Those of you who don't know, my mate Picko is terminal with cancer caused by Von Hippel Landau disease which is a gentic illness that causes cancers to kick off all over. One year ago last Christmas he was back in the joint with one of his episodes and finished up on an ear nose and throat ward because that was the only bed they had available. One of the nurses said to him "Don't know what you are doing here - you are terminal and should be in a hospice." Charming.
The consultant then told him he only had 12 weeks without treatment and ten weeks later he had had no treatment. "Not looking good then Picko" I said. Then they started treatment and his response was amazing. The tumours that were racking his body all shrunk and he put on 3 stones. He still has episodes because the Sutent he is taking kicks off all sorts of side effects that cause him a lot of problems, projectile vomiting being the worst.
Fast forward to today. He has to have an annual eye examine where they put drops in and dilate the pupils to look at the back of the eye. One of the nasties from VHL is blindness. The consultant examined him and said that everything looked good. He then told him "that there was no point in making an appointment for next year." Charming.
Picko is supposed to be going to Lanzarote on Monday. I say supposed because he is back in the joint and I won't know why until tomorrow. He has been struggling to find travel insurance and finally tracked down a company that would cover him without him handing over the deeds of his house, his car and motorbike, and without selling his wife and children into slavery, providing his consultant could guarantee he was going to live for more than six months.
WTF is the matter with people? He has got enough to deal with without stupid insensitive cabbages making silly remarks or asking questions that cannot be coherently answered.
Sometimes I get SO mad!
