I have had a busy Christmas with our guests, Jan and Matt.  Jan is Suzie’s dad, and Matt is her older brother, and they arrived from Perth Australia on the 20^th December.  On their first day in London, we took them to the Cat & Mutton for a Sunday roast followed by buying some Christmas decorations and a lovely big Christmas tree, which Matt and Jan carried home whilst trying not to fall on to the icy roads.  It must have been such a difference from Perth’s 30-40 degrees of Celsius!

I had a lovely Finnish Christmas meal at Jukka and Daniel’s on Christmas Eve.  They had decorated the house so cosy, and Christmassy.  And, the food!  Wow, the ham was delicious.  We also had Finnish Christmas ‘laatikko’, potato, swede, and carrot, and Hala who is also from Australia had made some very authentic rosolli.  I brought some Karelian pies that my mum made when she was visiting me, and of course some egg butter to go with the pies.  They were a HIT.  Everyone LOVED them, and thought they were the best Karelian pies they had ever tasted.

We had planned an authentic English Christmas Day meal for Jan and Matt, which started with Champagne breakfast with scrambled eggs and smoked salmon.  Then. Suzie and I prepared a full Turkey roast with the trimmings.  Although, Suzie had a special Veggie roast from Waitrose.  For the desert we had apple pie with vanilla ice cream, a big hit with the Kemners, our guests, and Suzie!  Oh and the wine.  Matt and Jan had brought some ‘bottled sunshine’ from this beautiful vineyard in Perth where Suzie’s younger brother, Pat works.

Then on Boxing Day we all went to the cinema to watch the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ film.  A treat from Jan!  I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  We even had some popcorn!

Thank you Jukka & Daniel, Jan, Matt, and Suzie for making such a lovely Christmas.  And, thank you for all the food, wine, and the Christmas tree!  The Christmas would not have been the same without you.

On Sunday it was Suzie 30^th birthday, so we all went to the Cat & Mutton for some food and a lot of drinks!  I drank beyond usual my limit, which is practically no alcohol…  Very naughty of me.  But, it was Suzie’s 30^th!

Monday was all about recovery, eating well and making raw juice, as I was scheduled to go the hospital on Tuesday…

I just got back from there.  I had the 3^rd lot of chemo of this 1^st cycle of GEM-P-R.  They started very late at 6pm, even thought I was asked to be in the hospital at 10am?!  It was a long day and night.  Luckily I had Suzie, Matt, Jan, and Anna from Finland to keep me company.  Bless them.  Also, I had a very entertaining nurse who kept saying ‘cor blimey’ several times.

They started with the Retuximab as I had finally got funding for it from the PCT (Primary Care Trust).  We looked up on the internet and one article said that the Retuximab costs approximately £4900 per treatment cycle.  If that is the case, I have had £34,300 worth of Retuximab so far…!!  I better beat this cancer, otherwise what a waste of money!

After the Retuximab, I had the Cisplatin followed by diuretics and 8 hours of IV fluids to help to clear the dead cancer cell of my body.  Needles to say, I had to drag myself to the toilet a LOT during the night.  Very exhausting experience.  But, worth it.  I feel like the cancer is gone.  Well, I will know for sure next week.  I have a CT scan on the 4^th.

Matt and Jan came to pick me up from the hospital.  So sweet of them.  They have been such amazing guests, so lovely, practically spoiling me rotten, and looking after me so well.  I will miss them when they go back this Sunday.

Our Xmas tree!

it snowed day after Jan and Matt arrived from Oz! This is a view from my room.

Hala and I wearing Finnish Xmas hats (tonttulakki) on Christmas eve.

The Birthday Girl and I. She looks so in her twenties, and so fabulous! And, you can see little bit of the Tiffany & Co heart necklace I got for her.

Suzie, Jan and I after the 'birthday meal'.

The lovely Matt!

This is me at the end of the chemo. I was attached to this machine for 21 hours, which how long the whole treatment lasted! Oh the joy.