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.
Well the afternoon party was a bit of a churchy affair with delicate cucumber sarnies and fairy cakes. As for the entertainment !!
The evening get together was a much livelier affair with burgers and buns (much more my thing) The company was also very good and we all had a great time. All I need now is to get some heat through my body. One thing ive noticed is where I could always stand the cold and never wear a coat, now I really feel the cold. Tonight I was like an old man with a tartan blanket over me, never mind, I really enjoyed it.
Tomorrow Linda and Kate and one of Kates friends are meeting in cambridge to do the annual "bridge the gap" challenge which is a 4.5 mile walk around cambridges colleges. I am also hoping to do some of the walk. Some of the money raised is for a new teenage cancer unit in Cambridge which is a cause I hold dear to my heart.. I am hoping to do some funding for this myself at some point in the future and if I should premeturely pop my cloggs, I would like monies donated in my memory for this very worthwhile cause.
Hi Bob, Hope linda and Kate do well and raise lots of money. Use to visit Ely as a kid as grandad lived there What a lovely part of the country to be in.
Well Chrisie, Kate and Linda did very well indeed , but get this, so did I. I managed to do the whole course without stopping for any length of time . I think it took about 2.5 hrs. It was a lovely sunny day and it felt really good to be out in it. I am truly cream crackered tonight but that really is not suprising.
Well I did sleep really well last night. My intention yesterday was to walk part of the way round the bridge the gap course, but in the end I felt ok and managed to finish the course. During this illness my own way of dealing with it, apart from remaining positive , is to push the boundarys all the time. By achieving even relatively small steps it makes you feel so good. Today will be a more leasurely day as I need to build my strength up ready for work tomorrow. Week three on the sixth cycle of Sutent and symptons are begining to kick in with a vengence but I am getting used to them now. I am determined to achieve as much as possible for as long as posible.
Bob you are an inspiration to me and so many. Makes me feel so humble in a nice way.Well done and take care of yourself and youe lovely family. Reading your posts on here I feel as if I know you all. Very well done, what colour are we today??
A big congrats from me, to complete the sponsored walk is a achievement, I feel like i'm reading a chapter from Jane Tomlinson's book, which over the past threee years have given me so much comfort knowing that other people affected by this dreaded disease can not just lead normal lives but extraordinary lives...I think you fall into the extraordinary category so well done.
Our big acievement of the weekednd was getting to scotland to see dad, me my fab hubby and mother in law... we surprised him so the look on his face when we went into the bedroom wasa memory I will never forget.
After we managed to wipe the smile off his face we managed to get him up out of bed and took him to one of his favourite haunts for lunch. A great day had by all... although when we got back on sat night from out hotel we all piled into the bedroom with cups of tea as he was cream crackered!!!!!
On the tartan blanket front, my dad was always cold when having his chemo all i can say is wrap up tight, get the heating on and if you are venturing out in the cold then make sure you are dressed for an antartic expedition.... especially hat and gloves thats where dad always lost his heat!!!!
Take care Bob log on later for the next inspiring chapter...
