Bad News

PattyK - life can be such a bitch. And you're spot on cancer is a bastard, a cruel and wicked one at that. I know I don't know you but I feel for you both. KathH.

So sorry to read this ! Such a blow but his surgeon is correct . Good treatment /response can push this all back down and gain stability . My mum went from inoperable to operable twice with chemotherapy. Others stay on a maintenance dose .

Take all the time you need to recover from this news . We are here for you both and hope chemo is very successful for him .

take care ,

Court 

Thanks Kath!  That's exactly what his surgeon said to him `don't try to visualise what is in the future, live for now`. It's very hard though. He only had his op back in January and was told it was gone and now its back with a vegeance. He's trying to be so positive and is neither up nor down I'm the one in bits and at this point in time just can't focus on anything other than this. Once we got the diagnosis first time round it was a weight lifted from our shoulders and for the fact she said they would get it but then again I asked if they would get all and she said that she could'nt gurantee but they would do their damnest and I believe they did but as they say in these medical websites cells can be so small that they get missed so obviously this is what has happened. It's good though that they are going to get cracking on the best way to get it managed. It was part of his bowel that was removed but its come back in his stomach lining and a small part of his pelvic area. She said its slow growing though and rounds of chemo may help to shrink it down and keep it at bay for a long time giving him hopefully a good few years because she was talking in `years` not weeks or months so that I suppose is encouraging. We will just need to accept it now as James (my husband) says its here its happened and there's nothing we can do about it. 

Thanks Court! Yeah head still all over the place. We did go out for that anniversary dinner but it was `bittersweet`.  I was calmly certain that she would say it was something and nothing to be concerned about but there you go! He's being so laid back about it and I'm the one in bits. He sees his oncologist in 2 weeks time and possibly he will set up a management plan for him which will obviously involve the chemo but his surgeon  said the cancer which has recurred is `slow growing` so the chemo will help to hopefully shrink what is there and slow down the growth a good bit. The time period she was talking about for him was in `years down the line` and not days, weeks or months in other words he's not going to die tomorrow or next week and then again its his attitude towards the treatment that will help too apparently positivity plays a big part in it in that if your determined to put up a fight you'll manage it better. Thanks for being here I'm sure we'll be messaging back and forth in the weeks to come and when I have my `really down days` and just generally updating on our cancer journey. 

The pipeline has been delivering new treatments in the last few years and hopefully more to come . Treating it like a chronic condition and thinking it of a Marathon not a sprint made sense to my mum . 

I will be here when you need a chat or a pick me up just the way people did for me when my mum was in active treatment . One month rolled on to months , years and slowly but surely she chipped away at the tumour burden .

Sending lots of love and strength and well done you for going out for your anniversary. Keep making those plans. I think it’s very therapeutic to keep them going in big and small ways .

Take care ,

Court 

Thanks again Court. Btw where abouts in Scotland are you? We are in Glasgow.

Vicky

• Just reading your profile. Good grief that's a long time to go through treatment for your mum. But just shows what can be achieved. I just hope Jay (James's) treatment is as effective. Hopefully the staging won't be that high and they've got it again and it can be managed and treated. 

Yes , Glasgow too !

How fortunate are we as the Beatson is very skilled at managing long term care . It’s a wonderful team in there and I can’t fault them despite my mum having the biggest file there was going . 
If it’s the Beatson he is going to although a lot of the other hospitals are staffed by oncologist that are connected to the Beatson .

Been a pleasant couple of days weather wise .

Court 

Yes we know The Beatson well!!  He did his 6 weeks chemoradiation there from September to October last year. His oncologist is Dr Alexander McDonald?? He works out of Gartnavel I think and The New Victoria on the southside where we go to see him. His surgeon was Ms Helen Dorrance?? at QEUH- otherwise known as `The Southern General` as many Glaswegians still call it.  She wasn't too happy today when Jay told her about his blood sugars not being monitored either. He has been feeling really dizzy when out walking a few times and his vision was slightly blurred and as it turns out his blood sugar relating to his diabetes has gone sky high too. When he was in hospital this was being monitored every other day but of course with the GPs deciding to still blame Covid in not having face to face appointments this hasn;t been getting done and he attends the nurses clinic to get his blood pressure checked (which apparently was up last time obviously due to the stress of all this) and now and again they take blood samples. His kidneys are functioning normally Ms Dorrance said so that's a positive I suppose. She said she would be writing to our GP `toute suite` so no doubt she will tell them in no uncertain terms what she feels about it.