Start at the beginning Mike.. that'd make sense. I turned 50 in Feb of this year, and in the last 5 years I have been lucky enough to survive 2 heart attacks with just 4 stents to show for it, and have been working on diabetes control - poorly.
In Jan 2023, I went to my GP with a swollen lymph node in my neck which had been there for a few months. I was referred to ENT at MK for further investigation - and that started a series of CT scans, MRI Scan, 2 x biopsies etc. Seemed like I had something every week. I noticed in my GP medical records in Jan that he referred me as being extremely likely to be malignant.
I decided not to tell my wife & kids until it was confirmed - which happened late Feb.
Early March, i needed teeth out for precautions... and a PEG fitting which i instantly hated.
Radiation and Chemo started on the 3rd of April, and went fine for the first 3 weeks.
In week 4, the nausea and sickness got very bad. I couldn't keep any food or drink down, including water & meds. For 4 days I ate/drank nothing at all, and took no meds. The misery of constant vomiting or nausea was all I was thinking about. Monday of week 4 I was in Northampton Hospital for my weekly chemo and spoke to both the oncologist on the chemo ward and the oncologist I was under the supervision of. Both advised more anti emetics meds. Sadly, neither of them thought of the impact of not eating/drinking with my diabetes, and by this stage I was in no state to take care of myself. Tuesday 6:30 am, my wife found me barely concious on the floor downstairs. I had chest pains, couldn't breath, and had gone blind. She called 999, but decided she could get me to hospital faster. I spent the next 12 days as an inpatient in MK hospital dealing with the Diabetic Ketoacidosis. I missed 2 days of Radiotherapy and had no more chemo coming. I also moved to 100% PEG feeding.
MK Hospital was incredible, and managed to allow my wife to take me to Northampton radiotherapy for all except 2 days. The radiation wizards added 5 more sessions of radio the week after I was supposed to finish to make up for the gap.
That all ended on the 18th May. Treatment done. Bell rung. You Sir, are free to go. Come back in 3 months for a scan.....
Holy heck, that was a weird time. Thankfully with my diabetes, heart, pain meds and PEG based feeding, my days felt pretty full. I was exhausted a lot, dozing or napping frequently. Created spreadsheets of my medication and feeding timetables. My throat felt sore through the 2 x morphine and paracetamol. The 2 weeks where 'it might still get worse' came and went... still sore. Still tired.
Here I am now, just having had a 6 weeks meeting with my ENT specialist where he did an unannounced endoscopy and told me that there was no trace of the cancer on the tonsil or tongue. The most emotional day by far.
The day after that I walked into the kitchen a promptly fainted and landed on my face. Blood pressure low, god knows why?
Now I am trying to quit the morphines, and finding all sorts of aches and pains that had been hidden?
I cannot express how much of a rollercoaster it has been, and still is.
Hi Mike73 and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.
It sounds like you've been through a great deal but I'm glad to read that there is no longer any evidence of cancer.
As you know, the online community is divided up into different support groups so I hope you don't mind me recommending that you also join and post in the head and neck cancer group as this will give you the opportunity to talk directly with others who are in a similar position to you.
To join, just click on the link I've provided which will take you directly to the group. You can then join and start a new post in the same way as you did here and join in with exiting conversations by clicking on 'reply'.
It would be great if you could pop something about your diagnosis and treatment so far into your profile as it really helps others when replying to you and also when looking for someone on a similar pathway. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
