Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Stable, what does it mean?

I have had my latest scan and follow up Doctors appointment, which Meghan came along to give support as she does everyday. In a nutshell, I came out of his office feeling like a just played in a sports game which ended up in a draw. The Doctor said there was minimal change in my results compared to the last scan, which is good that there has been no cancer growth, but on the other hand no reduction. The Doctor seemed happy with this result and expected it. When I probed deeper he said if my condition remained stable he would be happy until the current treatment stopped working and then we would have to look at changing again. Eventually the chemo will not be effective, so I hope we can beat it before getting to this stage. We asked the big question on life expectancy as you do! The answer. Same as I have been told before, 6 to 24 months from diagnosis. This is the standard spiel from every Doctor I have spoken to. Quote "research tells us this is the average time frame". Blah Blah!!! Looks like I will need to improve these statistics. As I write this blog I have just spent the last 8 hours in the ED at the Darwin Hospital. The tumor in my bowel bled today, which scared the hell out of me, but after multiple tests I got the all clear, but not really knowing why it happened. It could not have been due to a growth in the tumor as the scan showed no growth. We are hoping it was due to the tumor breaking down, but no proof of this. So just another trip to the Emergency Department, another day in my life now. Meghan and Sammy came out to see me with Sam also accepting it is now a part of Daddy's life and takes it for granted. I hope one day this will be just a memory for him and we never see the inside of that dreaded Hospital. Back to have my 17th round of chemo tomorrow and continue the fight against the big C.
Life goes on

Friday, May 13, 2011

Ramblings of a cancer patient

Not sure what I am going to write here but feel compelled to let my thoughts out, as this is why I started this blog in the first place, so here I go.
 I went to the oncology unit on Wednesday for Chemo treatment only to find out another patient I have gotten to know passed away. She was a lovely woman who always had a smile on her face and her husband was by her side for each visit. They have young children who now have no mother. Cancer is an evil disease which can turn your world upside down and is so unfair. This is now 2 wonderful people I have got to know whilst in Darwin who have had their lives taken far too early. It makes me realise I am not invincible and need to look after myself. It is not the cancer in some cases which delivers the final blow but other complications due to a low immune system. As you know from my blogs I am very positive but it still leaves a thought in the back of my mind it can happen to me without warning. It may sound dramatic but it is like having a hit man looking for me, as  I could suffer the same fate as the friends I made and then had taken away. Don’t get me wrong I am doing very well and have my CEA results down to 20, which is fantastic, considering they were at 5,500 last October. I expect this won’t change much now until I have surgery to remove the tumour from my bowel. The doctors are happy to leave it there until we have my liver under control, so could be near the end of the year or even early next year if no complications in the meantime. Good news is I have feeling back in my hands and feet which is great, but ironically I broke 2 toes a fortnight ago and I definitely have the feeling back!!! I have my next lot of scans at the end of this month which will give us a better indication of how I am going, so will blog again once I get the results. So fingers crossed everyone and wish me luck.