! Everyone looked fantastic and I got to wear my Survivor buff 😍 We made a taco bar and had the most delicious cake – photo below! We were playing games all night and at one point I had to stop to get a tissue because my nose was running and our friend Rossy said “You better go catch it!”, which he found hilarious 🤣 And that was the joke of the weekend! (FUN FACT: A runny nose is a side effect of chemo as I’m even losing nose hairs!)

24th March 2019 – Didn’t get to sleep until 2am last night so no surprise that I woke up super tired and with a puffy face. Had a relaxing morning reading my book, doing my nails, playing games and attempting to eat all of the remaining food! We drove the boat back to dock, packed the car and were on our way back home. I was feeling good the whole day and when we finally got home we had dinner (eating again!), us girls put on our matching Disney jumpsuit pjs and watched Crazy Rich Asians! For some reason I got a bit moody when we got home and at one point almost cried. I have no idea why because I honestly had a fantastic weekend away with everyone. I did look at my abdomen and got worried I could see tumors poking out so I put that down to being a bit of scanxiety. I’m trying to stay positive about the scan results and not listen to that tiny voice in the back of my mind. Results are going to be great… 👍

25th March 2019 – PET SCAN RESULTS DAY: The weekend must’ve tuckered me out as I slept like a log last night! I woke up at 7.30am and had a bit of scanxiety but trying to think positive thoughts. We waited over an hour to see my oncologist – of course, the one day I really really want her to be on time. In the waiting room we attempted a crossword and saw ScoMo (our prime minister!) – he was here to announce more funding for Peter Mac – YAY! He came over to Anthony & I and said hello and he asked “are you here for treatment today?” When he asked this, he was looking directly at Anthony so I’m fairly certain he thought Anthony was the one with cancer because he has a shaved head 😜 I let him know I was there to get my PET scan results and he wished me good luck!

The oncologist finally called us in and had a very big smile on her face so I was really hoping that was a good sign. We sat down and she said she was very happy with my results – YAY – such a relief!! She explained the scan results to us and the cancer is shrinking!! The doctor even said that the results were “better than expected”. We went through my blood test results and checked the cancer markers. To give you an idea of how much it’s shrinking here’s a rough outline of my markers. Before chemo #1 they were around 900, round 2 they spiked (this is normal as it’s the cancer reacting to the chemo) to 1400, round 3 they dropped to 700 and round 4 they were just 190! 🙌 We walked out of that office extremely happy and I know I had a gigantic grin on my face! It was just so comforting to know that the chemo along with THC/crystals/positive vibes has been working and is doing exactly what we want it to do – shrink the tumors and tell cancer to f*ck off!

Today was the last day I had with my two besties together so we all went out for lunch (I must’ve been feeling great as I ate the entire meal!) then we did an escape room – and I was actually pretty good at it this time 😂 Family came over when we got home and we hugged, smiled, laughed and ate all the leftovers from the houseboat! We attempted to watch The Lego Movie but all fell asleep during it! I had so many messages of love, support and positivity. Today was an AWESOME day! xoxo 💖