BOB JK My diary of kidney cancer (to be continued)
FormerMember
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Hi, My name is Bob and I live in Cambridgeshire. I am married with an 8 yr old daughter and three older step sons. Up untill the end of last year everything was tickety boo having recently moved to a new house which we love. Work was busy but enjoyable. I am Manager of an electrical companys maintenance department and my Wife, Linda was enjoying her job as a Nurse. The three boys are buying there own house nearby and all work locally. In November I went to my Doctors with a small "cyst" on my chest. After a couple of referals and many Xrays, pet scans, bone scans and CT scans I was told the news everybody dreads. My lump on the chest was a secondary cancer of which the primary was in my left Kidney. I was fast tracked to the Royal Brompton, under the expert care of Mr Laddas who informed a long and complicated operation would need to be carried out to remove the bone tumor and surrounding bone which involved two ribs,my collar bone and chest bone. I did not have time to panic, the operation was carried out the next day over 10 hrs. After nearly two weeks in the Brompton I am recovering well from this op but I have since been told that the Cancer is in both kidneys as well as small mets in both lungs. It seems at the moment further ops are out the question and i have been put on the drug Sutent. I am one week into this and so far so good. I do not know what the future holds but I have to remain positive.
Bob, I've been following you for almost a year and have posted only a few times, but I wanted you to know I am thinking about you every day while you go through your most recent treatment.
You are a survivor to beat all survivors of this disease! A champion to many of us with kidney cancer. God bless you for letting us into your "home" and treatment since you were diagnosed. I believe it has helped many hundreds face the disease with courage.
Hi xyzab, I cannot really add much more to jackie,s comments other than I rely on ice lollies to see me through at the moment. I wish your mum well and hope she can persevere with the Sutent. Eat as and when she likes and whatever she can manage and above all drink plenty. regular visits to her own doctor to keep a check on all side effects.
Hi Marcny and thanks for your kind comments. If only one person is helped by reading my blog I am very happy. I do like to push the boundarys and refuse to give in until I really have too.
Today we have a meeting with my brain radiologist to discuss how treatment is going followed by another round of brain zapping. The actual treatment only takes 5 minutes so we will not be there too long. I have really started to notice that when machine is on, I get a blue "electrical impulse" like haze flash across my eyes, although they are shut. a bit weird to say the least. Kate has woken in a fine mood considering she was not coping very well last night. Linda had a long chat with her and it seems to have helped. Anyway, gotta go again to London. Hope you are all well.
Thanks jackie il try that ,il tell her it gets easier as she goes on i will call in after work i have spoke to her she seems a bit happier today . thanks for your surport hope bob is well ,
Another long day in London with mixed emotions. We had a good chat with the brain radiologist and he pulled no punches in telling me how I was likely t feel over the next few weeks and reluctantly I have agreed to go on steroids. He said the treatment would probably slow my brain down, and then he said sums such as 134 divided by six plus the square root of 16 would be hard to work out. I didn't have the heart to tell him I would not have been able to do that even before the Cancer. I also asked whether more whole brain radiotherapy would be an option but the answer was no, mainly because the cancer else where in the body would normally get you before the head mets rears up again. but also because of the risk of "overcooking" the brain. I must admit my brain feels well done to burning tonight. He said the steroids might make me hyper (poor Linda and Kate). One thing for sure, from what he is saying the risks of full brain radiotherapy are well worth it because of the active cells in my brain stem which would kill me sooner rather than later without treatment. I must say he did not sound so positive today as last time. Now skyping sally so must go, keep well everyone x
Dear Bob, Sending you and your lovely family lots of love and (((((((((((((hugs))))))))) you are amazing, hang on in there, If the steroids make you too hyper I always have a kitchen that needs painting lol, Seriously I hope that this week gets better for you. My love and more (((HUGS))) Quill xxx
Sir Bob, hope you can take the steroids in the mornings.....I had a nasty reaction to an antibiotic (blue lights, oxygen, you get the picture) and had a lot of steroids late at night in A&E, wasn't till much later I realised why I didn't sleep at all!
Keep that chin up, my love and hugs to you and the family too.....
I had a fair nights sleep for the first few hours but then awoke and could not sleep. No nasty blue images or bad dreams though so that's good. Of course its early days yet but I'm only on a short ten day course so should finish a day or two after the treatment. Julies turn to take me in this morning so better get ready, must get my hair done, ooops no need its falling out, only joking, it is thinning but hanging on by a thread,(or hair). The Ondansetron tablets have settled down the sickness a great deal and have also stopped the diarrhoea in its tracks. In fact now it has gone the other way and I will need to call in dynarod to clear the blockage by the time I'm done. Have a good day x
Bob, just dropping by to send you some hugs 'n' stuff. Like a broken down record I know, but your courage, and sense of humour, is just something else. You're an absolute star.
