BOB JK My diary of kidney cancer (to be continued)
FormerMember
4509 replies
3 subscribers
1622389 views
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.
Another poor night but after a visit to the doctor my gut lining tablet has been increased to another twice the strength so I hope to have a better night tonight. Apart from that, I feel and supprisingly look not bad at all, In fact everybody keeps saying to me "you look really well". We went to cambridge today and done a bit of retail therapy which done us both good.
Hi Bob, Glad to hear your sounding fine and able to get your jobs done, i wish i had your energy, i made 2 christmas cakes yesterday and i was shattered, Sutent really does affect my energy levals. We tried Haggis and really enjoyed it, we bought it from a god butcher and it wasent cheap but the cheaper ones are not as nice, they tend to be very dry. They are very filling so you dont need a lot, anyway enjoy. We also had some lovely fish and chips but dident try the mars bars. Best regards Fay.
Well fay, thanks for your tips and one thing I will be trying IS the mars in batter. Today I have had a busy day. After awaking and taking mollie for a walk and Justin in to work Linda and myself went to watch Kate and the rest of her class perform a harvest festival assembly. Kate was very good but if im honest the whole affair was a bit drawn out and dare I say it boring. I wondered why parents who were watching it a second time were holding lenths of ropes or kichen knives. I think if I had to endure it a second time, I would be looking for a way out. Once we escaped, Linda went out for lunch and a shop whilst I went to work. I wonder who got the short straw, um, me I guess. Once home I cooked tea and am now relaxing but with a bad back and chest. I guess I need to up the pain killers a tad more until pain is under control. Im sure the back pain is from our chairs at work (at least I hope it is) but I cant explain the chest pain other to say it is not the first time I have felt it. Tomorow linda is at work and I will be taking Kate to school and then I will be home alone.
After a very uncomfortable night I took more co-codamol this morning and I think I have turned the corner. The site of the operation I had on my chest seems to have settled a bit. I know that one of the side affects I get from Sutent is general joint pain so I wonder if it is where they have spliced my chest and joined in plastic bits and all sorts. Kate has a whacky hair day at school today so Linda has gone to work safe in the knowledge that however I try to do kates hair it always looks a bit wacky, and thats without even trying. I will post a picture later on. Time for my Sutent so must go.
Well would you believe it, A Mr Frieda has emailed me to see if he can buy the rights to Kates new beautiful hairstyle. he was in the middle of telling me how good it was and was just reaching for his cheque book when, I WOKE UP.. Never mind.
Another potsy night again but I do think I feel a tad better this morning. I seemed to keep on waking up eveyy half hour absolutely parched and after gulping down drink managed to sleep for another half an hour. Im hopeing things are going to get better but if not I guess ill have to speak to the Royal Marston. The pain over the operation site is still there but not quite as bad.
Yesterday my computer lay in bits all over the floor so I could have a new mother board fitted as the old one seems to be thereason why mine will not turn off and then on again. After a barrage of swear words it was decided that another mother board was doa (dead on arrival) so again he had to put my old one back in untill another replacement can be sent. If a third time yealds no results I will be demanding a replacement computer.
I hope you all have a good weekend. Mollie bless her is by my side ready to be taken for a walk and then who knows whats next.
Last night I had the best nights sleep in a week and I feel brilliant. The chest pain is well and truly subsiding and every day feels a bit better and the back discomfort is no more than a niggle now. Friday night was definately my worst night and I honestly thought I was on the way out. Yesterday Justin came over and cut the grass and it was so frustrating for me to just watch, I just dare not upset things again. I suppose I have to face reality, and realise that my capabilities are limited compared to what they were. For someone who is so active as myself, and I suspect a lot of you, it is so difficult to sit back and watch others work. Kate had her friend chloe round to sleep last night and they had a brilliant time, this morning they produced a couple of deserts they had made and they tasted very good. Today we are out for lunch before a forced leasurely afternoon. I hope all your weekends are going ok.
Another really good night, only awoke by Kate because she had a bad dream and could not sleep. After a cuddle she was fine and then slept untill this morning. Linda has gone to work but she is struggling. Her job involves caring for so many people, and a lot of them have Cancer. I wish I could do something to take the pain away from her. She trained for a lot of years and sacrificed so much to qualify and now it seems not only is Cancer robbing her of her husband, but is also likely to rob her of her dream job. For me the pain of watching her and Kate suffering is worse than the Cancer itself.
MY ATTEMPT AT KATES WHACKY HAIR DAY
The back
