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Today was the first of six more fortnightly sessions of chemo, and as Arkwright used to say as he closed his shop every night "it's been a funny old day".

I had to have my PICC line repaired a week or so ago due to it having a leak, but because I wasn't receiving treatment at the time the nurse wouldn't replace the Statlock. These stick to the arm and clamp the line in place rather than relying on the dressing. I wasn't too happy about that, and my fears were confirmed last night when I noticed that the line had come a couple of centimeters out of my arm. As the latest and a previous repair had necessitated withdrawing some line the first job today was an X-ray to see if there enough of it still inside me to get to the main artery in my chest. When the doctor saw the result he decided it was inconclusive and asked for a second X-ray.

Unfortunately that showed the line falling short of its target and a new PICC line was needed. Only some of the staff at Weston Park can carry out this procedure so there was a bit of a delay until Jill was available. A painkilling jab and 20 minutes of careful and intricate work from her soon had the old line out and a new one in place though the existing entry point. Only a little bit of blood was lost. Granville, get yer cloth!

So, back down to radiology for number three snap, and that showed we were ready for the off. Well, almost. As this was a new chemo routine there had to be the statutory "sit down and let's go through the procedures, side effects, and suchlike" session.

The rest of the day went well. Not necessarily in this order, I was given Irinotecan, Avastin, an injection to help with Avastin, calcium folinate, dexamethasone, lots of saline flushes, 5FU, and a couple of other things I can't remember. Quite a cocktail, but up to now the only side effect was a mild stomach cramp caused by the Avastin, and that was soon put right by another injection.

So, that was it. We left home at around 9.10 am and arrived back at 7.50 pm! Yes, almost 11 hours. Hopefully session two in a fortnights time should not take up so much of the day as I hope not to need three X-rays, a new PICC line, or the "doom and gloom" side effect discussion.

We're back home now, tired and triumphant but no complaints. No nurse Gladys Emmanuelle to help, but as usual the nursing staff at the Weston Park Day Care Unit have been brilliant. It's almost worth the chemo just to be looked after by these special ladies. They're g-g-g-great!