I first got nto the ring with Cancer in 2019 after a routine bowel screening test.
The prognosis was positive from the surgeon for success.
Round 1 : November 2019 , successful surgery, my corner
confident we'd taken it by knock out, but it did inflict ileostomy.
Decision Appealed , Cancer had sneaked to the Liver.
Round2 : 2021, Different surgeon, new regime, starting with. Chemotherapy to wear the 3 tumors down, then. take Cancer out! Bonus point, reverse previous ileostomy.
Confident again... until examination reveals
sneaky Cancer is bullying bowel again.
Round 3 : Corner suggest remove rectum, take it out for good. Great plan, implemented successfully but second ileostomy, which was eventually reversed.
Round 4 : Lump in throat appears, You guessed it Cancer!
Oncology rather than surgery.
Stomach feeding peg fitted as " precaution " for approx 6 months.
Combination of Radiotherapy & Chemotherapy. Completed former but only 4 of 6 latter. (Brutal).
New Corner man says "Scan confirms we got it"
Rematch agreed when Scan found mark on lung, "could take year's to develop ". Didn't, next Scan shows mark was indeed on each lung and had grown, both thought to have originated from the bowel Cancer.
Ronds 5 & 6 : Referred to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for Robotic surgery on right lung in May 2024 with left done by keyhole a month later June.
Both surgeries very efficient and successful.
Histology revealed cause was the head & neck Cancer not the bowel as thought previously.
At the routine follow up consultation with lead surgeon
Manager (wife) and I are told 2 lymph glands in chest cavity are swollen and we're passed to Oncology for follow up.
October 2024 : Meet 2 Oncology Consultants one younger, one older.
It's Cancer again and a prepared treatment plan is there to be reviewed and signed.
Older Consultant states that if they had known the lung lesions were caused by Head & Neck Cancer they would not have operated.
(Surgeon who performed both lung operations was delighted he'd removed them successfully and all margins were clear.)
In Oncology discussion, if we take the rematch the treatment objective is " extend life, maintain quality of lifestyle then palliative."
That dreadful statement.
We left the room have baseline bloods taken accompanied by the superb McMillan nurse. As usual we'd left the consultation to find, again, we had more questions than answers so the nurse suggested she arrange a follow up consultation the next week.
In the week between, my wife and I discussed the situation repeatedly and a lot of stress resulted.
As we entered the consulting room 1 week later, there was only the older oncologist sitting on a chair with 2 chairs opposite for us.
As I was halfway to the chairs he looked up an said loudly
"HAVE YOU GOT YOUR HEAD ROUND IT YET?"
Not the expected welcome.
We asked questions and were informed as he tapped his chest with each answer that "He personally wouldn't take the treatment and he personally would prefer quality of life".
My wife asked time frame ? Reply , "Months rather than years "
My wife had the perception that I was leaning towards no treatment.
However my thought process was, having gone through 5 major operations, 2 ileostomy ops and reversals and the Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy in 5 consecutive years WHY STOP NOW despite the Terminal diagnosis. If treatment achieves its objective then valuable extra time with my good lady will be greatly appreciated.
Round 7 : Started October 14th 2024.. 2 of 6 Chemotherapy treatments left.
Scan after first 2 treatments shows 1 lymph node shrunk other remains same size.
Outcome is still as predicted but still in the ring.
A long blog to cover a long contest.
Thank you for your patience if you read it.
Ando.
