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A few weeks back home and I went to visit my oncologist Professor Sebag Montefiore to discuss my next round of treatment. It was great to see him again and he was amazed at how well I looked and was so pleased that everything had gone to plan during surgery.
There were 3 options that we discussed and I decided upon the most aggressive one, which presented me with the best odds of the cancer not returning. This option would entail 6 cycles of treatment over an 18-week period. However this would...
The journey home by car was tough and some 4 hours later I am finally back at home. Moving from a hospital bed to my own was difficult at first to adjust to and so was being on my own now. Mum was great and friends rallied round, but having to manage my recovery was my job now. For over two weeks I have had available to me 24/7, an excellent team of medical personnel, attending to all of my needs, but now its down to me, to get through this next stage.
One of the biggest challenges ahead in...
So it’s the morning on Saturday 11th September 2010 and I am up early, as today I will be travelling from my home in Leeds to The Hampshire Clinic, Basingstoke to prepare for surgery on Monday. Sean and Jo are taking me down by car with Saranne their daughter and we are meeting my at the VW dealership near Elland Road as I am leaving my car in storage. I am not really a MacDonald’s fan but a bacon muffin and latte sounded good.
The journey down was fine and we arrived at the Clinic...
The time has now arrived to start my treatment and having so far had 7 consultations, 2 Colonoscopies, MRI & CT scans and several lots of bloods taken, my 25 sessions of Chemo/Radio are just around the corner…..however there is one more thing that I needed to consider before I start….fertility.
The position of my tumour was rectal, which means that radiotherapy will targeting my tumour from behind and the high energy rays will exist from my groin. This causes a risk to fertility...
If we go back to my earlier blog “My Diagnosis” I discussed how I was not ready at that point to tell my family…...My dad died on the 16th August 1991 from Cancer at St Gemma’s Hospice Leeds and to try and explain to my mum 20 years later that her son now has the disease that her husband died from was not going to be an easy feat.
Its now the middle of April 2010 and my plan for treatment is complete. On the 30th April I am going to commence 25 sessions of Radio/Chemo...
So its about 10 days since the second Colonoscopy and its time to visit my consultant to discuss my treatment plan. I first receive the test results from the biopsy and it is confirmed that I have Colorectal Cancer. My consultant then explains the location of the Cancer and my world crashes upon for me for a once again, when it is explained to me that due to its location it will mean that I will have to have a permanent Stoma for…..the rest of the conversation was a blur and a friend that was...
Thursday 4th March 2010 and it’s a dry and chilly morning with frost on the ground. Early rise and I am starving….my last meal was lunchtime the day before as I have to prepare for the procedure by ensuring that my bowels were clear. This involved a light meal at mid day and taking two sachets of a laxative during the day. The first was not too bad, but wow the second was lets say very effective.So once showered and changed its 06:45 and my taxi awaits for the 5 minute journey to the...
The summer of 2009 is probably a good starting point and my birthday Friday 5th June. There is a group of us heading out for a drink starting off in Street Lane Leeds.
From what I can remember it was quite a warm evening and having not been at work that day (I try not to work on my birthday) out we went early doors. I remember going to the bathroom before leaving the house and the only reason I remember this, is due to a drunken conversation that I had later that evening with Gavin about seeing...
