Back in 2004/2005 my wife was struck down with meningitis. Fortunately her illness left her with some sight/hearing difficulties & slightly lame. But after a few short months she recovered enough to go back to work part-time as a nurse, (her chosen profession since leaving school).
Near the latter end of 2005 she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, which was at a stage beyond any reasonable treatment. She was put on radiotherapy and chemo, etc…… Unfortunately Aggi lost her fight for life on the 20th of Jan 2006.
If that road wasn’t long enough…….
In Feb 2010 I had a bit of a tumble whilst rock climbing. It resulted in several very colourful bruises, a rotated cuff to the left shoulder, a cracked rib and compression fractures in my neck between C2/3 & C6/7.
After a short stay in hospital I was discharged on light duties and various pills & potions, (pain killers, anti inflammatories, anti biotics, etc…)
Thing is the pains became worse and more debilitating to a point where I needed serious help in just standing up from an armchair at home!
On the 22nd of April I had my first of many MRI’s & X-Ray’s. The upshot was…. On the 5th of May I got a phone call at home from a consultant at my local hospital. The instructions were to carefully pack a small bag with items needed for a stay in hospital and wait for an ambulance to come get me. I did as instructed and waited for what I thought could be a while for the patient transport ambulance to arrive. Didn’t have to wait too long!..... It was a full-blown ambulance complete with its blue’s & two’s.
Things had gone from bad to worse. I had a nasty and aggressive spinal abscess where the compression fractures were. The treatment for all this was 2 grams, (Yes 2 grams!) I.V. antibiotics every 6 hours for the next 7 weeks in hospital, (discharged on the 18th June 2010) and almost 8 month in a Cervical Thoracic Brace.
The brace was removed on Dec 22nd 2010, but several weeks prior to this (mid/late October) I had noticed a sizable lump on the left hand side of my neck. My GP was uncertain as to what it was and requested further investigation by the Neurology Department I was attending twice monthly since my discharge from hospital. Having looked at the MRI results, X-Rays & blood tests, decided it was probably some slight muscle damage due to wearing the neck brace.
On the 1st of June 2011, (after several hospital appointments, biopsy’s, CT scans, etc…). I was given the news I’d never expected, (or dared hoped for). I have been diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in the left side of my neck.
I’ve been down this road before……..
