Pre Assessment Day 24th February 2021

My appointment was for 8am on the 24th Feb, nice and early.

I was greeted by Chris who made me feel so at ease.

Phil & I sat down in the room and she explained that she would be going through all my treatment plan and what I will expect and not to expect, and also go over my diet!!

Chris worked through a booklet and detailed my chemotherapy. My first course of chemotherapy is EC, which is manually fed by a nurse into a canula & my second course of Chemotherapy Docetaxel is given through a drip.

Chris advised me of all the side effects of my chemo, the main ones being Hair Loss, Sickness & Tiredness.

although sickness usually is controllable now due to the anti sickness drugs.

Over the past weeks, as some of you know my hair has been my worry...as some people have advised me that I might not lose it & some have said I may.. well today Chris confirmed I will be losing my hair with the chemotherapy given, so at least I now have it confirmed and can organise my plan, this plan involving my daughters!!!!

I was shown by Chris that I will receive a card on my first day, as I will have a 24hr careline, so that if I feel unwell in any way that isn't normal through my treatment, I can contact them straight away, this was also very reassuring, as no one knows how you are going to react with chemo.

Diet! I like my food... I like cake, biscuits, chocolate... what girl doesn't! but its time to change.

Chris read off foods that I couldn't eat whilst having chemo which sounded very familiar to when I was pregnant, soft cheeses, greek yoghurts & pre biotic drinks.

I advised Chris that with research I have decided to go Vegan, due to other Breast Cancer sufferers sharing their experiences. The other product was Milk! finding that Oestrogen is in cows milk & a discussion with my Director Jaime Lee, I visited our local supermarket & purchased Alpro Oat, Coconut & Almond Milk and have found that Oat milk will now be my substitute when having a cuppa.

Chris then shown me the Chemo room.. the room was spacious, bright and airy with 6 comfy chairs, all with machines next to them and separated by clear screens due to Covid.

I was advised that I will be having my Chemo on a Tuesday and it will remain the same time for every chemo treatment, unless there is a problem. I will then visit the hospital on the 18th March to have my bloods taken, this is now all bookable online from home, which is fabulous as you can book at a time that suits you.

I will then receive a call on the 19th March from my Consultant - Dr Persic to ask how I'm feeling in general & will also have to give her details of my weight and temperature that day, so that any adjustments can be made to my chemo medication, as these are all calculated on your weight, this is something that is recurring and will happen before every treatment throughout.

I then visited the Phlebotomy department to have my bloods taken, this took literally 5 minutes, amazing! the new booking system due to covid has definitely improved this department and is something they are looking at keeping.

I have now calculated that my last treatment will hopefully be the 15th June 2021!

I am ready for this next part of the journey! LETS DO THIS!!!!