not the easiest post i’ll ever make. It’s been on my ‘to-do’ list for a while…
Posted mainly because there are a few of you out here in The Real World who now me and know about the diagnosis and it occurred to me that there’s a chance you’ll be bumping into others who I know but do not know about my illness. Hopefully this is not too late to avoid those ‘hi, how are you? Marsdenman not with you?’ kind of conversations.
Touch more detail…
Its lung cancer, not bad going for a 45 year old lifelong non-smoker. Seems about 1 in 10 diagnosed with lung cancer are non-smokers. I’m told that, so far as it can be, my age and relative fitness and previous good health are all a Good Thing – i barely register on their statistics as LC sufferers are typically older, smokers and generally in not so good health.
After a really shoddy summer in 2013 – I was ill from around June – cough, turned manflu, manflu only got worse, and worse = sleepless nights = rip to see the nurse = she confirmed manflu. A week or so later it was getting worse, nurse still says manflu. It gets wore. I visit GP, GP advises chest infection = antibiotics for a week. A week later, no improvement. Visit GP, again. Another week of, different, antibiotics. Week passes, no improvement. I see a different GP. He gives me another type of antibiotic but, crucially, sends me for a chest x-ray. I’m pretty sure neither he not I expected anything but confirmation of what we now know was pneumonia.
Friday 20th Sept I go for the x-ray, around 10am.
You know something might not be right when the radiographer calls all the students in to look at my x-ray (whist i’m still in the room…) and then advises me to be in touch with my GP asap…
You really know something is not right when the GP rings you at 3.30 that same afternoon, offering a 5.30 appt – lets be honest, one instinctively knows he’s not offering tea and cake…
Call to MrsMM, she heads home from work so we can attend GP together.
5.30’ish the roof over our lives develops a big leak as we’re advised a shadow has been found, roughly 6 x 7cm and, whilst ‘it’s not likely to be cancerous’, i’m on what they call the cancer pathway = passed into and through the system asap for earliest possible diagnosis.
The team at Huddersfield Royal have been amazing, actually, for the record, the vast majority of NHS staff we have met, from cleaners all the way up to consultants have been nothing short of amazing.
After 6 tests came back clear, the team at Hudds were still 100% sure that the test results – v – what they saw on the CT scan did not add up. Off they sent me, to St James’s in Leeds, for investigations under general anaesthetic…
5th November came the results and the news that, by now was not unexpected, was delivered…
BOOM! the roof pretty much fell in…
Since then it’s been a case of (trying to) come to terms with it all including advising family etc..
This Weds I start my 4th and for now, final session of chemo. Luckily i’ve not suffered from too many major side effects.
The fatigue has not been great, i’m on and off food, 70% of my hair has gone – i’m now sporting a Fuzzy Felt No2 Cut!
After that, it’s The Big Wait for the chemo to take effect and then a scan which will tell us if the tumour (and various other bits they have found) are on the retreat or not…
If you got this far, thanks for reading – i think it’s fair to say I just got a little bit of the load off my mind!
Chris.
