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Narelle’s Story with Signet Ring Cell Carcinoma, Perth (2025)

15/07/2023

Lucky round 7 has just started

Todays colour is classed as yellow but it’s been called mustard and baby p**p among other things. Not really a fan of yellow but my wife says it looks good on me and I’ll do almost anything to put a smile on her face.
It’s gone thru without any complications thankfully. Sugar watching over the next few days should be entertaining. They give me huge doses of steroids to stop me having a reaction and then another two days of steroids but I have a good team looking after me

PS look what chemo did to my hair 😂😂😂

15/07/2023

**Round 6 is polka dots**
I saw my oncologist on Thursday and got the all clear for chemo and here we are.
Gemma is still having pain with her ankle so I have Megan to sit with today.
I’m feeling ok.
Full of meds 😩😩
It’s hard to know what feelings are from the cancer itself or the chemo or the high blood sugars. Hoping that this week will fix the blood sugars and take away any effects that has been causing.
We had the palliative nurse come from Silver Chain yesterday afternoon to do my nursing admission and to tell me what services they provide. It was hard but necessary. Evidence shows that if you link in with palliative care before you need it that you have a better outcome…. So we do the hard stuff

I got so excited when I saw these pjs… how cute are they 🥰

29/04/2023

Round 5 is blue 💙
I’m settled in for a long day
Tired before they even give me the meds that will make me sleep lol

29/04/2023

Strap in lovelies this is going to be a doozie!!!!

We had an oncology appointment on Thursday. My bloods are all good and chemo is on for Saturday. I’m claiming this round as a win. I managed to get thru without a hospital admission, I stayed hydrated and even was able to eat. So we are going to do all the same things this round and hopefully round 5 will be a success too.

About the clot…. He’s not too concerned. I’m on the highest dose of clexane so he’s hoping that breaks it up. He didn’t want to take my port out and I had a huge sigh of relief at that news. I was really anxious that I would have to do chemo thru a cannula but nope….. I just keep my port and it’s little clot buddy 🙄

He had sent samples of my cancer to be tested to see if there are any new and weird medications that could be used to treat it. Unfortunately it was resistant to any of the medications which is a bummer.

The CT scan results were a mixed bag. There’s been no progression of the cancer…. Yay that’s amazing and since I started treatment I’m not getting any pain when I eat, my appetite is back and my weight is holding reasonably steady. There has not been any shrinkage of the tumor either which really bummed me out for a while after the appointment. Lucky I have Gemma to remind me of the time that I’ve gained since treatment started. They did find a suspicious spot on my liver. Could be fat???
Could be cancer??
The jury is out lol
We agreed that we will get thru another two rounds of this particular chemo regimen and then rescan have that to guide treatment going forward. Dr Chris, my oncologist and I are still finding our feet in our therapeutic relationship but one thing I am loving about him is that he makes me feel like I have a huge part in how treatment works. He talks to us about what he recommends and what the options are and together we figure out what we are both comfortable with doing.

I rewarded myself with a trip to spotlight and new sheets so I’m a happy lady
Thanks for listening xx

22/04/2023

Had my progress check CT scan yesterday. CT chest, abdo and pelvis.
I then got a call from the oncologist to say that there was a blood clot on the end of my port again 😩😩 and it’s gotten bigger. So I’ve had to increase my clexane to twice daily and I’ll have bloods done on Monday to see what’s going on
I’ll keep you updated xx

19/04/2023

Had a phone call from the genetic counselor at KEMH. They are going to proceed with genetic testing on me initially to see if this cancer is genetic. A percentage of Signet Ring Cell carcinomas are caused by an abnormality in the CDH1 gene. So they’ll test my blood for a whole panel of genetic cancers including the BRCA 1 and 2 gene plus way more. If they find a genetic link then they’ll start testing the rest of my family. It will take some weeks before we get any results and it won’t be a huge help to me but it will help my family know if they’re at risk and what they can do about it
Thanks for listening xx

19/04/2023

Round 4 day 5
Starting to feel the side effects coming in today. The tunnel is starting to narrow and my focus moves more inward as I try and deal with the fatigue and the brain fog.
We drove back from Albany today so I took a few more days of steroids to get me thru the travel. We’re home now and I’m fading fast lol. Only a few appointments planned for the next few days so I can rest.
Sore throat this morning so I kicked off the new medication regimen in the hopes that the oesophagitis doesn’t get too bad this time.
We also are on a 25% reduced dose so hopefully something helps to ease the after effects
Fingers crossed 🤞

14/04/2023

Round two was on February 25th and the side effects really kicked my ass

💗Chemo round 2 is pink 💗
Gemma and I are here and ready to have a nice peaceful chemo date.
As usual there were some issues from the port but it’s all sorted and only an hour late lol.
This week I have felt so good. Actually back to pre diagnosis good.
That all came crashing down on Thursday when we met with the social worker and oncologist. There was no new news but just the thought of filling out the paperwork that said I can’t work anymore and that my life expectancy is less than 2 year.
This information wasn’t any I didn’t already know. I just think that it dragged me back to reality which is super sucky.
On a positive note. My appetite has returned and all I can think about is food. My stomach need to get the memo and make it easier to eat.

Ohhhh and a random shop worker stopped me to tell me how cute I am. That put a big smile on my face.

Something else I’m noticing is that you guys are hesitant to share your struggles and problems with me. I know this comes from a kind heart. I know you don’t want to burden me or make it feel like my struggle is insignificant. What actually ends up happening is that time goes past and all of a sudden I find myself not knowing anything that’s happening in your world and that makes me sad.
Please don’t stop messaging me with problems or struggles or even cute doggo pics
I love you guys 💜

14/04/2023

This was round one and the start of chemo this time. February 11th

💜💜💜Round one is purple💜💜💜
Almost done for round one
It’s such a great setup here. Loads of space, room for everyone. Gemma can come with me every time!!!!
The nurse looking after me this morning is so lovely. She was speechless when she came in after reading my notes. It’s usually not until someone else says something that I’m reminded how s**t this is…. I did some crochet…. Had a little nap…. Gemma finished her Lego flowers.
Grateful for these drugs giving me time with the people I love 💕

14/02/2023

Hey lovelies
On the 29th December 2022 I received a phone call that they had found cancer in my stomach at a recent endoscopy. During 2022 I had been having some digestive issues that I thought were attributed to a hiatus hernia that I had. I had been back and forth to the GP trying to find answers and treatment. I was having trouble eating, food was getting stuck and I was losing weight. I started 2022 at around 82kg and I’m currently sitting at 71kg.
The news got worse with every doctor that I saw. My diagnosis is stage 4 terminal gastric cancer. My cancer is aggressive and sneaky and it lays in between the layers of my stomach and vessels. It doesn’t present in a neat lump that they can remove. It makes my stomach turn into a plastic bottle that can’t expand to tolerate much food. I’m not a candidate for any surgical intervention because of where it has spread to. So my treatment is chemotherapy and immunotherapy every two weeks at the moment.

In 2021 I was diagnosed and beat breast cancer and this time around I went looking for research and other people’s stories but this cancer is rare and there’s not a lot to find. What I can find isn’t very promising.

I’m hoping that sharing my story will help. Maybe help find others who are going thru this too
Love you 💜

Narelle’s Story with Signet Ring Cell Carcinoma

15/07/2023

15/07/2023

29/04/2023

29/04/2023

22/04/2023

19/04/2023

19/04/2023

14/04/2023

14/04/2023

14/02/2023

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