Hey friends, so here is our story:
My husband is a fit, active, retired 72-year-old, I’m quite a bit younger at 55 and still working full time.
On 5th – 8th September we went campervanning with a number of friends and unfortunately my hubby didn’t feel too good during the weekend, very dizzy with fuzzy eyesight, so I drove back home, no problem. Once home he perked up again and carried on his gardening, pottering, cooking, baking just as he has done before but by the following weekend he went downhill again.
Rog had a throbbing headache and the dizziness had increased as well, so much so that I took him to A&E in the early hours of the 17th. After a very, very long wait he was finally seen, however the examination was virtually non-existent and the doctor sent us back home with Valium stating that my husband had a ‘massive muscle spasm’. We were both like you what? because we were convinced that they would keep him in for further investigation but no, we were sent back home.
By Friday the 20th he had deteriorated so much that I decided to call an ambulance, who promptly took us back to A&E. Thankfully this time he was seen by a proper doctor who examined him thoroughly. They decided that he needed a head scan, which was promptly carried out, however a short while later they took him back to the scanning department for a full body scan. To cut a long story short they diagnosed Rog with extensive stage SCLC which had already spread to his brain (hence the headaches, dizziness and blurred vision) and numerous other parts of his body. They kept him in hospital for 10 days to build him up and once he was back home started him off on carboplatin and etoposide.
He has finished his 3rd cycle (out of 6) last Thursday. So far he tolerated the chemo really well but this time it’s rough for him as he’s developed a bit of a cold and does feel very tired. We are now looking forward to the 29th as this is his birthday and then on the 6th we’re going back to hospital for a mid-treatment scan to see if the chemo is helping at all.
I am very lucky as my company is extremely supportive, letting me work from home when he’s got a bad day, letting me come and go for appointments etc. without insisting that I take holidays or unpaid days.
Our son (25 and still at home) is not coping very well, he hardly sleeps these days.
I’m coping on the outside but do drink an awful lot at night, just to numb it all out. At other times it just terrifies me and I start to sob hysterically at the thought of loosing him. We’ve been together since 1988!
Why am I telling you all this? Not a clue, maybe I just want to let it out because all of our family and friends think that I am amazing the way I am coping with this all…just I’m not, I think I’m very much in denial on some level.
Thank you 
