Three Years of Stage 4 Melanoma and now Corona Virus

I am approaching the 3-year anniversary of my stage 4 melanoma diagnosis on March 31 and just received good news that my latest scans are fine. I was at the hospital on Thursday and it felt strange as it was much quieter than normal and the radiology staffs were all in very serious mode. This is of course not surprising given that we are in unprecedented times where our amazing frontline NHS staff are being asked not just to do their regular day jobs but also take on dealing with the worst virus pandemic in a generaton. On Friday my Oncologist phoned me to let me know my scans were fine, and he was prescribing 2 months worth of drugs so I didn’t have to go into the hospital for my appointment, as they were trying to limit unnecessary footfall through the hospital. I asked him if my immune system was affected with my current drug regime and he said it was likely to be more compromised than the average person my age without melanoma. I am now being sensible practicing social distancing, stopped going to the gym and swimming but I have still been running outside and my bike is serviced, ready for action. It also makes complete sense where possible for the doctors to be doing consultations by phone/skype to save face-to-face contact for them and their patients. It also provided the benefit of having my usual weekend scanxiety worry awaiting the Monday morning appointment.

However, despite being given the good news of my scan results I found myself becoming increasingly anxious about the corona virus and the fact I am immune compromised. As if there’s not been enough to worry about over the last 3 years with stage 4 cancer now this comes along. I have now recognized what was making the situation worse was social media and listening to the news so I’ll be doing less of that and focusing on finding fun ways of adapting to my situation at home.

I did however pop into the Royal Marsden this week to pick up my 2 months supplies of drugs and have blood tests. The hospital is taking a lot of precautions to keep patients and staff safe. I’ve heard of some patients who are having their treatment cancelled as its too big of a risk for their immune systems right now as they could be at a higher risk of serious complications with the corona virus. This adds additional stress for those already dealing with their cancer diagnosis. The NHS is under such stress right now that resources are also being diverted to other areas.

David and I lived in Hong Kong throughout the SARS epidemic of 2003 when we had home working, social distancing and travel bans to certain locations and there was fear amongst the Hong Kong people. One of David’s abiding memories is of some of the local chinese driving their convertible cars with roofs down but face masks on … We still have friends in Hong Kong and the corona virus hit there in mid January shortly after China. They closed their borders, implemented testing, shut schools and had social distancing very early on and appear to have contained the virus showing a low number of cases and deaths. Many of the other SE Asian countries have been the same. It is currently very distressing to see what is happening in Europe and in my opinion Europe and the UK have slept-walk into the current crisis. I just hope that we are not going to see the UK following Italy in a couple of weeks’ time. It does feel like we are living through a real life disaster movie.

 

To say how quickly life has changed just 3 weeks ago David and I were on the slopes skiing in Chatel with good friends Jen, Paul and family. We had beautiful weather albeit it was warm skiing in the fresh mountain air. Here are a few pics from the mountains. I did suggest to David the other day that we get a camper van and head north to the Outer Hebrides, however, reading the BBC website today, it appears others have done exactly that and are now likely to be creating a strain on their limited local services and everyone needs to stay at home.  It’s almost 2 years since we had our lovely adventure there and I am now longing to get out of London for some Scottish mountain air. If anyone can bottle it and send some to me please do.

As I mentioned in my last blog next up on the melanoma fundraising for the Royal Marsden is the triathlon. My gorgeous friend Melissa Tarver is signed up to do an Iron Man in Barcelona in July and a group of us are signed up for the Blenheim Palace Triathlon on May 31, albeit like many events, we have been advised this week that it will be postponed and will be rescheduled. On the plus side this gives me more time for training which I need especially for swimming.

It’s hard to believe a little less than 2 weeks ago I was swimming outside on a gorgeous Friday afternoon at Hampton pool. In the meantime I will still be running and cycling and doing Joe Wicks fitness classes in the back garden to keep myself sane and fit. Welcome to the garden gym. David doesn’t think the neighbours are ready for him to join me yet!!

We may need some virtual fun activities over the next few months to keep us entertained and sane and the idea of a virtual danceathon has arisen. Get your pink wigs and legwarmers out.

As we enter this uncertain time more than ever I appreciate the lengths that the Marsden and all NHS staff right now are going to look after patients. This goes from the cleaners to the porters to the nurses and doctors. As they say not all heroes wear capes but they most definitely are all heroes.

Finally my patient story is included in the latest Royal Marsden magazine with a commentary from my Oncologist. I’ll include a link with the next blog In the meantime stay safe, sending lots of love to you all and more shomelanoma adventures coming from home soon.