Re:
I have been struggling with the decision whether to add this grim news to this post, and I have decided that it should be shared with you lot.
A few members on here already know this development, but I strongly suggest that the rest of you click on another thread now if you’ve had a bad day, as it does not make for pleasant reading.
Everything had been going so well following my Colostomy Reversal last June. I was riding with the ability that match my fitness I had from before Surgery for Bowel Cancer November 2017. Then I had a routine blood test in September, and there was slight concern with an elevated Carcinoembryonic Antigen result. I was told I would need another test a month later, which sadly came back as elevated further, so a C.T. Scan was arranged. This revealed that the Cancer had returned and metastasized to my Liver.
Following a Multidisciplinary Team Meeting, the initial plan was to commence Chemotherapy with a view to reducing the legion that had been seen on the edge of my Liver, and then Resection of the Liver after that. This would only be possible if the Cancer had only spread as far as had been seen on the C.T. Scan.
With this in mind, I was sent for a PET Scan in December, which gives a far better view of Cancer in the body. Sadly the result did not fit the initial plan. I had a meeting with Oncology 16th December, which was like nothing I had experience before. I went in thinking that I was to have Chemo to reduce the Cancer, then Surgery to cut it out. Within a few minutes, my Consultant Oncologist turned the meeting on its head.
She told me there are 3 different legions in the Liver, as well as at the back of the Abdomen near the Spine and probably Paratracheal lymph nodes. She then said the Cancer is too deep to consider Surgery, so I will not be having the planned resection on the Liver. I was then told that I can have Palliative Chemotherapy to extend quality of life, but the diagnosis is terminal.
I went into some sort of fixed trance as I continued to listen intently to every word she now said. If I chose not to have Chemotherapy, she said I would be aware of symptoms caused by the Cancer by the Summer. If I chose Palliative Chemo, she could not give me a prognosis of survival until we see if the treatment has any effect on the Cancer.
I have chosen the Chemo option, but it is really complex to explain quickly. Needless to say, I will suffer all the normal side-effects of Chemotherapy. I had my PICC Line fitted today at the RBH, then straight to the Chemo ward for the first cycle. I am sitting here typing this with a Chemo pump attached to my PICC Line, and this stays on for 48 hours. I will try to stick it out for 3 months, when they will review the situation. If it is having little effect on the Cancer, they will recommend stopping the treatment. If it is holding back the Cancer (albeit temporarily) they will suggest I continue for another 3 months. I can stop at any time if it all gets too grim to cope with.
I do understand that it is difficult to respond to a message like this, so I’m sorry to add this post.
Pip.
:facepalm: .
