Some good, some bad.

Hello-this is Joy reporting for BAHTOCANCER from Haydons road. Yesterday we saw the devistation that the ALLTO drugs trial has caused-and today we talked to one of the most badly hit, Stephanie Butland, St George’s Hospital, Rodney Smith Ward, Bed 18.

‘Well, some good, some bad,’ says Stephanie. ‘Let’s start with the bad- five attempts to canulate at 4am (not my most most stoical time). A doctor eventually managed using a strategy of extreme force. (It hurt when he wiped my arm down before he put the needle in, so I knew I was in trouble.)’

‘I was then sent to a ‘holding pen’ type ward, apparently called an ‘Acute Medical Unit’ which was full of the noisily unwell and largely ungrateful. Restful it wasn’t. But I did doze on and off for a good part of the morning.’

‘I ran out of brave at about 1pm,’ continues Stephanie. ‘Five minutes later I was flat out of strong. I had a very big cry, which is not a good idea when your eyes are nearly swollen closed to start with.’

‘When the oncologist came by it was very like an earlier, unsatisfactory meeting. Her opening shot was “that’s not as bad as I thought it might be!” followed by laughter. (Followed by tears. Not hers.) Her next offer was that I could take oral antihistamine and go home. This was what I had done the previous day, resulting in a 3am admission with worse symptoms. There was some tearful objections, the upshot of which was: one more IV steroid dose, 2 more IV antihistamine doses, and a review in the morning. Grrr. It seemed very clear that as soon as the oncologist had checked there was no major danger (if I’d swollen inside my mouth , obviously, I’d have been in the kind of trouble that makes a swollen face look like a double chocolate cupcake). She wasn’t the least bit interested in my wellbeing. She even told me about the protocols for rejoining the ALLTO trial. Hmm. I don’t think I’m going to be doing that, somehow.’

Stephanie suddenly perks up. ‘Let’s look at the good stuff now,’ she smiles bravely. ‘I think the swelling’s starting to go down. I’m out of the holding pen now and into the relitively quiet ward. (Especially since I got Alan to turn a beepy machine off. I dont think it was a life support machine…) Everyone is being amazingly supportive. Thank you, people! Especially my girlfriends, who have taken tonight’s cancelled evening out with great grace and good will, and to Joy, who is reporting for BAHTOCANCER about the ALLTO drugs trial. Also, I think I have a good chance of getting home tomorrow…even more importantly, it’s my 38th birthday on Wednesday!’

A truly inspiring story there from Stephanie, and we wish her all the best in the getting well/deflating process. However, this does show that if Stephanie had cancer then these drugs would have worked a treat. This is Joy, reporting for BAHTOCANCER!