So its T+7 days since I was told that I had cancer. I was expecting to see my surgeon Dr Stuart on Friday however I got a phone call last night to come in to Ross Hall and see him this morning. Carol and I travelled in through the rush hour to get there for 8:30 and met Dr Stuart again, we were there for around an hour. Again I have to say what an awesome man Dr Stuart is. Again this was a session of devastating news yet both Carol and I came out of the hospital feeling positive, it's only now that the news is starting to sink in.
To recap, I have a lump under my arm as well as the abnormality in my abdomen on top of the obvious Cancer in my Oesophagus. The theory was that by doing a biopsy on the thing under my arm this would essentially home in on the problem. If it was the same cancer, then the planets technically align and we get to a proper staging. And so it was that Dr Stuart told us today that the lump under my arm is indeed linked to the cancer in the Oesophagus and thus we are now taking about Stage 4. Don't google it, the prognosis for Stage 4 Oesophageal cancer is pretty bad.
On a positive note however there is no spread to organs, bloods are ok and cancer treatment of lymphatic systems is fairly common with high success rates. I am healthy, have no real food swallowing issues and have some youth on my side.
So were are here again. As Dr Stuart says, it's like shifting sands and you just need to take it one bridge at a time. The case was presented to the MDT team at the Royal infirmary who I now understand are the 'Governance' function of it all doing the paperwork. Dr Stuart is in the process of arranging a session with and Oncologist for early next week with the hope of starting chemotherapy as soon as possible.
It's been a rollercoaster 10 days and I'm sure it doesn't end here. I've had real problems sleeping and am a bit of an emotional wreck at times and just can't say how amazing Carol has been through the all the various trials so far. Have no idea where she gets the strength. I had a call with Dr Kumar at the surgery today to talk about the sleeping, the pain I sometimes have through the night with the lump under my arm and the feelings of depression. I will be on pills for all of these on top of the pills I currently have for Acid and vitamins - I guess this is only the beginning.
