So here we are in the run up to the last few days before we set off for Disneyland Paris! This holiday has been about 18 months in the planning. Ian decided to tell Elsie all about it just after her third birthday, so we’ve had a year and a bit of Elsie wondering when the magical day would finally arrive! I had asked Ian not to tell Elsie, but he couldn’t help himself!
We had booked our holiday with Magic Breaks, due to a recommendation from a work colleague of mine. (I later found out that she hadn’t actually used them, but had heard good things!) We decided that 3 days wasn’t going to be enough, as that was what we had done on our last trip in September 2014 (Just me and Ian) We settled on a 5 day break, so we had the opportunity to fit everything in and not rush around like loonies trying to cram everything in. We also said if we were going to do it, we would do it properly…this meant staying in a slightly posher hotel, as we had stayed in the Santa Fe hotel before. The Santa Fe was perfectly adequate, but we fancied a little bit of luxury. We chose to stay in Hotel Cheyenne, which is one of the 3 star hotels on the complex. We also booked the half board dining plan. We like to eat in different restaurants, so this suited us and our needs. The only other thing we were really keen to do was the Princess lunch for Elsie. Elsie had become interested in Princess all of a sudden, so we were keen to cash in on this!!
I had also always wanted to experience Disney at Christmas time, so we planned to go in the middle of November in term time (Elsie was only going to be in reception class at this point, so thought she wouldn’t miss much!) This would mean that the Christmas festival would be just starting, but the park should be relatively quiet. Seeing the decorations and the Christmas trees is something I’ve dreamed of since being a kid! Dreams really can come true!
So we booked the holiday and paid our deposit and planned to pay the rest off In instalments up to August when the full amount was due. Just a few days after we had booked, I was playing online bingo (my guilty pleasure!) as I hadn’t played for quite a while. Whilst playing one of the online slots, I happened to win £1000!! (my biggest ever win!) This meant that we were able to upgrade our hotel to The Newport Bay Hotel (4*)!! It also meant that we could treat Elsie to the Princess make over at the Bibbidy-Bobbidy Boutique on the morning of the Princess lunch. The win certainly made things a little easier financially, so we were thrilled when it happened.
As time was going on, we were preparing more and more for our holiday of a lifetime! Elsie’s birthday was coming up in August, so we had started to focus on that more than the holiday. But I had started to develop some pain in my abdomen, which was really uncomfortable. I thought it was possibly kidney stones or appendicitis, so went to the Doctor to try and get sorted before Elsie’s birthday. They first thought it might have been a water infection or kidney stones, so was given some antibiotics and told to come back if it didn’t improve. It didn’t…it was getting worse, so I was sent to hospital for some scans. I ended up staying in hospital for about 5 days, and the discovery from the scans had found I had a 14cm cyst on my ovary. They weren’t sure what exactly they were dealing with, so suggested I went home and came back a few days later for a biopsy on my liver, as there was some abnormalities on my liver and bowel too. I went home, unsure what to think, and attempted to enjoy our weeks holiday for Elsie’s birthday.
The biopsy was performed, and I eventually got the results which showed that I was actually suffering with cancer in 3 places. My ovary (still covered in the massive cyst), my bowel and my liver. This was obviously a massive shock as we thought it was something fairly minor. I was resolved to remain optimistic…they can treat it and cure me!
We had an appointment with the oncologist, and my first question to her was “can I still go on my holiday?!?” Her reply was that they would do everything they could to enable us to still go. That was music to my ears! I was determined to be able to still enjoy this holiday!! At this appointment, the Dr also told us further information about my diagnosis. The cancer had sadly spread to my stomach, and this was the part which was incurable. They could give me chemotherapy to make me comfortable and extend my life, but they could never completely eradicate the cancer. I hadn’t actually considered that my cancer was terminal. This was shit…my prognosis was possibly a year of life, maybe 3, but she wouldn’t treat me for any longer than 5 years. Wow…my life had become considerably shorter within a few minutes. Scary stuff when you’re not expecting it.
My first thought was what are Ian and Elsie going to do? I can’t leave either of them….they need me and I certainly need them! As we left the appointment with this new information swimming around our heads, I decided to remain incredibly optimistic. If I only have a short time left on this planet, I’m not going to spend it worrying about something I cannot change. Easier for me to do this than everyone else.
Anyway, we were waiting for them to sort some kind of treatment out for me and my symptoms were starting to get worse. My stomach had started to swell quite considerably, and they were getting concerned about how to treat me. So another stay in hospital, and eventually they decided to move me to the cancer ward where they were going to start me on chemotherapy straight away. It was either that or invasive surgery to remove some of the mass in my stomach, which would have held up my treatment by 4 weeks…it would probably been too late by then. I was so pleased to be on the Turner ward as I knew that I was finally getting the chance to fight this. As soon as the chemo was administered, I could honestly feel that it was working! Weird, I know but true! I was in the ward for 5 days altogether, and by the end of my stay I felt completely different to when I went in. I was in a much more positive frame of mind!
Whilst I was in hospital, I had discussed with Ian about creating a GoFundMe page to help with some costs for our holiday. Obviously my circumstances had now changed from when we first booked it, so my insurance was going to cost a lot more than we could afford, and we were as determined as ever to get on this holiday!! I set the page up and couldn’t have predicted the response we had! I put my first target at £2000, as I wasn’t sure how much the insurance would realistically be. Within 24 hours of starting, we had pretty much raised half of our target! We were absolutely gob smacked by everybody’s generosity. People we knew well, people we didn’t know so well and perfect strangers were donating in their droves to help us achieve our dream. We are still totally overwhelmed by how much we have been gifted. We will always be eternally grateful to you all! We had to increase our target, as I had underestimated how much the insurance would be, but thankfully we were able to get it sorted with the money which was donated.
After my first dose of chemo, I was able to come home, much to Elsie and Ian’s delight! I was obviously very weak and immobile, but in good spirits and I wasn’t in any pain. As the days went on, my legs became incredibly swollen and uncomfortable so there was another appointment to the hospital to make sure I hadn’t developed any blood clots!! (Thankfully not…just lots of fluid!) Thankfully we had been able to acquire a wheelchair to get me from A to B, as I couldn’t walk very far at all. I couldn’t even get upstairs, so I slept on our sofa for about a month!
As this was happening, I was wondering how viable actually going on holiday was going to be. I couldn’t walk or stand for long, so that wouldn’t be much fun for Ian or Elsie. Plus for Ian to have to wheel me around the whole of the park would be completely knackering. Suddenly, our holiday wasn’t looking like a great idea.
As the weeks went by and I started having more treatment, my stomach started to shrink and so did the swelling in my legs. I was becoming more mobile around the house, and finally able to get upstairs and back into bed! (Bliss!) More treatment meant more mobility and back to some kind of normality! The chemo was going really well, and I seemed to be suffering from very few side effects. I was using the wheelchair less and less, and feeling more able to walk further and further. This has now made our holiday a bit more exciting again!! At least Ian won’t have to push me around the park (certainly not as much as he might have to have had!) And I can feel more independent and normal!
During the past few weeks, my mum decided she would like to join us on our holiday! In reality, it is a god send as it means that if I am feeling a bit under the weather (Fingers crossed, I won’t!) then my mum can look after Elsie whilst Ian is looking after me!
Here we are at the day before we leave, and we are pretty much packed! Last few bits in the morning, and then off to Dover overnight and on the first ferry on Monday morning!
Sorry this first blog has gone on about my diagnosis, but I think it’s an important part of why you’re all reading this!! (I hope!) My next installment will be written on Monday, once we are actually there!!
Thank you for reading, so far!! Bon Voyage, everyone!!
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