Visit to Oncologist

Today has been really hectic. Anna has been to work for half a day and, with Simon off school for christmas I played "mum" during the morning. He was actually an angel. We did a Tesco shop at 10.30am, went to my first Breathing class at Farleigh Hospice at 11am, then it was lunch and drop Simon off at his friends for the afternoon. I then drove to the chemist to collect more oxygen and supplement drinks. Then it was straight onto the Nursery to collect Anna (1.30pm) and off to the hospital for a 2pm appointment. This went just as I expected. There was no new news to come from him because no new scan has yet taken place. He was more concerned with my recovery from the Radiotherapy and, of course, I could reassure him in this regard. He asked about eating, sleeping, pain etc. I came away with a new interferon prescription for 2 months supply, blood test forms for every 8 weeks, a scan booked for the New Year, a review appointment in 8 weeks time and a new sharps box!

Last night we decided that I would go back upstairs to sleep as my progress has been so good. I was a bit worried because I do cough a lot at night when I wake. However, I got the best sleep in many weeks, waking at 5am when I simply went downstairs and commenced my daily medication routine, emptied the dishwasher and made Anna a cup of tea. My one error was forgetting that Simon had indeed broken up from school, so I put his light on at 7am when he'd been promised a lie-in for a change!

The Carol Service at Church yesterday was so good in every respect. It was a joy to be present at both the 11.15am and the 7pm service and, with the aid of portable oxygen I did manage to sing most of the songs/carols. Congratulations to everyone who took part because the results were tremendous and blessed those of us in the congregation.

Well, my week ahead continues to look busy with lots of visitors so if I say no more until after Christmas, please HAVE A REALLY GOOD TIME AND MAKE SURE YOU TAKE TIME TO REFLECT ON THE TRUE MEANING AND INCLUDE JESUS IN YOUR CELEBRATIONS- HE MAKES THE DIFFERENCE.

Last Weekend!!!

REASON 256 for not letting your youngest party with his mum ( a techer) and her best friend ( a nursing professional). I place the blame fairly and squarely on Miss Pitstop who egged many church members on with an invite which encouraged fancy dress beginning with "P". I can only be grateful that earlier ideas expressed by both female adults did not come to fruition- otherwise we'd be worshipping at the local Baptists from now on!

My Favorite Photo to date

This Decmeber 2003 scene from Kilham in Yorkshire has that beautiful winter/snow sky light effect which seemed to suit my simple point and shoot camera very well. Anyway I'm proud of this image and hope it brings you viewers some pleasure.

Nearly Narnia? Kilham, Yorks. in 2003

We were in Kilham in December 2003 and a week before Christmas had a reasonable overnight snowfall which carried on past breakfastime. The boys were able to get out into a hilly field and use sledges and toboggans for a couple of hours. I walked around the village snapping with our digital camera.

Improvements

Since getting home from hospital there has been a definate recovery in my general state of health. I did have a serious setback last Tuesday which meant calling the GP to the home and having a radical rethink about medication and nebulising/oxygen issues. But with some new timings for taking things I have been sleeping much better (usually 4-5 solid hours) and my coughing has reduced considerably- it is now mainly productive in getting the rubbish off mylungs which can build up durint the day but mainly at night. I am managing vitually without oxygen whilst at home now although I need it to go walking or if I find I've over exerted myself- an increasing danger. I suppose a measure of my improvement is that a week ago I could do little more than walk short distances downstairs but on Saturday I drove myself and Joel to Tesco, hooked up an oxygen cylinder to the trolley and did a leisurely 1.5 hour grocery shop. Mind you, I was tired on Sunday and my legs ached somewhat. Today I have driven into Moulsham Street and Town plus into Baddow where I have posted parcels, done some banking, popped into the GP Surgery and a chemist to sort out new oxygen supplies, done a bit more grocery shopping and finally, got myslef a headphone extension cable for my stereo from Maplin Electronics. A busy morning but well rewarding. I've spent the rest of the day transferring CDs to the hard drive of my computer in readiness for my Christmas present of an MP3 player. Godwilling, tomorrow, I am going to call in at work just to show my face and see my colleagues- I promise not to do any work- I'm signed off for another 3 weeks anyway so am "forbidden". It was great to be at Church again yesterday and I can even singalong with the aid of oxygen- it would otherwise be impossible for me to enjoy the experience if I was just sat silently. I thought the choir were very professional, Nigel's word was excellent (no notes!), Sarah's team did really well, Alan's reading (as always) was rivetting and Mike pulled it all together seamlessly. I'm really anticipating an exciting Carol service and hope I remain well to attend. I do still have a couple of specific points for prayer- firstly that my Oseophagus will fully recover from the radiotherapy as it is the steroids at the moment that are keeping it open for my food although it is still very narrow and therefore painful to eat anything other than soft or completely crumbled/dissolved food. Secondly, it's a while since the cancer was looked at by scan and I do not know what it's doing. I have faith to believe a healing work has been started and would ask you all to pray as you feel your own faith allows. Well. all my presents for the family which I ordered over the internet have successfully arrived now and are wrapped so, in the end, I feel quite organised. I am going to have a go at icing a Christmas Cake later in the week (to give Anna a break). I'll let you know how it goes..........

Sorry I haven't been around

Following 10 lots of radiotherapy I knew that my oseophagus problems would worsen before they got better. But when you can't even get liquid down then you have a problem and within a couple of days I now realise that I was severely dehyrated and I had lost a lot of weight (over apx 6 weeks). We were trying to stuggle on with me getting weaker and spending more time in bed. On Monday 21/11/05 Anna made a call to my Oncologist to see if it would be ok for me to stay off the Interferon for another few days whilst I tried to cope with the raadiotherpay side effect. After a short interogation by him over the phone Anna was told that I was to be admitted straightaway by ambulance to Essex County Hospital Oncology Ward (Jefferson) in Colchester. There I remained for 8 days and nights. I was put onto oxygen and nebulizors, anti-biotics in case it was a chest infection, steriods to get the inflammtion of the treated area down plus some other bits and pieces. Within a few hours I had eaten my first full meal for weeks and have basically eaten like a horse ever since- cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner plus in between snacks!! The standard of care was amazing- al the staff were lind, efficient and seemed to get on well wih each other. I was able to look after myself (shower/toilet etc) but didn't sleep well at nights due to fluid build-up on my left lung which would make me wake up with coughing fits. All of my readouts were generally good although my pulse has been very high- 150 bpm on admission, 160 on release and averaging 120/30 in between. Anyway, having come home I have oxygen, nebulizors, a bed downstairs, shower and bath aids, a perching stool, a bed "wedge" and I have portable oxygen, a wheelchair and a reclining chair on order. I slept with the oxygen last night but this afternoon came off it (for 3.5 hrs so far) AND managed to walk up the stairs to the office in order to deal with a backlog of emails and to make this blog. So I'm feeling empowered at the moment and give thanks to God for bringing through this latest episode. I have a general condition review with Dr Tahir on/around 19th December- there will be no new scan so he is likely to remain downbeat in his assessement "inoperable/incurable" but we KNOW that God can do a miracle. I have faith to believe for a miracle. I don't understand how God works but I know this- if my miracle were based on the numbers of people praying for me I'd probably be in training now for next year's Great North Run (there's still time to be healed and get into some sort of shape but we'll see). Anyway, I think that brings you up to date with my activities- take care.

Radiotherapy Progresses

I've now had six treatments out of ten on my lungs- plus a second one on my shoulder. I cannot begin to tell you the tiredness and breathlessness this has caused. I was worried about how much blood I had also started to cough up and the the persistence of the cough which was making my ribs hurt. We now have a Macmillan Nurse and she has already been brilliant- she has arranged for me to get disability allowance and a car badge so that I can park closer to places that I need to get to. This latter point is quite fundamental now as I can manage the stairs (just) and need half an hour to get my breathing back under control- anywalk of more than about 25 metres is just not on for the time being. A physio from Farleigh Hospice is coming round tomorrow to give me some tips on breath control and making the fullest use of my dodgy lungs. Yesterday I felt quite awful and miserable and saw a Registrar in Colchester who asked a lot of questions and ordered blood tests. From the moment I left that hospital until now I have not coughed up any more blood and had a reasonable night's sleep. Due to a mix-up at Broomfield Pharmacy I have run out of Interferon chemo injections which meant I couldn't inject last night which was wonderful as I got none of the side effects. So today is my 43rd birthday- I'm alive, feel reasonably good and I praise God for my lovely wife and children and for all who are praying for me.

Poor CT Scan

Unfortunately the CT Scan result was poor and showed "a significant deterioration, especially on the left lung". There is evidence of fluid on the lung ( which I knew anyway as I've been coughing it up ). The net result is that I will now need 10 readiotherapy sessions over 2 weeks rather than 5 over 1- because there is a lot more to deal with. Dr Tahir was very downbeat and went to great pains to point out that this treatment is only a temporaray relief and that the cancer will carry on attcaking my body around the edges of what has been treated. Obviously Anna and I have shared this news with the boys. I still need that miracle from God and am believing for it- though you will understand that it becomes a harder thing to grab hold of as each bit of bad news comes in. So I'm appealing to you all for your continued prayers and words of encouragement. Thanks.

Radiotherapy Plans

I have had one consultation, followed by a simulation exercise and a CT scan. If we're able to proceed than I shall have another simulator session on 2/11/2005 and then 5 consecutive days of lung treatment from 7th-11th November. I have little tattoo marks on my chest and rib cage plus some messy black dye (which I'm told does come out!). One of the radiologists recognised me from having carried out the radiotherapy on my shoulder- she was delighted with the movement I had in the shoulder and how healthy the area looked. This was encouraging news and she went on to say that it is an indication that my body is "responsive" to this kind of treatment. In the meantime I am still injecting interferon on a Mon/Wed/Fri plus I am taking Codeine coughh medicine 3-4 times a day. I seem to be in a permanent state of drowsiness. I hope to go for a walk this afternoon at my own pace and to enjoy fresh air and hopefully "clear the lungs" quite literally.
On a different note, my eldest sister and her husband and daughter have been down to visit us yesterday and today. As usual it's a bit like Christmas as she unpacks presents of clothes for the boys and a Dr Who Book for me (yippeee- it's full of nostalgia with every broadcast episode given a couple of pages of PICs and text). At the moment Anna and Simon are at the Moulsham Junior School taking part in the Ghana Gold car wash so I think his Aunty and Uncle might take their car over to be cleaned. Well, it's 10.30am and I am finally feeling normal enough to head on downstairs for some breakfast. I stick to cereal as it seems to go down more easily. Will post again in a week's time. Take Care.