It has been some time since I last wrote a post here, so I thought I would start the New Year with an update. I’m really sorry for such a lengthy hiatus, but it is for a good reason I promise. Life is boring. And not in a miserable sort of way, in a lack …
Surgery number 3, and most definitely the biggest and scariest one to date, is done! Another negative COVID test, and I found myself packing a suitcase in anticipation of a week in hospital. You would think the anxiety beforehand gets easier, once you know what to expect. Well, I’m here to tell you it doesn’t! …
My first operation of the year is done. I was admitted to UHW in Cardiff on Tuesday 12th Jan, ready for my operation on the 13th. Now here is some serious coordination for you… and another example of how truly wonderful the NHS are. I was admitted under the care of Mr K, lead Consultant …
I’m tired of being that friend, you know the one, who always has a never-ending problem that needs to be talked about and sympathised with. Which is why I toyed with the idea of not saying anything at all. To friends, family and also here. Then I took a few days (and sleepless nights) and …
Surgery is done, and I’ve been back at home for 2 weeks! I’m not really sure where to start, but I do know that this might be a long one. Sorry in advance – but I need to write it all down, for me. So that I remember the whole thing. I was dropped at …
Have I mentioned before how much I love the NHS? Within about a minute of being referred to the lung multi disciplinary team, I began to receive phone calls organising lung function tests and a liver MRI - all of these “exams” that I must pass before my case would be put before the surgeons. …
Since returning from Australia mid March and being thrown into a national lockdown, my treatment has remained the same as it has been from the very beginning. I've been receiving Nivolumab immunotherapy treatment every 4 weeks through IV drip, administered at Velindre Hospital in Cardiff. I've had a multitude of mostly CT scans over the …
With the aim of being wholly authentic here - I wrote this post a couple of months ago. Then things got bad. Nothing to do with melanoma. Bad things happening to other people, and I couldn't quite believe our "luck", or lack thereof. I can't be my usual open book as they aren't my stories …
The beginning of my melanoma journey is important, and something I don’t talk about much. I want to do it more, for the sole reason that awareness and early detection is vital in a diagnosis scenario. Perhaps if I had caught mine earlier, things wouldn’t have progressed to where I am today. Now, more than …
I haven’t really known what to write recently. I feel like more people are probably reading this than before when I would update on the hoof, and all of a sudden I’m wary of what I should and shouldn’t be saying. Which is silly – this was always supposed to be a diary type blog, …
Immy Llew 