Hi all, well we have had a hectic year and as a result this is once again late and will be a bit short. Hope all is well with you and yours. Gone Troppo
The day after we arrived in Kemer(June 2007) Gail went to the local hospital and had a lump removed from under her arm. It tested ok but Gail wanted to test some other lymph nodes. These tested malignant so we went to Antalya and spoke to an oncologist, who then wanted more tests done. This required more surgery and an overnight stay in yet another hospital. Once the results were back Gail started 18 weeks of chemo. Radiation therapy was to start 3 weeks after the chemo finished, but the day Gail was due to start the machine broke. It was supposed to take 3 weeks to fix, but after many frustrating weeks we went to Istanbul where Gail had 7 weeks of radiation. We got to see a lot of this old city during our stay, and enjoyed walking in the snow around the sights. Near the end of the radiation the team of doctors there reviewed Gail's case and recommended further treatment.
This treatment was to be 1 year of one of the drugs she had for her first 3 chemo treatments. This drug is expensive so Gail decided to go to Australia and see if she could get it on Medicare. Gail contacted friends in Brisbane who started the ball rolling by making her first appointment and offering her a place to stay. We then flew to Kemer for a week before Gail flew to Brisbane in March. After some more tests Gail started the treatment. She has a permanent IV tube fixed and she has it cleaned weekly, and has the treatment every third week. She is doing really well.
In between hospital visits we enjoyed the activities of Kemer, Gail even felt well enough to have tennis and dancing lessons. Near the end of April Stephen sailed with some friends, Tristan and Jovita to Cyprus and then Israel, on their boat Nisos. He took them to Gails favourite resaurant(in the street) in Larnica. It was a great sail with two very nice young Swiss sailors.
On his return to Kemer he learnt that a dear sweet friend of ours had just lost her fight with cancer, this was very sad news for the both of us,and is taking some time to cope with. Stephen then sailed slowly to Marmaris, catching up with some friends along the way. He then sailed to Greece for a few weeks and then back to Marmaris, Turkey where he will have Gone Troppo hauled. He will then fly to Australia to join Gail.
Regards,
Stephen & Gail
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