Mistletoe Therapy

It's looking as if  I'm going to make it to 2016 after all. This comes as a vey pleasant surprise and not something I had dared plan for until quite recently. So I'm delighted to be here, sitting at my desk with the hot, unexpected autumn sunshine on my back keeping me warm. The joy of it. It means the world to me to be able to enjoy this Indian summer. I wonder why we call it an Indian summer? So I hope you're all out there enjoying and rejoicing. Thinking of which I should probably be out there myself. Though I did have a very pleasant walk around my favourite pond on Wednesday to see my swans and ducks and all the rest of them. They seemed happy and content. Six cygnets have made it through and they're nearly as big as their parents now. Soon be time for them to go, or be chased away by mum and dad.

Speaking of 2016 I might even live to see my team win another Premier League, now that we're top and going strong. Big game on Sunday though so fingers crossed for that folks. Except those of you with an Arsenal bent, which I know some of you do have. But even if we don't win the league I shall be delighted to get to the end of another season. Have you noticed how van Gaal always uses the shall form? Someone should have a word, though I've come to like it now, so maybe don't have a word after all.

Since we last exchanged news I've had another consultation with Dr McLean, my oncologist. We decided not to commence chemo for time being. I've to have yet another scan at the end of October and I will see her on 12 November to view the results and make another decision on chemo. Its a hard decision to make as she tells me there's a third chance it won't make any difference, a third it might slow the growth and a third it might reduce the size of my tumours. I have more or less decided to go for it, but final decision is on hold. I shall decide on 12 November, as the man would say.

I went home to Lewis a couple of weeks back, of which more later. I was having lunch in The Ceilidh Place in Ullapool as I waited for my ferry but I was't feeling very well so couldn't eat it having ordered fish and chips. There was a youngish couple at the table next to me who noticed I had pushed my plate aside and asked me if there was something wrong with it. I explained that it was probably me and nothing wrong with the food, though I'm not certain that was indeed the case. They had something else. Later we got talking and it turns out that he had had cancer too so we had something in common. I don't normally talk to strangers about my cancer but they seemed like an honourable couple and empathetic, so we exchanged views and experiences.

He told me that the best thing that had happened to him, other than the standard NHS treatments, was his referral to the homeopathic hospital in Glasgow, now called  the NHS Centre for Integrative Care.  He spoke very highly of the doctors there and the treatment he received and how it had helped him. So to cut a long story short I decided to contact them to see if they would accept me as a patient. However the NHS in Scotland only pays for homeopathic treatment for Glasgow patients, don't know why they think this is ok. I will ask Sturgeon to explain next time I see her.

The person I spoke to was very helpful and advised me that they would accept me as a patient if I could get funding from an organisation called Safe Haven and to ask my GP for a referral to them. I discussed it with Dr McLean and she was happy for me to go ahead with it and she would give any information they needed re me treatment and diagnosis. My GP was most helpful and within five days had got me the funding from Safe Haven and sent a referral to the hospital in Glasgow.

Yesterday I had my first consultation lasting nearly two hours. They are advising a treatment called Mistletoe Therapy which will need to be administered intravenously. They only do subcutaneous treatment in Glasgow and the only place to get the treatment is in Aberdeen and as NHS Scotland doesn't pay for me as I don't live in Glasgow, I will have to pay myself.

Given that I've been told my cancer is no longer curable I think I will go ahead with the mistletoe therapy. It won't cure me but it could help me cope with chemo and you never know it may reduce the size of my tumour. I won't know for sure what to expect until I have my first consultation in Aberdeen. I've been in touch with them and have the application forms. More later.