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.
Hi Bob I hope you feeling better,now you take it easy,and enjoy your xmas I guess you gotta put on a certain red outfit tomorrow night for a certain little girl,and i don,t mean Kate,lol Best wishes to you and your family hugs Sheree xx
Well today has had its ups and downs, mainly up and down the stairs but i've been a lot better than the last two days. Kate, who now is feeling a lot better was invited out for the night to her friends house for a sleep over and then was taken bowling in Cambridge, lucky thing. Linda and myself had a pretty good nights sleep and once awake, Linda popped to the local shop to get more last minute bits. Then we had a time doing bits around the house, Linda set the table and it looks great. We have had a lovely lazy afternoon watching all the kids Christmas movies, which is fine but Kate wasn't even home yet, never mind we enjoyed them.Â
My tummy has improved somewhat, but when i decided to try some tea, it has gone all jippy again, so back to fluids only again for the moment. I fear tomorrow will be the same, but i'm very grateful I'm here to enjoy it. I only hope I can "hold it in" so to speak. On Monday I didn't know wether to go to the doctors for a blocking pill or a plumber for a tap. This was supposed to be the best christmas ever and although I know it will be great I know I have to be around next year for the best ever.Â
At the moment I feel really good, when I awoke I was a bit groggy but after calculating the turkey cooking times that spurred me into action. If id had left it any later we would have been having it for tea. I was going to work it all out last night but didnt feel able to do it. I think I have had so many pills my body was begining to say"enough is enough". Also I still havnt eaten properl although Linda cooked up a bit of beef yesterday and I managed to keep down a beef sarnie in the evening which was exellent. We managed to put on the red outfit and leave pressies in Kates stocking and food out for Santa before going to bed at 11 ish. As Kate had been out most of yesterday she was tired and slept really well and did not awake until 6.30 this morning. We have exchanged a couple of pressies and will save the rest untill all the family are here. So I am hoping we are back on track to have an exellent day and the best christmas"so far". Many thanks for your messages, Fay, Kate . Im back on track and doing good. Have a lovely day yourselves and of course to my beautifull family, "happy Christmas my darlings"
So far, so Good. a cracker and a bit of pate for starters and A very small main course of Turkey, beef, a roast tattie and one boiled potatoe with a yorkshire pudding. I wont be chancing any pudding and I feel ok ish. We are having a lovely day and are working our way to open some presents,After a kip of course.
Hello Bob, Faye and all the rest, just to say Happy Christmas to you all. I am still following your thread although not as often as before as I have gone back to work now. We miss my mother dreadfully but the family are spending a lot of time together and helping each other through it. Today was not as bad as I thought, although there were emotional moments. I find it best to focus on the positives at all times or otherwise I would go mad. Very best wishes to you all and I will continue to follow your thread with interest. Jan
Im Glad you had a good Christmas and honoured you still read my thread. I also hope work is going ok and it would be great for you to keep in touch. Likewise we had a great time yesterday and we had some emotional moments. I remember at one point sitting back a bit from the Christmas table and imagining Linda, Kate and the boys round the table with me not being there and a tear or two welled up in my eye. yewsterday was full of food and pressies and the big hit was the wii game we bought as a family Christmas present.. Kate is very good at the bowling and I began to do quite well also. I did spend a fair amount of time sleeping but still managed a game of sheraids (sorry about spelling) and the wii game. I also rang all my familly and had a word during the day which was very nice. We finally hit the sack at about 11 pm very satisfied of a day well done with lots of happy memories created.
Wow what a diference a day makes, I feel bloody good, ive ate like a horse and hardly slept at all. After waking at about 8 this morning we had a lazy couple of hours but then the hunger pangs really set in. "I facncy a pancake" I said to everyone. So Linda made enough mixture for 8 and I turned out a few for everyone else but then matt who had been working also woke up so I only got one. "im not having that" I thought so I got Linda to make up another batch and I ended up having four. I know, but I couldn't help it. then all afternoon I have been nibbling on nuts and other bits. Then another miracle happened, me who had always been opposed to getting a wii game became hooked. Ive spent the whole afternoon playing golf and bowling and for anyone in my position who, like me, could not do the real thing, I would really recommend it. Its actually good exercise and brings out a competitive and fun streak all in one go, not that im competitive.(I will beat Justin at bowls) I am looking foreward to my Turkey Korma for tea along with a peice of cake for puds. Bliss, real bliss.
A week ofrf the Sutent which is normally my worst time as the side effects usually kick in 4th week on and first week off, but I feel brilliant. This is probably due to the fact I felt so lousy when battling man flue that anything feels a lot better than that. For the first time in a while I have popped out to the shops in the old motor to pick up a couple of bits. We had a really good evening last night and the wii which I bought for Linda and Kate has been a huge hit with all of us entering into the spirit of things. I also bought Linda a nice sparkly ring as I want to make sure that if I dont make it to next crimbo she will look at that ring and always remember this one. Julie and Mark plus tom and Jennie are over this afternoon which will be good. Last night I spoke to big sis Sally in the states using skype. Its a really good way of keeping in contact with anyone you know who has a computer, camera and mike. You can see each other asnd as I am so uneasy about flying at the moment, its the perfect solution. If you already have broadband, skype is free to download and to call other skype users. I would really recommend it. When I went to see proff Gore last week I had a bit of a chat with him on his own and asked him what the plan of action was when the Sutent stopped working. He said he had other drugs he would try and also if cancer hd not spread to any organs other than are already affected he would still consider operation of removing cancers althought his is a last option as there is a risk of cancer spread. I left completely satisfied with the answers and for the first time in a while feel in control of my own body. Anyway, im of to play wii now. Looking back we have had a fantastic Christmas with lots of good company and that to me means such a lot.
