Hi Everyone,
I sincerely hope you’re all doing well at the moment. I am going to do a short-ish blog today because I truly don’t have much info to give.
Tuesday 24/03/2020 I had my update meeting with Dr Ian Pedley from my oncology team. It was originally supposed to be at the Nuffield Hospital in Jesmond, Newcastle on Wednesday 25th, but I received a text message from Dr Pedley telling me it would be via telephone on the Monday. (I then got a phone call with his team on the Tuesday morning telling me the same)
The news is a mixed bag but I’ll break it down:-
- The CT Scan results were encouraging. There are no signs of spreading in my abdomen. My kidneys, liver, pancreas and prostate all showing up as clear.
- The CT Scan has shown that one of the lung metastasis has grown by approximately 1mm.
- Dr Pedley informed me that there isn’t a chance of any curative surgery any time soon.
- How have I being doing? What are my pain levels, how am I feeling etc.
So, I am feeling on top of the world about there being no further spreading. I know I joke about ‘Sc-anxiety’ but you do let out a breath of relief knowing you don’t have to deal with more cancer.
The increased met in my lung – This isn’t a great surprise as I haven’t had any treatment for my lungs for about 4 months now. (A quick reminder, I did have 3 mets in my lungs, however 1 has completely gone and another had reduced in size by 50%.)
Although Dr Pedley didn’t tell me whether it was the reduced sized Met or the other one that had grown, it would have been nice to know, but saying that, I am not sure what I would have done with that information if I am honest.
Dr Pedley using the term curative surgery, it was amazing to hear someone use that term with me. I am not used to it. It brought a smile to my face.
Then we go to the fact that cancer patients aren’t a priority right now. Nor should we be. The Doctors, Nurses and Surgeons have enough on their plate right now. Even people paying privately.
I know that I touched on fellow bloggers being told the same, their scheduled operations cancelled in the 11th hour etc.
I am dealing with it you know? I would still be a month away from an operation myself. The radiotherapy effects are still working on me now.
I feel very little pain myself. I do not need to use the cushion to sit at my computer. I am not needing a constant supply of painkillers.
I did try to come off them completely but I ended up waking in the middle of the night on Thursday with what could only be described as kidney stone like pain. The pain was in my lumbar on the right side of my body. It was strange, I originally thought it was my sleeping position, I moved onto my other side and the pain followed me.
I am sleeping in the spare room because of C-19 and I don’t know if it’s the lumpy IKEA mattress, lack of pain killers or whether it was an actual kidney stone.
I ended up taking 2 tramadol, 10ml of Oramorph and it took 2 hours for the pain to go away.
So I am just taking the pain killers when I need to right now. I am more or less not using the Oramorph but taking the tramadol to help me sleep without waking in pain. I still find that sleeping in a recliner chair seems to be the most comfortable position for me. However, I do like to lay on my side to sleep too.
As Kerry and I are on lockdown. Kerry doing all the dog walking and shopping etc. I didn’t think it was sensible to have the MRI scan next week.
Dr Pedley and I discussed it on our phone call. It was probably too early to have it. It would have been to just have a look and see how the radiotherapy had worked.
If the operation was 3 weeks away, I would still have to have another MRI in 3 weeks.
Dr Pedley praised my decision and fully supports me being in lockdown. He wishes that some of his patients would listen to the advice being given.
Lockdown isn’t so bad I guess. I am doing more baking at home. Kerry bought Disney + and I am loving the new content to stream. There’s so many happy films on there. All of Starwars and Marvel to keep me interested for months.
I am playing older video games, ones I haven’t played in years.
I reinstalled Battlefield 4, although released in 2013, it still stands up as one of the best shooter games to have ever been released. It’s still got 1000’s of players playing it. I gelled with that game way more than Battlefield 1 or V.
They’re just sub par compared to 4 and I am really enjoying it.
Obviously, I am still playing Overwatch. I think I’ll play that game till there are only 11 people playing it and not enough for a game. Reinhardt’s gotta Reinhardt you know?
Kerry has been playing through Final Fantasy 10. It’s nice to see her gaming again. Shame it’s not with me but I know she loved that game. Kerry is prepping herself for the re-release of Final Fantasy 7.
It honestly looks like it is going to be a completely new game, rather than a complete remake. Though the same story, it’s going to play completely differently.
So how are you all dealing right now? Anyone close to murdering their partners or housemates?
Mood: I’m good, a little stir crazy but chipper.
Pain: 2-3/10 It is there but not a worry.
Appetite: Fine. I still can’t eat 3 meals a day. 2 is fine.
Weight: 94KG
An honest blog about a guy's journey through cancer and chemotherapy 