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.
Im doing okish tonight after another quite long day. since being home I lazed around and did not do too much but as the evening wore on I became more restless and my limbs became "heavy" feeling. I have tried to sleep it off but as I am still awake at one in the morning I have decided to come down stairs to give Linda a chance of some rest. She is the one that will be driving tomorrow and as she is already tired, sleep for her is vital. Looks like another nite of rubbish telly for me, never mind , last one tomorrow then a couple of days to get off the steroids totally. I start the Sutent again on Wednesday so it will be interesting to see how it all mixes together. Also I would like to get to work on Wednesday, if only for a short day to break me in ready for next week.. After that I plan on probably cutting my days to two per week instead of three to give my body a chance to cope with the ongoing effects of radiation, should they kick in, as it seems they probably will in the next couple of weeks. We will see.
Thanks Ang , it was wet but otherwise ok travelling down and by the time we arrived the sun was out and it was warming up a bit. A good journey and parked easy. I was tired after my sleepless night but the one good thing about the steroids were that they kept me awake. We went to the canteen and I struck up a friendship with a guy who was rather worried about his wife, also going through radiation for a different Cancer. She is struggling to get through it all and the trouble is it can be so different for everyone. Then I went for my last session armed with chocs for the great nurses who have helped me through the last ten days. We called in for a bite to eat on the way home and then once home I managed to sleep for a while. Once I awoke we switched on the oven to cook kids tea and all the power went off so I spent the next hour dismantling the oven and removing the element . Now relaxing and watching Holby, as I just love hospitals lol. Tomorrow I am planning to go to work for a while and also pick up a new element so it can be fitted tomorrow ready for the Easter weekend. I start back on the Sutent tomorrow. Thanks must go again to Linda, Julie and Justin for running me to London daily. xxx
You are being so brave. Mum was at the Marsden yesterday too, she had a long day and didn't get back untill nearly 8pm, received her MRI scan results., She now has not 1 but 3 brain mets and has been advised she wil commence 4 days of WBRT starting next Monday. So worried about the implications of this, although they have advised she can continue with teh sutent. Dad drives mum in from Harlow everytime so worried this is taking its toll on him too.
I have been trying to read through your diary and catch up. Will try and do more over the weekend.
Hi again all and thanks for your support as always and Jayne , I hope things go well for your mum as well.
After a fair sleep last night I did get in to work today and did a full day, which was really good. I was thinking I would also go back in tomorrow but Linda has put her foot down so I will not be going in, so a nice break until Wednesday next week.Since home I have repaired the cooker so we will be OK for that holiday weekend roast. I am still eating for England and ate a really good tea, pudding,supper and snacks. I take my last steroid tablet tomorrow and really hope my eating levels return to normal soon. I feel worn out from eating. A day of rest tomorrow, well or pottering about doing little jobs if I can get away with it.
