BOB JK My diary of kidney cancer (to be continued)
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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.
Weii I didnt manage to do anything in the garden as "the boss" thought I had done quite enough yesterday and im sure she is right Tom and Katie came over and I have helped Tom make a good start on his speech and I did a bit more on mine, in fact mine is nearly done. A cloudy start to the day but in fact it ended up quite sunny. Tomorrow Linda is at work so it will be just Kate and I in the morning, then Kate is out with a friend in the afternoon so then I will be totaly alone and bored as Im not supposed to do too much. The weound is getting better every day and Im as confident as I can be that it will be healed enough for the Sutent next Monday, here's hopeing.
Not a brilliant night sleep last night.Linda is at work and I feel drugged to the eyeballs. I am hoping to feel better later on. Kate is off to her friends sooin and \i have a bit of washing to get done before SLEEPS.
Sleeps was indeed the order of the day. After Kate went off with her friend ,I put tv on, lay on the sofa and didn;t watch a complete program. Justin turned up later in the day and then before I knew it, Linda was home having been at work all day. . Tonight I feel uncomfortable in the tummy region. I hope its nothing going on and is more to do with movement and muscle. I have had discomfort there ever since the operation and made a point of mentioning before I had my scan last Friday. I can only assume as I have been told about the progress on the tumour we know about on the other kidney that everything else was fine. I have taken pain killers which have subdued the pain and will be visiting gp soon to get further checked if it does not improve. Scar although inflamed a bit last night looks better again today. Nurse Linda is trying every trick in the book to promote healing and im sure it is paying off.
Sleep has again been the order of the day but im definately feeling better than I did yesterday. I think wound is still going in right direction (just not fast enough). Jobs are all around me needing to be done but I have given up on all of those for the moment. I am concentrating on resting and healing.
Realy fed up now. Just been to se gp and been told that wound will not be healed enoughto start the Sutent on Monday. All this time the tumour in right kidney is getting bigger which is a bit of a worry. She says that tummp pain is miscular and not to be worried by it.(this is the gp that told me my original chest tumour was a cyst!!)
Spoke to the Royal Marsden today and they re-assured me that they are still in control of tumour and the size increase is in fact as expected as im off the sutent and minimal. It dosn,t feel minimal but I have no choice in the matter. I did bring up the subject of operating on other kidney whilst still off the Sutent, Apparently this is going to be discussed next wednesday. I do feel a bit out of sorts as I have fought hard to get to where I am and do not want to fall at this hurdle. On a positive note I have felt a lot better pain wise and comfort wise today. I will beat this bloody cancer one way or the other.
HI Bob, Oh dear you have been through the wars , i did think of you while i was away hoping by the time i returned you'd be fine, just do waht your body tells you Bob and try and relax, i know its not easy and frustrating but time will heal and before long youll be back on Sutent and cursing the side effects again LOL, but as we know they are well worth it. Im sorry to hear the other tumour is growing but it dosent seem by much and as soon as sutent starts again it wiil deal with it, stay strong mentally as thats half the healing process and i hope your feeling better real soon XXX My sister is a councillor i will ask her as to what she thinks of Kate having hypnotheraphy. Well we arrived back from our travels yesterday but it seemed to be frought with problems mainly with the motorhome, the service it had had before we left wasent done properly, i wont bore you with the details but the main thing that devastated me was my daughter went for her first scan and the baby had died 4 weeks eariler so that cut the trip down as i couldent settle untill id seen her. Ive not felt too good these last couple of days as its the time of the month with Sutent, the side effects seem to be getting worse as the months go by, did you find that? Well thats all for now , get better soon Bob and give my love to Linda, what would you do with out her, Love Fay XX
Bob, I'm sorry that things aren't settling as you'd hoped, and healing too.....but your team at the Marsden must be among the best in the world, so trust them, keep eating great food and keep your chin up! Will be rooting for you.....
Hi Fay and Helen and thanks for your encouragement. Im sorry you have been through a bit of a tough time Fay.
As you say Helen, the marsden team is very good and I do trust them totally even though im a tad nervous at times. I had a good nights sleep last night even though it was in the spare room. I struggled to settle at first and as Linda has work today I spared her the continued disruptions to her sleep. I have awoken refreshed and ready for the day. I have watered the front garden as it has lost its healthy green look. Talking of healthy looks I took Kate to school today and everybody commented on how well I looked. I must say I do look well and tanned which always helps. My greying hair is turning back to brown and blisters on feet have subsided. Apart from discomfort of wound, I feel quite healthy. I took Mollie for a nice walk and its good not to need the wheelchair at the moment. Wound is looking quite good and Linda is keeping a beady eye on it to make sure it continues to go in the right direction.
Hi Bob Sorry that your not going back on sutent this week. Tumor is gowing very slowly and I am sure the team at marsdens have looked at all the options and feel that it wont do you any harm waiting till your wound has healed properly. The Sutent has helped the tumor shrink and will do so again I'm sure. Enjoy feeling a bit more normal and make the most of not having the side effects of the sutent.
The rain over the past 4 days has watered my garden know need for a hose. When the weather is bad it effects my moods and I always feel more positive when the sun is shinning! (roll on the summer)
Today everyone is out either at work or at school sitting exams. I hate exam time my youngest can produce the work in class but gets nervous sitting the exams. Fingers crossed he does well. Another wet day here not sure If I should even bother getting dressed I might just have a lazy day, although I have to go and get my meds from the chemist.
Fay I am so sorry to hear about your daughter and baby! We hurt so much when out children suffer. I hope shes ok and finds herself expecting again soon. I lost my first baby at 14 weeks but was expecting again 3 months later. Fingers crossed and hope you all ok!
