Breaktime over – Time to get back on it

Hiya Everyone,

I’m sorry for the lack of updates. I’ve been hiding from social media and I have just been enjoying my time off chemotherapy and well…treatment in general.
I know a lot of you have been contacting me through facebook, WhatsApp and texts to see if I am okay and I wanted to say sorry for the delay in coming back to you but I don’t have facebook on my iPhone or iPad anymore and I only sign into facebook or WhatsApp when I want to use it and don’t have notifications turned on.
I am still finding that me being in control of social media and only going on when I want to is having a really positive effect on me, I’m not dealing with FOMO or the like and for the most part, I think I’ll keep it this way.

If you want me instantly, then text me or if you have signal messenger. I’ll give you a quicker reply, otherwise you’ll have to wait till I next sign in.

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Since I last blogged, I said I was taking a break and I have been. I just needed a rest, the side effects from Folfox knocked me into next week so I have been taking it easy and recovering from rounds 1-6 of chemo of the current treatment plan.

During this time off, I’d been discussing my concerns with my friends and family, mainly I wanted to know:-
Why I am continuing with Folfox if the side effects aren’t as bad as Folfiri?
Also that Dr Pedley had mentioned reducing the dosage, (remove avastin from the treatment) but is this going to change the efficacy of the chemo, shouldn’t I just soldier on?
Dr McDonald and Professor Cunningham, I hadn’t actually heard from them. What were there recommendations?
What else could we be looking into?

Monday of last week (14/06) I text Dr Pedley and asked to have a quick call with him and Kerry with the idea of re-starting treatment again, could we go over a few concerns I had in the process. He replied letting me know he had free time the following day and he’d call.

During the call, I explained I felt a little rested and I was ready to crack on with treatment, he told me that I sounded a lot better and we then covered the Folfox over Folfiri, the way he explained it to me is that Folfox is the preferred medication for bowel cancer metastatic cancers, where was folfiri was more geared for attacking bowel cancer and any metastatic cancers too. So I have a better understanding of this.
Whilst Dr Pedley sympathises with the shite time I have experienced on treatment, especially with the side effects, however it is the correct treatment. Now he then went on to explain that something broke down in communication, he had never planned to remove Avastin from the treatment plan, I either heard it wrong or he said it incorrectly and he doesn’t know which. What he had planned to omit from treatment was Oxaliplatin and we will look into that if we have to reduce the treatment and he really will do this if we need to but we should crack on at full speed and see if we need to reduce as time goes along.
He managed to get me a copy of the letter from Dr McDonald but it is very short and sweet. Pretty much how Dr Pedley had prepared me a month ago when I received the results from the PET CT Scan. “Thanks for the update on Mr Mortimer…discussed with Professor Cunningham and given the number of pulmonary metastasis, we do not feel he is suitable for local ablative treatment at this time”
I can’t say I am happy, but I also can’t say I am surprised. I am a little saddened that there was no further recommendations but hey ho, you gotta crack on with the current plan.
Dr Pedley has discussed that we have my cancer biopsies genomic tested. Though this was done initially to find out whether I had a specific mutation, not only was this done 2 years ago, there may also be a newer way of fighting this etc and this is something that Dr Pedley is going to arrange.

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On Monday of this week, I had my blood tests for chemotherapy and today as the tests came back okay. I started Treatment #7 of 12 to run over the next 3 months. We keep hammering these cancers into submission, I will sooner or later beat them into retreating, or down in number to look at the Cyberknife as being the next option.
Other than feeling a bit hot today (weather app says it’s 19˚c) I feel okay for now. I’m sure I’ll feel worse as the day goes on but such is the life of a guy on treatment.

We do have some good news, that it looks like the house sale should complete on the 28th of this month. This has been the longest house sale I have ever experienced, we had our offer accepted in December for crying out loud, aaaaand we don’t have chain in this house sale either as we’d planned to sell the flat after we have moved into the new house. It’s just daft!

What this does mean however, this should be the final chemotherapy treatment I will have to endure in our flat. All the other treatments will be in a much better environment, light and airy house. I will have the conservatory to sit in if I want light, I will have all the room in the world.

This pleases us both massively. We are so tired of saying “When we move into the new place…”, “Once we get to the new house…” We did a bit of window shopping for the new place at the weekend just past and though we can’t place orders until the contracts have officially exchanged, we do have a clear idea of what we want and what we are getting.

So aye, this is me at the moment, sorry for the lack of content but I have just needed the break and I’m back on this bike/horse/treatment etc and soldiering on. I hope you and yours are all doing okay, if you want to know my new address send me a message and I’ll let you know, but we don’t move until after the 28th

Love, Peace and Geese

-Cam